SMSF- Are there better options than esuperfund.com.au?

S

sberends

Member
Hi Guys,

I am looking into esuperfund, but I am curious to know if any of you have found better options. On the one hand, they seem cheap. On the other hand, they seem quite rigid in what financial institutions you use. Those of you who use esuperfund, are you happy with the service?

Oh- I probably need something rather easy to begin with.

SB
 
I wonder if you could go with eSuperfund and then move away later? I don't know if that is possible though.

Cleardocs - getting a SMSF trust deed - then doing it yourself is a good way to go. But it is a little confusing and mind boggling .. arrgh ... unless of course you have an accountant in the family.....
 
sberends said:
Hi Guys,

I am looking into esuperfund, but I am curious to know if any of you have found better options. On the one hand, they seem cheap. On the other hand, they seem quite rigid in what financial institutions you use. Those of you who use esuperfund, are you happy with the service?

Oh- I probably need something rather easy to begin with.

SB
Click to expand...

Easy translates into less money when you retire. Think and grow rich, no one has your financial interest at heart like you do.

Kind Regards
non recourse
 
I am thinking rich even as we speak.

granted no one cares more about how well off you are when you retire but if the government keeps moving the goalposts then unless you stay one step ahead you are going to come unstuck, you might not even know about it until you retire and try to get your money.

I don't mind paying for good service if it means I don't have to have a second job as a tax accountant and a third job on the sharemarkets.

I just want to be able to squander my money at a slower rate than the government. I have already discounted any money in my super account as being a donation to the country, I am not expecting to live off it, that is what the houses and precious metals are for.

With the esuperfund (which I am going to set up one day) I can buy some more PMs and use the money I am currently spending on PMs to pay down my debt. It is essentially using dead money that is sitting in a employers superfund which they have already lost a lot of and are threatening to cut the benefits down anyway.

I haven't heard of any others, and to be honest if you need advice you are more likely to get some if you use eSuperfund over some obscure service which may be cheaper, other people can't share their experiences if they are with another company.
 
I'm happy enough with them. When I was looking into it esuper was the only mob who said it was OK to purchase and physically hold PM's wherever you like and not have to disclose the location. Obvioulsy this aspect is important! I wouldn't mind knowing the ins and outs of doing it ourself. We are only purchasing pm's so I can't imagine there is much 'work' involved. The government moving the goal posts could be a problem though. Many people may think we are crazy putting all of our super into PM's but we dont' intend to rely on it to retire on so I'd rather have it invested into something like this rther than a super fund wasting all of it for us.
 
ajentjay said:
I'm happy enough with them. When I was looking into it esuper was the only mob who said it was OK to purchase and physically hold PM's wherever you like and not have to disclose the location.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be concerned about your situation in particular ajentjay, but be cautious of any advice you receive over the phone from esuperfund consultants. I have been landed in the shit today because I followed the advice of one of their consultants. I don't want to go into any detail as yet, I'm waiting to hear back from them and want them to have the opportunity to rectify the situation.

Hopefully I will have positive news to report back.

:mad:
 
Ok, 5:32 Melbourne time and one email from yesterday has gone unanswered (which has happened before). So I rang this afternoon and asked one of their consultants to call me back. This is not looking good from my perspective so here's the background.

In June this year silver stacker member DBP and I were talking about using SMSF money to buy collectables. I told him that I have used it to buy collectables as my Trust Deed specifically stated at 6.1.1.12 "Any other investment allowed by superannuation law that the trustee thinks appropriate."

He correctly informed me that under esuperfund's Terms and Conditions we are unable to purchase collectables and if we do so, esuperfund will immediately cease to act as our accountants.

Well didn't I shite myself?

So I rang one of their consultants and was told, that's ok, you shouldn't have but it won't be a problem, it's our auditors that get a bit upset about it, just make a minute and note what has happened and everything will be okay.

Well it's not. In a letter dated 19/10/2012 and received on the 31st October, we are told that esuperfund is no longer the accountant for our SMSF and that this decision is final and that the ATO has been notified.

Note that this is not a breach of any ATO requirement, it is just an esuperfund requirement.

Consequently, we have to find another accountant and as the closing date for self-preppers was the 31st of October, it's too late for us to self-lodge.

Anyway, I'm hoping esuperfund will see the light, considering their initial advice. I have the date and the time I spoke to a consultant, unfortunately I don't have the name of that person, or anything from them in writing.

There are quite a number of esuperfund members on this forum. Caveat emptor!!

