frequently asked questions

Noone can deny the world of money, tax and finance is a complicated one. Even the professsionals have to ensure they keep up their research and professional development on a regular basis. As there are so many areas of possible inquiry we have organised the frequently asked questions we receive as follows:

accounting & taxation services
changing accountants
tax planning services
audit services
due diligence and valuation services
self managed superannuation services
management accounting and business services
wealth management services

Of course if you have questions not covered here please call us on 1300 797 858.

accounting & taxation services:

Can I get a fixed fee?

Yes, we will provide a written fee estimate for accounting and tax services clients. To take up a fixed fee offer you simply engage us using our normal engagement letter and terms agreement - the fixed fee letter is referenced in this engagement which binds us to the price as long as the job does not significantly change.

What do you need from me to do my accounting and tax work?

We need your substantiation documentation or your MYOB data file for your business or investment entity, and your written undertaking that you have the substantiation records for our query where required. We can then take that information, input it into our Accounting and Taxation software and prepare accounts and reports for analysis and adjustment in accordance with Australian Accounting Standards. We then produce a taxation reconciliation and a tax return. Your tax returns are going to produce different information as compared to your financial reports (different net income for instance) because of the differences between Financial Accounting and Australian Tax Law in most situations. We can explain these differences to you as required.

When can I get my accounting and tax work done?

You can bring your work in for us to start on in July - as soon as you have all the relevant information. We have an early bird offer of 30 days retire of completed work for clients who provide all their data and responses to our queries before August 30.

When is my Tax Return due to be lodged with the ATO?

This depends on a number of things - whether you are up to date with your lodgments, whether you have any new entities, what type of entity it is, whether you are currently registered with a tax agent etc. If you ask us about this we can advise you of your lodgment dates.

What do you provide me when you have finished the job?

We give you final reports - copies of the tax returns and annual financial reports where financial accounting has been provided. We also provide documents for you to authorise the lodgment of the returns and do not lodge the returns until these are signed by you. We use electronic lodgment which speeds up the ATO assessment substantially in most cases. We also can provide electronic .PDF copies of these documents as requested. If you require it we can also provide adjusting journals for your bookkeeping files in MYOB and if you would prefer it, we can make the adjusting journals for you.

Can I get a referral to a good bookkeeper?

Yes, we have good relationships with some excellent bookkeepers and can refer you. We also have in-house bookkeeping trainers - certified MYOB trainers. We can coach and provide ongoing support in this area. Our costs for this however are not as cheap as a bookkeeper who operates independently. This is due to the certification levels and liability of our bookkeepers to get it right (since they work for us we are responsible and so have a supervision and review process that results in higher cost). You may wish to use our bookkeeping service just to get you started.

How do I engage you?

You email or call us expressing your interest and we will take care of the rest.

changing accountants:

How do I leave my existing accountant to join you?

You come and see us and discuss your needs and decide if we can be of assistance. Yo may wish to get a fixed fee estimate for the first year's work - if you are able to outline the scope of the work. If you are happy to move to us you formally engage us with our standard engagement and terms agreement. We recommend you then contact your existing accountant and explain that you are leaving and that ascendia will be in touch shortly to request some information in the normal manner.

Are there any reasons why you couldn't take me on as a client?

We are not able to take on a client if there are ethical reasons that prevent us from doing so. Your former accountant is obliged to advise us if there are any ethical reasons why we should not take you on as a new client. We also may not be able to obtain information, assistance or documents from your former accountant if you have not paid all your fees, including a final fee for any unbilled work and preparation of information and deletion of your entities from their systems. You should not leave documents with your former accountant and should seek to leave on good terms (eg. paying out their none-fide final fees) because it is very beneficial to be able to request their assistance if required in the future.

tax planning services:

Should I request a tax plan be done in advance of the end of the financial year?

You can ask us and we will be able to advise whether this is likely to be worthwhile. We will not usually undertake a tax planning exercise unless there is a substantial benefit. The only circumstance where this may not be the case is where there has been significant change in your circumstances and we are suggesting a tax plan to ensure no surprises - to obtain certainty for you.

How much does a tax plan cost?

This depends on the scope of the job and the complexity of your affairs - we can provide a fee estimate. A tax plan should cost about 10-20% of what you can save in tax.

audit services:

What audit services do you provide?

