By William Fettes,Senior Associate,([email protected]), DBA Lawyers
The website for DBA Lawyers’ Annual Update Service has been updated with a number of improvements for subscribers, including a fully integrated user experience for those clients who are registered with DBA Online— our online ordering platform.
This article sets out the numerous benefits and features of the service for advisers and SMSF trustees alike.
What is the Annual Update Service?
The Annual Update Service provides a convenient and sound way of ensuring that the governing rules of an SMSF are kept up-to-date on an ongoing annual basis.
This ensures that SMSF trustees and advisers have maximum strategic flexibility and choices under the legislative framework, as well as general peace of mind in relation to compliance requirements. As discussed further below, this service also ensures SMSF governing rules keep pace with ongoing legislative and other changes.
The Annual Update Service works as follows:
- Annual Update Service subscribers have access to a secure homepage when they log into the DBA Lawyers’ website: https://www.dbalawyers.com.au/annual-update-service/
- Tailored resolutions can be downloaded from the subscriber’s homepage.
- New governing rules (and accompanying PDS materials) for the SMSF are contained on the SMSF’s homepage. By executing the tailored resolutions, those governing rules will become the governing rules for the SMSF.
- For every 1 July the following, until an SMSF unsubscribes, will occur:
- A new set of governing rules will be added to the SMSF’s homepage. (This by itself has no legal effect.)
- Trustee resolutions to adopt the new governing rules will be placed on the SMSF’s homepage and a reminder will be emailed out.
- The trustee resolutions can then be printed and executed by the relevant parties. Upon execution, the new governing rules will be adopted by the SMSF. The executed resolutions can be uploaded to the subscriber’s homepage.
Access for advisers
At the fund-level level, individual mum and dad subscribers can authorise particular advisers (e.g, accountants, financial advisers and auditors) so that that they have convenient access to the fund’s source documents.
However, this access will be automatic for advisers who have arranged an Annual Update Service subscription for their clients, as advisers in that case obtain their own adviser portal to view and manage all their SMSF clients all in one place.
Document repository
Executed copies of trustee resolutions can be scanned and updated to the homepage, as well as scanned copies of any prior documents (eg, deed of establishment).
This way, your SMSF homepage can become a repository for all your SMSF deed documents.
Why use the Annual Update Service?
SMSFs are governed not only by tax and superannuation legislation, but also the terms of the governing rules of the fund which is generally contained in a trust deed.(An SMSF is a special type of trust and deeds are common legal instruments for recording and varying the terms of the trust.)
Accordingly, as the law changes, an SMSF’s governing rules must be periodically updated to keep pace with legislative and other developments and to ensure the options available for SMSF trustees and members under the law are appropriately covered in the governing rules.
In the context of the rapidly changing landscape of superannuation law, where successive governments keep changing the rules, the Annual Update Service offers great value by ensuring that the SMSF deed can be relied upon.
For example, if there is a change of Federal Government in May 2019, a Labor Government has proposed numerous substantial adverse changes that may render many SMSF deeds and governing rules out of date. Refer here for a summary of Labor’s proposed changes.
For the above reasons, trustees and advisers who would like to ensure that their SMSF deeds and governing rules are always kept up-to-date should consider subscribing to DBA Lawyers’ Annual Update Service.
DBA Lawyers’ latest and greatest deed
By using the Annual Update Service, you will always have the latest SMSF deed provided by DBA Lawyers. DBA Lawyers are recognised throughout Australia by many accounting, legal and financial planning firms as the leading SMSF deed supplier. Their SMSF deed is updated on at least an annual basis to account for reforms, ensuring the flexibility to fully take advantage of new strategies and to comply with legislative developments.
For further information on the advantages of a DBA Lawyers’ SMSF deed:
https://www.dbalawyers.com.au/pensions/dba-lawyers-smsf-deed/
https://www.dbalawyers.com.au/announcements/advantages-of-the-dba-lawyers-smsf-deed/
https://www.dbalawyers.com.au/smsf-deeds/choose-dba-deed-one-many-reasons/
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This article is for general information only and should not be relied upon without first seeking advice from an appropriately qualified professional.