SMSF Accountant Costs Explained
By SMSFMatch · 5 min read · Published
General information only; it does not consider your circumstances. Read our disclaimer.
An annual accounting fee is only useful when you know what it buys. Two SMSF quotes can look very different because one covers a narrow year-end service and the other bundles administration, software or third-party work.
This guide helps you request comparable quotes. It does not publish a market price range: current fees need to come from the providers, based on the work they have agreed to undertake.
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Separate the accountant’s fee from the fund’s total costs
Accounting is one part of the cost of running an SMSF. Other expenses can include audit, investment, insurance, legal or financial-advice costs and applicable government charges. Some may be bundled into a service quote and others paid separately.
Start with a list of who invoices for what. If the accountant arranges another service, ask whether it appears on their invoice, is billed by the third party or is excluded entirely. A package price should not be read as the fund’s complete annual budget without checking the inclusions.
Sources and further reading
Ask every provider to quote on the same brief
Explain the records you have, the financial years involved and the services you want. Tell the business about any work already completed by another provider. Ask what assumptions its quote makes about the completeness of your records, transaction volume, holdings and member activity.
Also ask how the price changes if an assumption proves wrong. For example, does additional work require a new quote, an hourly charge or a separate fixed fee? Obtain the approval process in writing so that a later invoice is not your first indication that the scope changed.
- Does the quote include GST, where applicable?
- Is the first year priced differently from later years?
- Which assumptions could change the fee?
- Who approves additional work, and how is that approval recorded?
Use an inclusion checklist
Copy the same checklist into each enquiry and ask the provider to mark each item as included, excluded or separately quoted. You are not asking for every service; you are making the differences visible. Record the response next to the proposed annual fee.
| Item | What to clarify |
|---|---|
| Accounts and annual return | Which documents are prepared, reviewed and lodged? |
| Audit | Is coordination included, and is the auditor’s fee separate? |
| Software and data feeds | Who pays subscriptions and which accounts are supported? |
| Questions during the year | What contact is included, and when does additional billing start? |
| Specialist or corrective work | How are amendments, valuations or missing historical records quoted? |
| Change of provider | Are record exports, handover or termination costs payable? |
Keep one-off work visible
Ask the provider to distinguish recurring services from establishment, transfer, catch-up or wind-up work. You may only need one of those tasks once, but it can materially affect the first or final year of an engagement. Confirm whether a promotional fee has an end date and what follows it.
If a task has not been priced, write ‘not yet quoted’ rather than entering zero in your comparison. Obtain a separate explanation of any specialist input. For example, a valuation or legal document may be delivered by another business whose scope and fees need their own confirmation.
Ask whether paying monthly changes the total or simply spreads an annual charge. Check any minimum term, notice period and fee treatment if you change providers partway through a year. Keep copies of the terms you actually accepted.
Compare the service as well as the bill
A quote comparison should include expected response times, who reviews the work and how you receive your documents. Decide whether the service gives you a process you understand and can follow. Do not assume a larger fee guarantees quality or that the lowest headline figure represents the lowest total cost.
Before accepting, ask the provider to confirm the completed scope in writing. Keep the annual fee, separate charges, unresolved questions and trustee tasks on the same page. That makes it easier to check the engagement later and to explain what changed if next year’s fee is different.
- All required tasks have an identified provider.
- Separate charges are shown or flagged for a further quote.
- The approval process for additional work is clear.
- The communication and handover arrangements are understood.
- No market average has been treated as a quote for this fund.