SPAA to publish revised accreditation programs

Peter Burgess

The SMSF Professionals’ Association of Australia (SPAA) is set to make public its revised Self-Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF) Specialist Adviser and new SMSF Specialised Auditor accreditation programs — both designed to boost members’ performance.

SPAA directors Peter Burgess and Sharyn Long’s presentation at the SPAA conference in Brisbane yesterday on the new accreditation processes came a day after Australian Taxation Office commissioner Michael D’Ascenzo spoke (at the same convention) about how poor a job many SMSF approved auditors are doing.

Long said the new SMSF Specialised Auditor (SSAud) accreditation program, which has only recently been finalised, will ensure auditors have the necessary skills, knowledge, experience and integrity to carry out proper audits. To receive SSAud accreditation, practitioners will need to be SPAA General Members, satisfy minimum education and skills requirements, pass an exam and agree to conduct audits in accordance with the newly-developed SPAA Code of Professional Conduct and the AUASB SMSF Audit Guidance Statement, which is set for release in April or May this year.

In response to concerns that an unacceptable number of SMSF auditors have a personal interest in at least some of the funds they audit, practitioners will also need to satisfy independence criteria.

Burgess said changes to the SMSF Specialist Adviser (SSA) examination were designed to encourage and enable more practitioners to apply for accreditation.

The changes include making the seven short answer questions in the examination available to practitioners two weeks beforehand.

“We wanted to make [the examination] more conducive to adult learning. The revised exam should enable more practitioners to meet the necessary requirements.

Burgess said SPAA is also upgrading its website to include a new tool that will give practitioners a much better idea of whether or not they have the requisite skills and experience for accreditation.

SPAA reiterated that it wanted to have a specialised adviser appointed to every SMSF in Australia by 2011. Currently, about half of all SPAA members are specialist advisers, but the organisation hopes to encourage many more to apply.