When conducting an SMSF audit, auditors are required to follow the expectations set out by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). These expectations are designed to ensure audit evidence is complete, reliable, and properly documented before an audit is finalised.
While practices may have differed historically, completing an audit and then obtaining key signed documents retrospectively is not consistent with current ATO guidance.
The ATO's compliance audit guidance indicates that auditors should check that the fund's accounts and statements have been signed. In practice, this is generally satisfied by trustee signatures on the financial statements as a whole, rather than on each individual page or schedule.
Unsigned financial statements do not meet the ATO's expectations and cannot be relied upon as complete audit evidence.
The relevant ATO guidance can be found here: https://www.ato.gov.au/tax-and-super-professionals/for-superannuation-professionals/smsf-auditors/auditing-an-smsf/compliance-audit
In addition to signed financial statements, the ATO also expects auditors to obtain appropriate audit documentation, including:
These documents form part of the core audit file and must be in place before the audit can be completed.
The ATO's guidance on SMSF audit documentation is available here: https://www.ato.gov.au/tax-and-super-professionals/for-superannuation-professionals/smsf-auditors/auditing-an-smsf/audit-documentation
Requiring signed documents upfront helps ensure that:
For these reasons, all required documents must be signed and provided before an SMSF audit is finalised. This approach ensures consistency, compliance, and integrity across the audit process.
To assist trustees and advisers, our SMSF audit checklist outlines the documents required to complete an audit in line with ATO expectations.
You can view our audit checklist here: https://specialists.sharefile.com/share/view/s710c2940c65f4a2dadea0e567d3368d1