SMSF Accounting, Tax & Audit Coordination
SMSF Accountant Melbourne
A self-managed super fund gives you control over how your super is invested — and full responsibility for its compliance. There are now more than 672,000 SMSFs in Australia holding over $1 trillion in assets (ATO, March 2026), and every one of them must prepare annual financial statements, lodge an annual return and be audited by an independent, ASIC-registered SMSF auditor. Our Melbourne SMSF accountants keep that cycle in order — as part of your broader structure, not in isolation.
Compliance, Structure and Control
SMSF Accounting, Tax and Compliance Support
42 Advisory is a CPA firm with offices in Melbourne and Brisbane. As self-managed super fund accountants, we provide SMSF accounting, tax compliance and audit coordination for business owners, professionals, family groups and property investors — particularly those whose SMSF sits alongside a company, family trust or commercial property, and who want the fund managed as part of a coherent overall structure.
We are not financial advisers and we do not audit SMSFs. We prepare the accounts, manage the tax compliance, keep the records in order, and coordinate with independent auditors, licensed financial advisers, solicitors and lenders where their involvement is required. That separation of roles is not a limitation — it is how the system is designed to work.
An SMSF is a long-term wealth and compliance structure. Managed well, it can hold investments — including the premises your business operates from — in a concessionally taxed environment for decades. Managed poorly, it becomes a source of audit qualifications, ATO attention and avoidable cost. The difference is rarely the investments themselves. It is documentation, administration and review: trustee minutes, market valuations, lease agreements, loan documents and investment strategies all need to exist, be current, and support the position taken in the financial statements and annual return.
Our role is to keep that discipline in place year after year, so the fund's records stand up to independent audit and ATO scrutiny.
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CPA-Qualified SMSF Accountants Backed by Australia's Trusted Platforms
What We Cover
What Our SMSF Service Includes
Our SMSF engagement covers the annual compliance cycle end to end, on fixed fees agreed in advance — so the cost of the year's work is known before it begins.
Annual SMSF Financial Statements
Statement of financial position, operating statement and member statements prepared from the fund's records, ready for independent audit.
SMSF Tax Return (Annual Return) Preparation and Lodgement
Preparation and lodgement of the SMSF annual return — the fund's combined income tax and regulatory return — including member contribution reporting, as registered tax agents.
Independent Audit Coordination
We prepare the audit file, appoint an independent ASIC-registered SMSF auditor on your behalf, and respond to auditor queries — so the audit runs as a routine annual step, not an annual scramble.
Ongoing Administration Support
Trustee minutes and resolutions, pension documentation prepared with your licensed adviser where required, transfer balance account reporting (TBAR), and PAYG and actuarial certificate coordination.
Record and Documentation Review
Checking that valuations, lease agreements, loan documentation and the fund's investment strategy are current and consistent with what the financial statements report.
Structure-Level Review
Considering the SMSF alongside your company, trust and personal position — with your accountant, adviser and solicitor working from the same information. See also our tax planning and business advisory services.
Independent by Design
Annual SMSF Audit Coordination
Every SMSF must be audited every year by an approved SMSF auditor registered with ASIC, appointed at least 45 days before the annual return is due for lodgement (s 35C, Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993). The auditor must be independent — they cannot be the person who prepared the accounts, and professional independence standards prevent firms from auditing funds they administer.
42 Advisory does not audit SMSFs, and we would not want to. The independent audit is your protection as trustee: a second set of qualified eyes confirming the fund's financial statements and its compliance with the SIS Act before anything is lodged.
What we do is make the audit efficient. Most audit delays and cost overruns come from incomplete files — missing valuations, unsigned lease agreements, undocumented related-party terms. We prepare a complete audit pack, brief the auditor, and deal with queries as they arise.
A common scenario: a trustee comes to us in May with a fund that has not been audited for two years because the records were never assembled. Rebuilding the file costs far more than maintaining it would have. Proactive audit preparation is cheaper in every year, not just the difficult ones.
