Ongoing SMSF costs

We have a SMSF setup, funds used to invest in shares in a medical practise. There would be no other purpose for this SMSF in the near term.

On an annual basis, costs by accountant to do the audit is ~3K, is that about right?

 

There are different types of costs for different types of advice:

Audit
Accounts and data entry
Actuary
Tax advice
Financial statement preparation
Tax return preparation
Structuring advice
Pension advice
Investment product advice
Estate planning advice
Succession strategy advice

3k for the audit is very expensive. Sometimes different people do different things.

Stay away from somebody who does everything.

3k for the lot is ok. The investment guys have layered fees so it is sometimes hard to pin them down to one complete number but they will if you ask them clearly.

 

A SMSF is not able to own a share of a business related to members. If the share of business income is what the intent is you may have aserious breach of tax and super laws. Using a SMSF to reduce taxation of profits is a serious concern. Possibly a serious offence. Personal advice may avoid serious issues. $3K could be cheap or could be expensive. Ross has defined a list of SOME costs a SMSF or its members could encounter.

$3k for a audit...No. I use a fixed price auditor that is under $500. And its a CA who provides a great service.

 

Hi Wukong,

Congrats on taking control of your super.

I believe you may be referring to accounting and tax as well as audit. I used to charge $3k for an audit about 18 years ago, however these days you can get an audit done for $300-500.

First, double check what your paying for, i.e. Admin such as preparation of Financial Statements, Tax Return and Audit. We charge $1300 for the whole lot. If your not happy just shop around - sounds like you will save a bit per year.

Cheers Ivan

 

By any chance you know someone in Brisbane?

 

I think @Redwood is brisbane based ?

 

Maybe the OP means shares in a unit trust which has a building which is rented to a medical practice ?

 

Thanks mate - I am Melbourne based however our clients are all over this wonderful country.....

Cheers Ivan

 

ahh nice we should catch up for a coffee sometime.

agreed these days with technology you can be anywhere. Im sitting in Bangkok at the moment working on a client matter with @Terry_w who is also here. Location is no longer an issue

 

One of the hidden fee traps in SMSFs can be actuarial certs. If a old fashioned accountant does the work the cost of providing data and getting a actuarial cert is a nightmare. Not unusual to add a lot to costs. $1k+ isnt unusual sometimes. Using right software its now a simple click or two. And hugely automated. And cert costs $99, others charge up to $500. And it integrates into the tax calcs and return in those few clicks.

You can overpay on this, accounting and tax and next thing the fee is $3-$4k. Not unusual. Worth doing a check on how old fashioned your accountant is. I'm always happy to give feedback and can tell in 30seconds what they are doing.

Many medico's use tax practices that focus on medics. And charge for it. There were some high profile ones in the industry.