What is a SAN?
Approved self-managed super fund (SMSF) auditors who register with the Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) are provided with an SMSF auditor number (SAN). Each SAN is unique to the individual who applied to be an auditor.
A SAN is included in each SMSF annual return, to identify who audited the fund prior to SMSF annual return lodgment.
What is SAN misuse?
SAN misuse occurs when a SAN is included in the SMSF annual return but either:
- an audit has not been completed by the auditor with that SAN
- the SMSF annual return was lodged prior to the completion of an audit.
We may refer a tax agent to the Tax Practitioners BoardExternal Link (TPB) if we find that they have purposefully:
- included an incorrect SAN in an SMSF annual return
- lodged an SMSF annual return prior to completion of an audit.
The TPB may take action for breach of the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA) Code of Professional ConductExternal Link. These actions can include:
- a written caution
- an order
- suspension or termination of registration.
We may also take action against SMSF trustees who have deliberately misused a SAN.
Checking the client list
You can request a list of all SMSFs that reported your SAN.
You can use this list to compare it to your own record of completed audits. You should contact us as soon as possible if you:
- identify a fund on the client list that you didn't audit
- audited a fund but the date is incorrect
- audited a fund that doesn’t appear on the client list.
To request a list or to report any SAN misuse, contact us via the secure mail function in Online services for business.
When an audit complete advice (ACA) has been lodged and it matches the details in the SMSF annual return, we don't need to ask auditors to confirm the same details in the client list. Therefore, the list will only contain funds where:
- we find discrepancies between auditor details in the SMSF annual return and an ACA
- no ACA has been lodged to confirm that an audit was completed.
Audit complete advice
We use the ACA to gain assurance that:
- an SMSF has been audited
- the correct SAN was reported on the SMSF annual return
- the audit was completed prior to lodgment.
We recommend auditors lodge an ACA immediately after completing an audit, unless a bulk ACA template is used.
Instructions for lodging an ACA (including using the bulk ACA template) can be found at Approved SMSF auditors in Online services for business.