Next Steps
Talk to Us About Your SMSF
Call (03) 9997 7081 or email enquiry@42advisory.com.au to arrange an initial consultation, or request a fixed-fee quote for your fund's annual accounting and audit coordination.
Business Real Property
Commercial Property Inside an SMSF
For business owners, the most common reason property investment through an SMSF becomes strategically interesting is commercial property — an office, warehouse, consulting suite or other business premises.
Superannuation law generally prohibits an SMSF from acquiring assets from related parties. The key exception is business real property: property used wholly and exclusively in one or more businesses (s 66, SIS Act; ATO ruling SMSFR 2009/1). An SMSF may acquire business real property from a member or related entity at market value, and may lease it back to the members' business — provided the lease is on arm's length commercial terms.
In practice this means a business owner can, in the right circumstances, have their SMSF own the premises their business operates from. The business pays market rent to the fund; the rent is concessionally taxed inside superannuation; and the premises sit outside the trading entity, separated from business risk.
The structure only works if it is documented and administered properly:
- The property must genuinely meet the business real property definition at the time of acquisition.
- The acquisition must be at market value, supported by an appropriate valuation.
- The lease must be a properly executed commercial lease at market rent, with rent reviews applied and rent actually paid on time.
- Business real property leased to a related party is excluded from the in-house asset rules (Part 8, SIS Act) only while those conditions hold. Other related-party investments are capped at 5% of fund assets.
- Income from arrangements that are not on arm's length terms can be taxed as non-arm's length income at 45% — which removes the point of the exercise.
We prepare the fund's accounts so that each of these elements is evidenced: the valuation on file, the lease current, the rent traced through the bank statements. That is what the auditor will look for, and what the ATO expects. For property held outside superannuation, see our property tax services.
Whether acquiring a particular property through superannuation is appropriate for you is a financial advice question, and one we refer to licensed advisers. Our role is the accounting, tax and compliance execution once the strategy is settled.
Limited Recourse Borrowing
SMSF Borrowing and LRBA Compliance Support
An SMSF cannot borrow except in limited circumstances. The main exception is a limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA) under ss 67A–67B of the SIS Act, commonly used to fund commercial property purchases.
LRBAs are deliberately restrictive. The borrowing must relate to a single acquirable asset held in a separate holding trust; the lender's recourse is limited to that asset; borrowed funds can be used to maintain or repair the asset but not to improve it; and related-party loans must be on terms consistent with ATO safe harbour guidance (PCG 2016/5) or demonstrably arm's length. None of this is simple, and structuring errors are difficult and expensive to unwind.
Where an LRBA exists or is proposed, we account for the arrangement correctly in the fund's financial statements, maintain the loan documentation trail the auditor requires, and coordinate with your lender, solicitor and licensed adviser on structure and documentation. Our commercial finance team can assist with lender coordination. Borrowing advice itself — whether to gear, and through which lender — sits with licensed credit and financial advisers.
The Whole Structure, Not Just the Fund
SMSFs Within Family Group and Business Structures
An SMSF rarely exists on its own. In most of the client groups we act for, it sits alongside a trading company, a family trust and the members' personal tax positions — and decisions in one entity affect the others.
A family group with a company, trust and SMSF. The trading company pays rent to the SMSF for its premises; the family trust distributes to family members; contribution strategy interacts with both. When one firm prepares the accounts across the group, the rent, contributions and distributions are consistent across every return — and nothing is reported in one entity that contradicts another.
An SMSF holding commercial property, listed shares and pension accounts. The fund needs market valuations for the property, income allocation across accumulation and pension phase, an actuarial certificate, and TBAR lodgements — all reconciled before audit. Fragmented record-keeping is where these funds come unstuck; coordinated administration is where they run cleanly.
Because we act for the group and not just the fund, structural questions — where a new asset should sit, how contributions fit the broader position, what happens on succession — are considered with the whole picture in view, through our tax planning and business advisory work, alongside your licensed adviser and solicitor where their input is required.
