Can you be your own SMSF accountant?

Just as you don’t need an accountant to lodge personal income tax returns, it is possible to do the same when it comes to lodging your SMSF’s accounts. However, you will need to have good administration software and a clear understanding of the super rules and regulations.

Who’s it for?

Doing the accounts for your own SMSF would suit a fund with all members in accumulation phase and with a simple investment strategy. It might also suit trustees who already have a business and who are already familiar with software that meets the minimum security requirements a Digital Service Provider (DSP) needs to access ATO digital services. (See below for a list of providers.)

You will also need time  – a commodity not necessarily in surplus for business owners.

Dealing with the ATO

In our article on ways that SMSFs can be ultra-low cost, we explain everything you need to do to set up an SMSF yourself, from creating a trust deed to putting together an investment strategy. However, one thing you will need to keep doing after you’ve set up an SMSF is to lodge its tax return and financial statements and pay the supervisory levy each year.

Depending on your balance and what happens with your SMSF during the year, you may also have transfer balance account reporting requirements.

SMSFs can lodge their SMSF annual return via software that meets the DSP Operational Security Framework (OSF) security requirements or by paper with the ATO.

To do that, the SMSF will need:

• A machine credential (apply for a machine credential here)
• Access to software that meets the DSP OSF security requirements.

As mentioned earlier, one thing you won’t be able to do yourself is audit your SMSF. Even if you are an auditor your SMSF must be independently audited by a third party every year.

Your auditor must be registered with ASIC as an approved SMSF auditor. Check their database of auditors here.

Dealing with ASIC