ICAA welcomes auditor registration regime
Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA) superannuation specialist Liz Westover has welcomed the Government's announcement of a self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) auditor registration process.
She said a registration process would allow accountants to clearly identify SMSF auditors, enabling them to better communicate with them and provide tailored education and training.
"Targeted communication and education is one of the best drivers of audit quality and it will help ensure that the quality of SMSF audits will be consistently high across the board," Westover said.
However, referring to the introduction of a competency test for new and less experienced SMSF auditors, Westover said she remained to be convinced it would be an adequate driver of audit quality.
"But at least it will not be imposed on experienced SMSF auditors who have audited 20 or more funds within the previous 12 months," she said.
Westover said that although the new regime appeared to be reasonably straightforward for SMSF auditors, the ICAA was keen to work closely with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to ensure appropriate implementation.
"The other good news is that costs associated with registration are minimal: $100 for registration, $50 for renewal of registration and $100 to sit the competency test," she said.
"It was always going to be important that SMSF trustees did not ultimately bear the cost of this new regime and with these costs, it is not likely that they will," Westover said.
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