Category: Industry Update

The Cloudoffis Bulletin - March Edition

Welcome to our first bulletin of the year! 2025 is already in full swing, and we’re excited about what’s ahead.
Welcome to our first bulletin of the year! 2025 is already in full swing, and we’re excited about what’s ahead.

We’ve been busy hosting events, launching new features, and connecting with our customers – and there’s plenty more to come from Cloudoffis in 2025.

Read on for all the latest updates!

Tax Sorted – now live!

Did you know Cloudoffis has expanded beyond SMSF?

Tax Sorted is our new tax workpaper product, designed to help accountants standardise business and individual workpapers, driving efficiency and giving more control back to practices nationwide.

Curious to see it in action?

Below are just two of the many game-changing features accountants are loving!

Workpapers powered by

Cloudoffis AI

This 60-second video highlights how Tax Sorted automatically imports data into 50+ fields of the BAS workpaper, eliminating time-consuming data entry.


Tax Sorted and FYI Docs

FYI Docs integrates securely with Tax Sorted, enabling seamless document flow between both platforms. Easily load documents from FYI Docs into Tax Sorted and save final workpapers back into FYI Docs, ensuring document integrity and a smoother workflow.

Request a Demo

We’re thrilled to announce that Tax Sorted took home first prize in the Tech Pitch Competition!

Our Head of Sales, Kresant, went head-to-head with 16 other accounting tech products and came out on top. The judges were particularly excited about how Tax Sorted tackles major challenges for accountants by delivering efficiency, standardisation and control and loved the AI-powered features built into our workpaper solution.

Want to see what all the hype is about? Request a demo today!

Refer a friend – Get $500!

Refer another business or even another department within your own company to Cloudoffis, and you’ll receive a $500 account credit when they sign up!

Here’s how it works:

  • Refer a peer in your accounting or audit network
  • If they sign up, your company receives a $500 credit
  • The offer applies to all Cloudoffis audit and accounting products – SMSF Sorted, Tax Sorted or Auditomation.

Know someone who could benefit from greater efficiency, standardisation, and a more compliant workflow? Refer them today and start saving!

Refer Now

What our customers are saying!

“Cloudoffis is undoubtedly one of the best SMSF admin platforms on the market! Its powerful workpaper system enables instant document referencing, streamlines end-of-year preparation, and eliminates wasteful workarounds. We especially love features like AI Run, Dashboard, and Observation, which enhance efficiency and accuracy. Plus, the regular training sessions ensure our team stays up to date with the latest features – keeping us ahead of the game!”

Pearly Li S Yap, Assistant Manager

Ask Graeme webinar

A big thank you to everyone who attended our February Ask Graeme webinar! As always, Graeme Colley, our Independent Industry Advisor, provided valuable insights into the challenges accountants and auditors face daily.

Missed it? No worries! Watch the recording and read the blog summary.

Due to overwhelming demand, we’ll be hosting another webinar soon, so stay tuned! And don’t forget to check out Graeme’s Super News below for more industry updates.

Sydney roundtable: Auditors leaders breakfast

A huge thank you to our incredible Sydney auditing community for joining us at the Cloudoffis Leaders Breakfast earlier this month.

Hosted by Dilnar Tangri and Graeme Colley, with expert insights from Matina Moffitt from BDO, Tony Negline from Chartered Accountants Australia and NZ, and Tracey Besters from mySMSFjourney, the room was buzzing with discussion.

From the Grattan Institute report and the latest ATO speech at the SMSF conference to the critical role of peer reviews, there was no topic off the table.

A special shoutout to our esteemed guests, Larry, Jason, Philip, Peter, and Geoff, for your valuable contributions to the conversation. Events like these wouldn’t be the same without you!

Stay tuned for more Cloudoffis events coming soon!

Graeme’s Super news

We asked Graeme Colley to bring us up to speed on the latest in superannuation.

This month’s update covers:

  • Lifetime pensions – what’s changed?
  • The proposed $3 million super balance tax
  • Transfer Balance Cap increase
  • A review of NALI tax rulings

Plans to merge accounting and assurance standards bodies

Read the full article here

Product updates

Have you seen the Tax Sorted review summary?

Designed for improved efficiency and simplified workflows, the Tax Sorted Review Summary includes a Financial Summary with a 5-year trend analysis and enhanced Review Notes for seamless collaboration between preparers and reviewers.

Want more?

  • Track Workpaper progress, download files, and update job status.
  • Reply to timestamped review notes in organised threads.
  • Categorise review notes with predefined labels for quick navigation.
  • Notify team members, track progress with Open/Closed statuses, and ensure clear resolution.

Book a Demo

Observation tolerance in SMSF Sorted Pro & Auditomation

We’ve made it easier to manage observations in Sorted Pro and Auditomation!

Previously, minor discrepancies—like rounding differences in market values and incomes—were automatically flagged under Warnings, requiring manual review. But not anymore!

Now, you can set a tolerance level at the company level, allowing small variances to be automatically marked as Good To Go, eliminating unnecessary manual work. New info icons provide instant context too, simply hover over an observation to see its basis, ensuring quick and informed decision-making.

Auto-Tagging & New Rreports in SMSF Sorted

We’re making reviews faster and easier with new reports and auto-tagging for Annual Return schedules!