So hopefully everything will get sorted tomorrow. :)
 
Yeah, Thanx Shiney... I just didn't feel confident having the Indian Ocean between me and my Super Fund Accountant, not to mention emailing all my personal details to the sub-continent. :/
 
I went with esuperfund to outsource the risk. I can't be arsed keeping up with changing legislation, they can do all that for me. I just want choice over investments.
 
Clawhammer said:
Yeah, Thanx Shiney... I just didn't feel confident having the Indian Ocean between me and my Super Fund Accountant, not to mention emailing all my personal details to the sub-continent. :/
Click to expand...
Cheers claw, in fairness to esuperfund, I have only dealt with one "foreign" consultant on the phone. I assume she was a Pinoy due to her accent, but whether she was here or in The Philippines I don't know.

@rbaggio - I chose them because of the ease of arranging everything and the 2 year deal I got, I just hope they see it from my point of view. Well you get what you pay for I guess. I'm trying to be optimistic but in reality, "wholesale" companies such as these exist on numbers, it's far easier for budget providers to utilize generic methods of operation to minimize cost a bit like Coffee Club and Dominoes Pizza I guess.

So here's hoping it works out anyway.
 
mmm....shiney! said:
Ok, 5:32 Melbourne time and one email from yesterday has gone unanswered (which has happened before). So I rang this afternoon and asked one of their consultants to call me back. This is not looking good from my perspective so here's the background.

In June this year silver stacker member DBP and I were talking about using SMSF money to buy collectables. I told him that I have used it to buy collectables as my Trust Deed specifically stated at 6.1.1.12 "Any other investment allowed by superannuation law that the trustee thinks appropriate."

He correctly informed me that under esuperfund's Terms and Conditions we are unable to purchase collectables and if we do so, esuperfund will immediately cease to act as our accountants.

Well didn't I shite myself?

So I rang one of their consultants and was told, that's ok, you shouldn't have but it won't be a problem, it's our auditors that get a bit upset about it, just make a minute and note what has happened and everything will be okay.

Well it's not. In a letter dated 19/10/2012 and received on the 31st October, we are told that esuperfund is no longer the accountant for our SMSF and that this decision is final and that the ATO has been notified.

Note that this is not a breach of any ATO requirement, it is just an esuperfund requirement.

Consequently, we have to find another accountant and as the closing date for self-preppers was the 31st of October, it's too late for us to self-lodge.

Anyway, I'm hoping esuperfund will see the light, considering their initial advice. I have the date and the time I spoke to a consultant, unfortunately I don't have the name of that person, or anything from them in writing.

There are quite a number of esuperfund members on this forum. Caveat emptor!!

So hopefully everything will get sorted tomorrow. :)
Click to expand...

Is your SMSF one that registered/started in the 11/12 year?
My understanding is that self preppers of established SMSFs have until 28 Feb 2013 to self lodge a paper tax return unless it is a newly established fund, they were late in putting in previous years returns, or notified by ATO of a 31 Oct 2012 lodgement date.
Mike.
 
MikeW said:
mmm....shiney! said:
Ok, 5:32 Melbourne time and one email from yesterday has gone unanswered (which has happened before). So I rang this afternoon and asked one of their consultants to call me back. This is not looking good from my perspective so here's the background.

In June this year silver stacker member DBP and I were talking about using SMSF money to buy collectables. I told him that I have used it to buy collectables as my Trust Deed specifically stated at 6.1.1.12 "Any other investment allowed by superannuation law that the trustee thinks appropriate."

He correctly informed me that under esuperfund's Terms and Conditions we are unable to purchase collectables and if we do so, esuperfund will immediately cease to act as our accountants.

Well didn't I shite myself?

So I rang one of their consultants and was told, that's ok, you shouldn't have but it won't be a problem, it's our auditors that get a bit upset about it, just make a minute and note what has happened and everything will be okay.

Well it's not. In a letter dated 19/10/2012 and received on the 31st October, we are told that esuperfund is no longer the accountant for our SMSF and that this decision is final and that the ATO has been notified.

Note that this is not a breach of any ATO requirement, it is just an esuperfund requirement.

Consequently, we have to find another accountant and as the closing date for self-preppers was the 31st of October, it's too late for us to self-lodge.

Anyway, I'm hoping esuperfund will see the light, considering their initial advice. I have the date and the time I spoke to a consultant, unfortunately I don't have the name of that person, or anything from them in writing.

There are quite a number of esuperfund members on this forum. Caveat emptor!!

So hopefully everything will get sorted tomorrow. :)
Click to expand...

