SMSF - What are you paying in accounting fees

[jorgon]

The other option is to do it yourself and then deal with the auditor yourself. You could use something like Bgl Simple fund (most accountants I know use this anyway) as it has a trustee edition.
Cost first year $649 + $660 audit (based what I charge for your fund due to the number of investments)= $1,309.00 .. the next year $1,091

If you want to do it yourself and deal directly with the auditor then you wouldn't need to use software compatible with that used by accountants. This is because auditors are content to work from printed documents. Being a control freak, I create my own financial statements for my SMSF, and make my own tax calculations and return, using Excel spreadsheets. These are available from my site below.

Obviously this is only advisable for people with the confidence to do this and who are willing to understand the applicable tax concepts and rules (from the comprehensive help file). Also for those willing to take responsibility for the accuracy of the data which they put in the spreadsheets and the accuracy of the financial statement and the return.

The spreadsheets can be used in single member or multi-member funds, and can handle foreign currencies. They are only for funds in accumulation phase investing only in financial investments such as bank deposits, shares, unit trusts, and managed funds. They can be adapted to suit other types of funds or investments. The 2013 version is coming out soon, alternatively the 2012 can be used and adapted for the 2013 tax return.

 

[bernardp]

There is no doubt fees do vary.

The accounting fees themselves are largely transaction based.

The more transactions and the complexities of the transactions the more you pay. If you have funds sitting within a managed fund in a SMSF that get reinvested during the year, expect to pay for the reconciliation of it..

Even with a share holding of 30 shares, every share needs to be accounted for properly and valued at 30 June. DRP's need to be checked and dividends reconciled.

Of course it also heavily depends on the size of the accounting firm and the hourly charge rates used by staff, which can often be around $150 per hour in some cases for the transactional stuff.

This obviously adds up quickly.

You'd be hard pressed to find an audit under $550 (Inc GST) these days. The compliance burden is just too strong from the ATO. The checklists are huge from the various accounting bodies and even a basic audit requires a ridiculous amount of time. The PI insurance is not cheap either.

Auditor rules are changing - all SMSF auditors will need to be ASIC registered from 1 July. IMO audit fees will be going to double shortly as the requirements to audit a SMSF are becoming a lot more specialised.

Shop around of course, but do realise it takes a lot longer then simply processing a few bank statements or doing a couple of journals off a spreadsheet you provide.

Why not try and engage your accountant with a fee before you start the work and have a fair range of price, that why you know what you are paying for. Ask for the hourly charge rates for staff engaged in the work... normally the junior staff ($80-$100 per hour) can do a lot of the heavy stuff..

Cheers

Bern