Self managed superannuation fund (SMSF) accountants
Bramelle Partners assists clients in establishing their self managed super funds (SMSF) and all clients self managed superannuation compliance needs. We offer a range of SMSF services including:
- Preparing financial statements in accordance with the Superannuation Industry Supervision Act.
- Preparing tax returns, members statements and TBAR for the SMSF
- Managing and liaising with external auditors to provide an annual audit report of the funds compliance
- Advising trustees on maintaining compliance
- Providing advice in relation to pensions, drawdowns and commutations
- Preparing necessary minutes as required by the SMSF.
Our founding partner, Bradley Seeto, holds a Masters in Applied Finance (Financial Planning major). This qualification allows him to provide a higher level of service when compared to other self managed super fund accountants when attending to your SMSF compliance requirements.
Bramelle Partners uses Class Super to manage all their clients superannuation administration requirements. Class Super is industry leading software which allows all superannuation trustee to view their self managed superannuation portfolio in one spot as well as informing the trustees of year to date pensions, superannuation contributions as well as provide all historical financials and tax returns. These can all be accessed by simply having internet connection and is provide a free additional service to all SMSF clients of Bramelle Partners.
Our clients enjoy the advice and holistic self managed super fund services which we provide. Our service ensures SMSF maintain compliance throughout the year and we assist by providing year round advice relating to any investments, pension payment and contributions made to superannuation funds throughout the year. SMSF administration is continually becoming more complex with the introduction of new and changes to existing rules at each annual budget announcement. It is becoming more difficult to stay abreast of all the changes where you are currently looking after the SMSF compliance yourself or using a low cost provider to prepare your accounts and tax returns. This is also indicated by a sharp increase in fees from low cost providers over the past couple of years.
Our typical superannuation fund would have an annual fee of around $2,000 – $3,000 per annum plus GST with the lowest fee being $1,200 + GST per annum for a SMSF with a few simple investments. Class Super allows us to use date feeds and their software to process transactions in a relatively streamlined process which allows Bramelle Partners to spend more time on ensuring the SMSF compliance is maintained adequately throughout the year.
Setting up data feeds allows our clients to reduce the amount of paperwork they need to send us each year along with the ability to process transactions during the year. Given we have been with Class Super for a couple of years now, the data feeds have been running for a similar time and our processes are continually improving, we are looking at to have the majority of our funds completed in the first five months after the financial year by the end of November. This is fairly remarkable where public listed trusts sometimes don’t have their annual tax statements finalised until 30 September.
We work with a number of SMSF auditors to make the year end process for you relatively straightforward and in most cases our clients have no requirement to communicate with the SMSF auditor directly.
Bramelle Partners is continuously ensuring their SMSF knowledge is updated, maintained and SMSF trustees are aware of the latest changes that are impacting them. We have monthly blog posts about any updates to superannuation.
With the recent inquiry by the Royal Commission and financial planners conduct in not providing advice in the best interest of their clients, more and more people are becoming interested in starting their own SMSF and taking control of how their superannuation is invested. What are some of the things you should consider when starting your own SMSF.
1. Is it cost effective to start you own SMSF?
This will require comparing what you currently pay in fees and the cost of running your own SMSF. A SMSF will have annual financial and tax return obligations and on average should be around $2,000 – $3,000 plus GST and annual SMSF auditor costs (allow approximately $550 inc GST per year). Where your superannuation is managed with an industry or retail fund your fees can vary. Along with your fees you are likely paying fees for someone to invest the funds on your behalf (this is usually referred to the management expense ratio (MER)) and you should take these fees into account when comparing the total fees you pay. These usually range from 1.5% – 4% p.a. So for someone with $200k in superannuation this will result in an annual fee of $3,000 to $8,000 p.a. In this scenario switching to a SMSF would be a cost effectively solution.
2. Consider your current life insurance requirements?
When you rollover the balance from your existing superannuation fund to your SMSF, your life insurance within your existing fund will cease where there are no funds available to pay for your life insurance policy. It would be prudent to consider taking a similar life insurance policy in the name of the SMSF before rolling over the total balance of your superannuation. Where adequate life insurance cannot be taken out in your SMSF (possibly due to health reasons) you should ensure there are enough remaining funds in your existing superannuation to maintain the same cover of life insurance.
3. Do you have enough knowledge and time to invest your own superannuation?
You will need to spend some time throughout the year to make investment decisions for your SMSF. If you do not have the required knowledge or time to undertake this, you can consider getting assistance from a financial planner or remaining with an existing industry or retail superannuation fund provider.
4. Will you maintain adequate documentation required for the annual audit and ensure your SMSF is compliant.
There are a lot of rules which need to be followed when running an SMSF. This is where Bramelle Partners can help you ensure the correct documentation is maintained and adequate records are prepared along with advising clients of the ever changing landscape when it comes to the rules and regulations of running an SMSF.
Bramelle Partners Pty Ltd became a Corporate Authorised Representative of Axiis Capital Pty Ltd (ABN: 82 639 996 259, AFSL No. 523464) on 19 March 2021. Director of Bramelle Partners Brad Seeto comments “Due to Australian Unity Personal Financial Services Limited no longer providing limited licences to accountants we had to find an alternative. We chose Axiis Capital Pty Ltd due to its specific focus on the accounting industry. Providing advice which covers a client’s overall situation is a big part of what we do and its makes sense to continue this. We view providing advice to SMSFs as an important service to the industry and will continue to be an important part to our business in the future. The service offering by Axiis Capital Pty Ltd will be able to support us in supporting our clients. It was clear we should become an Authorised Representative with Australian Unity once we went through all the details”.
Becoming an Authorised Representative of Axiis Capital Pty Ltd will allow Bramelle Partners to continue to provide advice and/or services to SMSFs and advising on rollovers of existing superannuation to SMSFs.
Bramelle Partners was featured in the Spotlight Series for Superannuation funds run by the Daily Telegraph on 29 April 2020, you can a access the article here.
For a free consultation with our Director to see how we can help you grow your business please contact us