Is your SMSF one that registered/started in the 11/12 year?
My understanding is that self preppers of established SMSFs have until 28 Feb 2013 to self lodge a paper tax return unless it is a newly established fund, they were late in putting in previous years returns, or notified by ATO of a 31 Oct 2012 lodgement date.
Mike.
Click to expand...

Mike, I started my fund November 2011, I have not submitted a return and am of the understanding (auditor advised) that I dont have to lodge my first return until Feb 2013, this seems to be contrary to your advice.
 
31 October 2012


Due date for lodging your SMSF annual return if:

you are a new registrant self-preparer
you are a self-preparer and had one or more returns outstanding at 30 June 2012
you are a self-preparer and your 2011 tax return was lodged late
you lodge through a registered tax agent and have one or more tax returns outstanding at 31 October 2012
we have directed you to lodge on this date.
Click to expand...

I assumed it meant that you are lodging an SMSF return as a self-prepper for the first time.
 
It's an interesting one. Because you would have been registered with a tax agent (eSuper) you should get an extension to lodge. A quick call (yeah right, quick) to the ATO and they will be able to advise of your lodgement date. Also, in situations like this they are usually very reasonable. If you are due 31 Oct they may put a stop action and give you time to get it sorted anyway. Even if none of that happens a late lodgement of a tax return will probably be a naughty smack and a 'don't do it again'. We recently picked up a client and lodged 6 years of an SMSF. He got some interest and fines, nothing more (there were a couple of extenuating circumstances - but pretty similar to your situation. Inaction by his previous tax agent). Good luck with it all.
 
I have stated on this site before that I would not use eSuper or anyone else to handle my super. To me self manage is self explanatory.
My son works as an accountant in a big Collins street practice and guess what? They send all the clients super data to india for the grunt work because it is cheaper. That is a recipe for fraud in my books.

So what choices do you have?

1. Buy a copy of the BGL software and do your own SMSF accounts and find an auditor who will use the BGL component of your software to do the audit and then you submit a paper copy of your BGL return to the tax office. You cannot electronically use the BGL software to lodge your return unless you are an accountant.

Doing it this way the cheapest I have seen was $400 to audit the fund and the annual BGL subscription after the first year is currently $431 = $831

2. If your not confident to do your own SMSF BGL accounts then find a local accountant. 75% of all accountants who do SMSF's accounts use BGL anyway. Again find an auditor that will use the BGL component to do the audit doing it this way is still cheaper. You would probably get away under $1500 provided you use either quickbooks/mMyob or like so the accountant is not having to spend a lot of time chasing down all your records

3. Get a bookeeeper who is familiar with BGL that works with an accountant who will then do your accounts and then have a auditor who will double handle all the paperwork to do the audit. Cost using three services probably around $3000 + thats the cost of not doing it yourself.

The audit part is now going to get very expensive because our super nanny state is going to make the auditors jump through a whole bunch of hoops. When tou look at the amount of assets they are auditing compared to SME and public companies its a fricken joke.

Kind Regards
non recourse
 
Good post there nonrecourse. Does BGL do anything substantially more than:

1. Prepare an annual operating statement and
2. Annual statement of the funds financial position

I assume it generates these from spreadsheets where the user inputs investments and can update periodically with their changes in value?
 
AngloSaxon said:
Good post there nonrecourse. Does BGL do anything substantially more than:

1. Prepare an annual operating statement and
2. Annual statement of the funds financial position

I assume it generates these from spreadsheets where the user inputs investments and can update periodically with their changes in value?
Click to expand...


Check this out. They have a wide variety of other software for companies etc. If you look at the pdf at the top of this link it goes into greater detail

http://www.bglcorp.com/products/simple-fund/introduction

Kind Regards
non recourse
 
Just letting everyone know, esuperfund never responded to my email or phone calls. So a word of warning to all those out there, do not assume that their consultant's advice is correct, or even followed through by esuperfund. Makes me wonder how much other advice they've given over the phone is not correct? What a bunch of jerks.

Thanks mike for the spreadsheet, will take a bit of time to get my head around I think, as you say, it was set up with your own needs in mind :)

I'm keenest to do nr's first point:

So what choices do you have?

1. Buy a copy of the BGL software and do your own SMSF accounts and find an auditor who will use the BGL component of your software to do the audit and then you submit a paper copy of your BGL return to the tax office. You cannot electronically use the BGL software to lodge your return unless you are an accountant.
Click to expand...

But first up, it'll be a phone call to the ATO to explain my situation.
 
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