We are not certified company auditors but when and if clients require it, we work with a certified company audit specialist. However we are qualified auditors in the following areas:

1. Building Services Authority reports (up to 20M turnover)

2. Self Managed Superannuation

3. Real Estate trust funds

4. Resort Manager trust funds

due diligence and valuation services:

What types of businesses do you have experience in valuing and undertaking due diligence in relation to?

We provide these services in relation to the purchase and preparation for sale of:

management rights businesses
real estate agents
IT services providers
transport businesses
restaurants / cafe's
property developments
newsagents

Do I need a specialised "valuer"?

Not in our opinion. We have worked in conjunction with specialised valuers in specific business areas and found that they do not provide any additional benefit and yet tend to cost substantially more than a certified practising accountant with experience in the area. If you require assistance in an area that involves a business we have limited experience in, we will refer you to another certified practising or chartered accountant who does have recent experience in the area.

Is there any situation where I should ensure I use a CPA or CA in public practice?

Large business should be examined in detail by a currently practising professional accountant - regardless of the industry. A detailed understanding of the way balance sheets work is recommended for ensuring that you are getting what you pay for. Due Diligence involves assuring the validity of the information about the individual business itself - not just applying the business data provided to benchmarks obtained from an "expert" or specialist in the industry.

Are there any problems with using a specialist due diligence or valuation professional?

Benchmarks are published and readily available - you do not need an industry 'specialist' to give you information on what these benchmarks are. What is important is not data about the industry (which is widely available) but objectivity and independence in advice.

The problem with Industry specialists is that their activity is often too narrowly focussed - undermining their ability to be objective. They often have close relationships with business brokers and financiers and there may be some potential for conflict of interest in valuing a business or undertaking due diligence examination and analysis. It is important not to pay too much for a business and to know which business to walk away from. A 'specialist' who only works in that field is dependent on maintaining close relationships with the circle of people that earn their living from selling those types of businesses.

We offer objective and independent due diligence and valuation services. We operate a full service professional public practice and are not overly reliant on any one type of work which enables us to maintain our independence and objectivity.

self managed superannuation services:

Who actually does the accounting and tax return work for your self managed funds?

We do not send offshore, outsource, or sub-contract this work. Your personal information is not sent out of our office.

Your privacy and security is maintained by reducing the number of persons who deal with your work and the number of times it is transported and communicated - it is all done in house. Identity fraud is a major security issue and so we ensure all work is done at the office that you choose to be serviced by.

Our staff have strong skills in self-managed superannuation services. All the work is done by our permanent professional staff in the offices that service you.

What kinds of assets can I have in my Self Managed Super Fund (SMSF)?

You can have almost any type of investment grade asset. Examples include a rental house, a commercial property, Australian shares, shares listed on an overseas stock exchange, listed property trusts, listed income securities such as bonds, notes and hybrids, term deposits, bank accounts, exchange traded funds, managed funds operating under Australian regulatory regime, unlisted shares in Australian companies, unlisted shares in offshore companies, options, futures contracts.

There are however a number of rules about these assets when held by a super fund. Choices may be impacted by the general rule that requires assets within a super fund be for the purpose of providing a retirement income. This removes the ability to use a super fund for trading shares, or derivatives or housing stock (or anything). The way in which assets are managed is an important issue in preserving the tax benefits of the super fund. These benefits are substantial and so are the penalties for breaching the rules.

An asset cannot be held that is used or provides benefit to a member or trustee or their associates (it must be an arms length investment), so holiday units used by trustees or rented to family are out.

We recommend you get advice from a Certified Financial Planner with strong experience in self managed superannuation before deciding to use an SMSF or what assets to buy or how to conduct an SMSF.

Do you provide comprehensive advice?

The short answer is yes. Clients can choose between two levels of advice:

1. Compliance Advice

This is provided by our Tax & Accounting Partners and is designed for trustees who are wanting to "do-it-themselves" and do not require any more than advice about technical accounting and tax matters. This level of advice does not discuss assets, their management or how to manage them - other than to highlight any compliance problems after they have occurred.

This service also advises in relation to preparing the accounts and tax return in accordance with the relevant regulations and statutory requirements. Compliance advice will indicate that you cannot trade shares (can only buy and hold and prudently review), cannot own an in-house asset within a super fund, cannot exceed contribution limits and what they may be at that time, what the tax obligations are - if any - and so on. This level of advice is available where ascendia is your accountant preparing the accounts and tax returns for your super fund.

