Are SMSF audits too expensive?

The cost of a fund audit for a DIY super fund can depend on many factors including the following:

• complexity of the super fund
• number of members
• number of investment strategies
• number of transactions
• complexity of investments
• whether the super fund is in pension phase
• whether the fund has members in both accumulation and pension phase
• whether the trust deed has been tailored for the specific needs of fund members.

You are right to be asking questions when you’re not sure about the cost of the service that you’re receiving. If a SMSF provider is not willing to provide the information necessary for you to make a decision, then don’t use them.

If you are concerned about how a SMSF auditor is charging for the service, you can also pass this information onto the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which now regulates and registers approved SMSF auditors. I am also interested in hearing from other readers about the costs of running a SMSF – feel free to share your experiences in the comments section at the end of article (we do not publish the names of service providers or products in the comments section).

How much do SMSF audits cost, on average?

I can offer you two reference points for you to compare your SMSF audit costs with those costs incurred by other SMSFs:

• Analysis based on 32 SMSF service providers
• Statistics released by the ATO on SMSF audit costs

Based on the research of 32 SMSF service providers that I reviewed when writing DIY Super For Dummies, 3^rd edition (Wiley)(and subsequent reviews of SMSF service providers, the fees charged for completing a super fund’s annual return plus the SMSF audit, range typically start from $700 and can cost up to $2,200, although competition among specialist SMSF auditors has lowered audit fees only for simple SMSFs, to below $500. If a super fund has a lot of investment transactions, or complicated investments, some SMSF service providers charge up to $3,000 and perhaps more.

A fee of $2,200 for the audit and income tax return of a $200,000 SMSF may seem high, but it is difficult to comment without knowing what additional work (if any) the SMSF provider has done on the fund’s behalf. For example, costs may have been higher if the reports prepared by the SMSF trustees were not compatible with the accounting and reporting systems of the SMSF provider, requiring rekeying of data. The fee may also include the annual ATO supervisory levy of $259 payable by an SMSF.

The ATO has also published some interesting data on SMSF audit fees which may help you assess your SMSF’s audit costs. In the table below, you can find the average and median audit fees reported in the 2016 SMSF annual return (and earlier years). A median is simply the middle figure in the complete range of costs from highest to lowest. The average is the total audit costs for all SMSFs divided by the number of SMSFs who lodged the 2016 SMSF annual return.

The total average audit fee is $694 for the 2016 year, while the median audit fee was $550.

Warning: It is important to distinguish between the fund audit, and the preparation of fund accounts and lodgement of the income tax return. Note that the costs outlined in the table below do not necessarily include accounting fees for non-audit work.

Table 1: SMSF audit fees (for year ended 30 June 2016, and earlier years)

SMSF auditor fees	Average audit fee	Median audit fee
2016	$694	$550
2015	$754	$550
2014	$714	$550
2013	$736	$550
2012	$571	$462
2011	$595	$481
2010	$623	$495
2009	$659	$495

Source: ato.gov.au, Self-managed superannuation funds: A statistical overview 2015-2016’ and ‘Self-managed superannuation funds: A statistical overview 2014-2015’ and ‘Self-managed superannuation funds: A statistical overview 2013-2014’ and ‘Self-managed superannuation funds: A statistical overview 2012-2013’.

Have SMSF audit costs increased over time?

The ATO also provides data on the percentage of SMSFs that pay different levels of audit fees. Table 2 below lists audit fee ranges, and the percentage of SMSFs that pay those levels of fees.

Note: According to the ATO, over the 4 years to the end of the 2015 financial year, SMSFs reported they were paying more for audit fees, while for the 2016 year, SMSFs reported paying slightly less for audit fees. For the 2016 year, 37% of SMSFs paid less than $500 in audit fees, likewise for the 2015 year, 37% of SMSFs paid less than $500 in approved auditor fees, compared with 55% in 2012, and 54% in 2011 (and compared with 52% of SMSFs in 2010 and 50% in 2009). Audit costs at the upper end seem to be trending downwards: For the 2016 SMSF return, 2.0% of SMSFs paid $2,000 or more for audit fees, compared with 2.6% paying $2000 or more for 2015 year, compared with 2.8% paying $2,000 or more for 2014 year, 3.4% for 2013 year, and compared with 3.4% in 2009.

Are SMSF costs going up, or coming down? The percentage of SMSFs paying $1,000 or more in audit fees has stagnated over the 7-year period from 2009 (15.4%) to 2014 (13.7%), to 2016 (12.0%) (see Table 2 below), The percentage of SMSFs paying less than $500 has fallen from 50.1% (2009) to 36.8% in 2014, but slightly increased to 37.2% in 2016. Further, the average auditor fee for 2016 year, was$694, compared with $754 for the 2015 year, and $714 for 2014, and compared with $659 for the 2009 year, and $623 for 2010 year.

Although not explored by the ATO, since SMSF auditors must now be registered by ASIC to operate as an approved SMSF auditor, this extra requirement may explain the higher cost of SMSF audits for the 2013, 2014 and 2015 years (see Table 1 earlier). Audit costs charged to SMSFs in the future may increase due to the greater compliance costs associated with operating as an ASIC-registered approved auditor, although these extra compliance costs may be offset by specialist auditors streamlining the audit process.

Table 2: SMSF audit fees: How much do SMSFs pay?

Audit fee range	2008	2009	2011	2013	2014	2015	2016
$1-$499	51.1%	50.1%	53.8%	36.8%	36.8%	36.9%	37.2%
$500-$999	33.5%	34.6%	33.8%	47.9%	49.4%	50.1%	50.6%
$1000-$1,999	10.9%	11.3%	9.3%	11.9%	10.9%	10.5%	10.0%
$2,000 and above	4.4%	4.0%	2.6%	3.4%	2.8%	2.6%	2.0%
Total	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%

Source: ato.gov.au, Self-managed superannuation funds: A statistical overview 2015-2016’ and ‘Self-managed superannuation funds: A statistical overview 2014-2015’ and ‘Self-managed superannuation funds: A statistical overview 2013-2014’ and ‘Self-managed superannuation funds: A statistical overview 2012-2013’ and ‘Self-managed superannuation funds: A statistical overview 2011-2012’.

For more information on SMSF costs, and other SMSF statistics…

For more information on SMSF costs and other statistics, see the following SuperGuide articles:

• SMSFs: ATO supervisory levy must be paid in advance
• SMSFs: How much does a DIY super fund cost?
• SMSFs: Enough super to justify SMSF running costs?
• SMSF confidential: the inside story on DIY super funds
• SMSF investment: What assets do DIY super trustees prefer?
• Do you fit the latest profile of a ‘typical’ SMSF trustee?
• Large funds outperform SMSFs over 10 years, just
• SMSFs surge towards 600,000 controlling $700bn in assets
• Oops! Top 10 SMSF boo-boos