The 42 Way
Who This Service Is For
- already have an SMSF and want the accounting, tax and audit cycle handled properly and on time;
- own, or are considering owning, commercial property through superannuation as part of a settled strategy;
- operate a business or family group with a company, trust and SMSF that should be administered together;
- need SMSF financial statements and the annual return prepared and lodged;
- want the annual independent audit coordinated rather than left to the deadline; or
- want clearer reporting and a documented, review-ready fund.
If you do not yet have an SMSF and are weighing up whether one fits your circumstances, that decision requires licensed financial advice. We can work alongside your adviser, and can introduce you to licensed professionals if you do not have one.
Clarity, Trust & True Value
Why Work With 42 Advisory
- CPA-qualified and registered tax agents. SMSF work is compliance work; qualifications and registration matter. Meet our CPA accountants.
- Business-owner focus. We act for trading businesses, family groups and property investors — so we understand the fund's place in the structure, not just the fund.
- Genuine audit independence. We coordinate independent, ASIC-registered SMSF auditors rather than auditing in-house. Your fund's audit means something.
- Fixed fees, agreed in advance. No hourly-rate uncertainty on routine compliance.
- Coordination across disciplines. One point of contact across accounting, tax, audit, legal and licensed advice — with each professional doing the work they are licensed to do.
Straight Answers, Real Transparency
SMSF Accountant FAQs
Does 42 Advisory audit SMSFs?
No. Every SMSF must be audited annually by an independent approved SMSF auditor registered with ASIC, and independence standards prevent a firm from auditing funds it administers. We prepare the fund's financial statements and annual return, then coordinate the independent audit — assembling the audit file, appointing the auditor and responding to queries — so the audit runs efficiently.
Can my SMSF buy the premises my business operates from?
In some circumstances, yes. Business real property — property used wholly and exclusively in one or more businesses — is an exception to the general prohibition on SMSFs acquiring assets from related parties (s 66, SIS Act). The acquisition must be at market value and any lease back to your business must be on arm's length commercial terms at market rent. Whether the strategy suits your circumstances is a licensed financial advice question; we handle the accounting, tax and compliance execution.
Can my business rent premises from my SMSF?
Yes, where the property qualifies as business real property and the lease is genuinely commercial: a properly executed lease, market rent supported by evidence such as an independent rental appraisal, rent paid in full and on time, and rent reviews applied. Arrangements that drift from commercial terms risk the fund's income being taxed as non-arm's length income at 45%, and will attract auditor and ATO attention.
Can an SMSF borrow to buy commercial property?
Only through a limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA) under ss 67A–67B of the SIS Act. The borrowing must relate to a single acquirable asset held in a separate holding trust, the lender's recourse is limited to that asset, and borrowed funds cannot be used to improve the asset. LRBAs are restrictive and structuring errors are costly to unwind — legal, lending and licensed financial advice is required alongside the accounting work.
What records does an SMSF need to keep for audit?
The records must support every position in the financial statements: bank statements, contribution and rollover documentation, market valuations for fund assets (including annual property valuations), executed lease agreements and rent records for property, loan documents for any LRBA, trustee minutes and resolutions, the fund's investment strategy, and insurance considerations documented. Incomplete records are the most common cause of audit delays and qualifications.
When must the SMSF audit be completed?
The auditor must be appointed at least 45 days before the SMSF annual return is due for lodgement, and the return cannot be lodged until the audit report has been received. In practice, we prepare the audit file well ahead of the lodgement deadline so audit queries can be resolved without time pressure.
Can 42 Advisory tell me whether I should set up an SMSF?
Not as a recommendation — advising you to establish an SMSF is financial product advice that requires an Australian Financial Services Licence or appropriate authorisation. What we can do is provide factual information about how SMSFs are taxed and administered, explain the compliance obligations involved, and work with a licensed financial adviser who can assess whether an SMSF suits your circumstances.