2. Comprehensive Advice

This level of advice provides the same as for item 1. but also includes specific asset advice, recommendations on type of and specific assets, time to buy and sell assets, the appropriate type of assets for the fund to meet its obligations, contribution management plans to maximise getting your capital into super (if that is appropriate), how to rollover other funds, whether to rollover other funds, the benefit of starting an income stream (timing) in the context of your other affairs, and so on.

It is a full and comprehensive service encompassing all things relating to the self managed super fund. This level of advice is available to wealth management clients where ascendia is managing the assets in your fund.

Do you assist me to organise my audit?

Yes we can organise this for you. You don't have to do anything.

Can I operate an account-based pension from my SMSF?

Yes, our accounting / compliance level service supports this. You organise your assets and income and we provide accounting and tax services that report the income drawdown phase of the fund. We have all the relevant software and skills and undertake this service for a number of clients.

Our wealth management service also supports this service and does it all for you.

management accounting and business services:

When should I consider getting professional assistance with my internal business reporting and management?

When you think you may be able to:

grow your business
sell your business
exit your business with another member taking over
expand your business into other geographical areas or services.

If you are an existing accounting and taxation services client, we will advise you when we think you should discuss your business and it's potential with one of our business services consultants - Chris Robinson or Andre Cox.

What outcomes can I obtain from this type of support?

While every business is different, by working closely with client businesses we have variously achieved:

increases in total revenue (25 - 100% in a year)
increases in profit levels (increases in GP %)
increases in the EBIT multiple obtainable / obtained on sale
increases in staff productivity levels
reductions in reporting lags

wealth management services:

Can you manage my self managed super fund assets?

Yes we can provide a full asset management service across all asset classes. While we currently do not advise on derivatives we have a working relationship with an experienced derivatives adviser and can refer you to him where required. He currently works with some of our SMSF clients.

Does it matter where these assets are currently held / what my fund are invested in?

As long as these assets are:

held in accordance with the compliance requirements and,
documents are available to enable us to identify them and,
they are held by the super fund

we can organise for them to be rationalised into one portfolio reporting process and provide a comprehensive portfolio service for you.

Do you charge commissions?

Ascendia no longer accepts commissions on new portfolios (unless forced to do so by particular organisations - in which case we refund these) and offer a fee for service only. We get paid by you paying us directly for our work at an agreed rate.

Where a commission is automatically paid to ascendia we are unable to prevent it. For example we receive commission from Macquarie Bank in relation to the bank accounts we recommend to administer a portfolio. That's just the way they do business. We therefore refund this commission from our bank account to yours.

We rebate other commissions received from fund managers directly. This can result in a substantial saving for you and is easily outlined if you want some detail.

We have received commissions in the past and as agreed with these clients we continue to receive commissions in relation to these services. Our service provision is a direct asset model and we are as a result now able to offer a truly fee for service.

We think you will find our fees a lot cheaper than the competition!

Do you charge a fee for service / for your activity?

Yes. We do not charge a % based fee on assets managed. We charge a genuine fee for the activity involved. We provide written quotes and these are fixed for the year.

What asset / investment reporting can I get?

We now provide online via our web site consolidated reporting of all assets. You can check on your portfolio anytime, anywhere you can get access to the internet. If you would rather have regular paper reports we do this by arrangement.

How often will you review my portfolio and advise me?

We normally review your portfolio twice a year, however this depends on the portfolio and your circumstances, as well as the economic circumstances. We discuss this with you at engagement but ultimately your porfolio is reviewed as often as you want it to be . We will advise what we think is appropriate but it is up to you - it is your money.

How do you advise me?

We advise in writing, which we can provide by email and in hardcopy. We also carefully explain our written advice to ensure it is clear - and that you have the opportunity for comment and questions. You may ask that we revisit an issue and you may make amendments to our advice because of your specialist knowledge of a particular area. Yo are in the driving seat and we are very careful to work as a team member with you - it's a partnership - but ultimately you decide how your money is invested.

What substantiation / records management service can I get?

We collate and provide a comprehensive substantiation file - which we make available to you and your accountant or advisers on request. We as a matter of routine - make this available annually to for your compliance and preparation of accounts and tax returns. We now make this available via our client login at our web site - in .PDF form - for your convenience.

What support can you give me from day to day?

Our client service officer is available on a day to day basis to assist in any request you have for service - whether it is the provision of a report, some documents or assistance to obtain forms to transfer funds.

Can I get a fixed fee quote?

Yes. Once we have reviewed the portfolio we can provide a written quote. We do not charge for this service.

If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to email them.

ascendia: friendly and professional support