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SMSF

SMSF specialist services.

A self-managed fund gives the trustees control of the investment strategy and takes on every obligation that comes with it. We handle the obligations.

01 · Scope

What this covers.

  • Establishment, trust deed review and ATO registration
  • Annual financial statements and member statements
  • Independent audit coordination with an approved SMSF auditor
  • Contribution caps, bring-forward rules and the transfer balance cap
  • Account-based pensions, minimum drawdowns and reversionary arrangements
  • Limited recourse borrowing arrangements, including bare trust documentation
  • Business real property and related-party lease arrangements
  • Fund wind-up and rollover

02 · The work

Control, without the compliance risk.

An SMSF is a trust with a tax concession attached and a regulator watching. The trustee makes every investment decision; the fund still has to satisfy the sole purpose test, value its assets at market each year, stay inside contribution and pension limits, and be audited independently. Most of that is administration, and administration is what we do.

We prepare the accounts and statements, coordinate the audit and lodge the return. More usefully, we flag the decisions before they are made: a contribution that would breach the cap, a pension started without the right documentation, an asset purchased in the wrong name, a loan that fails the single acquirable asset test. Those are cheap to fix in advance and expensive to fix afterwards.

We do not manage the fund's investments. The point of an SMSF is that the trustees decide, and we would rather give you the tax and compliance position clearly enough that the decision is yours.

03 · Clients

Who this is for.

  • Existing trustees who want the administration handled properly
  • Business owners considering commercial premises inside the fund
  • Individuals rolling out of an industry or retail fund with enough balance to justify it
  • Families coordinating a fund with an estate plan

An SMSF is not the right structure for everyone. Below a certain balance the running costs and the trustee obligations outweigh the control, and we will say so rather than establish a fund that should have stayed in accumulation.

Details

Questions we are asked

Does my SMSF need an audit every year?
Yes. An approved SMSF auditor must audit the fund each year before the annual return is lodged, and the auditor must be independent of the accountant who prepared the accounts. We prepare the accounts and coordinate the audit, which means the file reaches the auditor complete rather than generating a list of queries — the usual reason an audit drags on.
Can my SMSF borrow to buy property?
Yes, through a limited recourse borrowing arrangement. The asset must be a single acquirable asset, it is held in a separate bare trust until the loan is repaid, and the lender's recourse is limited to that asset. The rules are strict about improvements, replacements and related-party purchases, and the costs are real. It suits some funds and not others; we will model it before anyone signs a contract.
What records does the fund have to keep?
At least five years of records for tax purposes and longer for anything affecting the cost base of an asset, plus the trustee minutes that show decisions were made properly: the investment strategy review, the decision to buy or sell, the commencement of a pension. Most compliance failures we see are not dishonest, they are undocumented.
Can the fund hold the business premises?
Often it can, and it is one of the more common reasons a fund is established. The property must be acquired at market value, the lease must be on commercial terms, and the fund's in-house asset limits and the sole purpose test still apply. It works well when it is documented properly and badly when the paperwork is retrofitted.

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Enquiries

Start with a conversation.

Tell us what you are trying to resolve. If we are not the right firm for the question, we will say so at the first meeting.

Enquiries are received by appointment, monday to friday, 8.30am – 5.30pm. We reply to every enquiry within one business day.

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Or write directly to contact@liuandassociates.com.au