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AUASB to update SMSF audit standard
The Auditing and Assurance Standards Board is updating its guidance standard around auditing SMSFs to take note of a raft of legislative and regulatory changes that have occurred since the standard’s last iteration.
Documentation around the board’s December meeting indicates it is revising the standard based on feedback from the ATO and major accounting bodies around changes to legislation, ATO and auditor practices that need to be incorporated into the standard since it was previously issued in 2015.
The board said it had had “a number of meetings with key stakeholders regarding the need for a revision”, including SMSF auditors, regulators and professional bodies.
The revised standard would include updated ATO guidance on reciprocal auditing arrangements and recent litigation cases as well as changes to the SIS Act and SIS Regulations.
Among some of the other suggested updates listed in the appendix of board documents include providing tips on IT security, ensuring contribution information is in line with current rules, providing more detail around the documentation requirements to support the work done in SMSF audits and clarifying the tax treatment of non-resident super fund.
The board said it had secured an external contractor to complete updates to the standard, which would be done in consultation with a review group including the three accounting bodies, the ATO, the SMSF Association, the Taxpayers Association and SMSF practitioners.
In a separate statement, the board said it was seeking practitioner and stakeholder feedback from the SMSF industry and invited relevant individuals to share their comments on how the standard should be updated.
The board said it was particularly interested to hear about how technology had impacted the SMSF audit process.
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