New reports in the reports section:

  • Unrealised Capital Gains Report
  • Member Transaction Detail Report

Auto-Tagging for annual return schedules

Annual Return schedules will now be automatically linked to the Income Tax Line Item in the following reports, reducing manual work and improving efficiency:

  • Annual Return – SMSF
  • Annual Return CGT Schedule – SMSF
  • Annual Return Losses Schedule – SMSF
  • Annual Return Trust Income Schedule – SMSF

Auditomation: Tip of the month

Did you know that in Auditomation, you have full control over the notifications you receive? You can customize your settings to choose which email and portal notifications you’d like to enable or disable.

Simply head to “Preferences” under your profile to tailor your notifications to suit your workflow. Stay informed without the clutter!

If you have any questions or need more information, feel free to reach out to Jocelyn, your Account Manager, at jocelyn@cloudoffis.com.au, and schedule a meeting. She’ll be happy to help!

Security & Compliance: ISO Certified

If your practice is looking to upgrade its tech systems with better security, Cloudoffis has you covered.

We’re proud to be ISO 27001 certified, ensuring the highest standards in data security and compliance. Plus, all our products include built-in tools to help keep your end-to-end processes secure and in check.

Find out more about how Cloudoffis securely manages your data.

That’s a wrap for this month! Stay tuned for more exciting updates, and as always, reach out if you have any questions or want to learn more about our latest features.

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Graeme’s Super News - March edition

The start of the year is now gathering pace and there are a few interesting snippets which have popped up in the news that you may like to consider.

Lifetime and life expectancy pensions

Just prior to the Christmas break the tax and super laws were amended to relax the commutation restrictions for anyone receiving a defined benefit pension from SMSFs and other small funds. Defined benefit pensions include lifetime pensions, life expectancy pensions and market-linked income streams. It will be possible for anyone receiving one of these pensions to transfer the balance of the pension to their accumulation phase account to commence a new account-based pension, leave it in accumulation phase or withdraw it as a lump sum as they wish. The relaxed rules apply for five years and end in December 2029.

The $3 million super balance tax

Late last year Division 296 tax legislation was debated in the House of Reps to impose an additional tax on annual increases in a person’s superannuation balance above $3 Billion. This is controversial as the proposed law taxes unrealised capital gains in superannuation on a year-by-year basis. The proposed legislation is now on hold in the Senate, so it will be interesting to see what happens.

Review of NALI Tax Rulings

In November 2024 the ATO issued proposed changes to Tax Ruling 2010/DC2 which is about superannuation contributions and Law Companion Ruling 2021/2DC about non-arm’s length income and expenses in superannuation funds. Submissions on the proposed changes were required by 24 January this year and have been made by the major accounting, financial planning and superannuation associations.

Increase in the Transfer Balance Cap from 1 July 2025

The increase in the CPI figure to 139.4 for the December 2024 quarter means that from 1 July 2025 the Transfer Balance Cap will be $2 million. This will allow anyone to use up to $2 million of their superannuation if they are commencing a pension for the first time. There will also be an increase in the Total Superannuation Balance which will increase the threshold for purposes of the bring forward three-year non-concessional contributions rule. It should be noted that there is no increase in the current concessional and non-concessions contributions caps for the 2025-26 financial year.

Plan to combine accounting and assurance standards bodies

Treasury has released its plans to combine the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB), Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AUASB) and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) into a single organisation.

The proposed change is to recognise a wider range of environmental, social and governance risks due to shifts in global financial reporting practices relating to accounting, auditing and assurance, and sustainability.

___________________________________________________________
The information in this presentation is intended to be general in nature and is not personal financial (or financial product) advice. It does not take into account the objectives, financial situation or needs of you or your client. Before acting on any information, you should consider the appropriateness of the information provided having regard to the objectives, financial situation and needs of you or your client.

In particular, you should seek independent professional advice prior to making any decision based on the information provided in this blog.

You should consider the appropriateness of this information having regard to the individual situation and seek taxation advice from a registered tax agent before making any decision based on the content of this blog.

Any examples and calculations within this blog are provided for illustrative purposes only. They should not be relied on. Viewing the content provided, is considered as acknowledgement, acceptance and agreement to this Disclaimer and the contents contained within.

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Februaury 2025 Ask Graeme Webinar

On the 26th February 2024 we hosted our first Ask Graeme Q&A webinar with SMSF industry expert Graeme Colley. Graeme fielded questions on Div296, death benefits, and many other topics. To view the recording or read the Q&A, see below.

Question

To reduce member exposure to Div 296 tax some SMSF trustees have suggested that they would like
to post all revaluation increases to an investment reserve.

This is rather than allocating the unrealised increase in market values of currently held assets directly to member accounts at every year end.

The actual increase in an asset’s value is later allocated to member accounts only when the asset is actually sold and the SMSF is able to supply sufficient funds to pay the Div 296 tax at that later point instead.

Is this feasible or would this fall foul of existing ATO guidance?

Comments


In effect this is using tax effect accounting which makes provision for the potential Div 296 tax at a later point in time. As tax effect accounting relates to the tax payable by an entity and the liability for Div 296 tax is with the member of the fund it would appear that to make a provision in the fund’s accounts for future Div 296 tax is not available. The legislation provides that a member can refer the Div 296 tax liability to the fund for payment.

In relation to the use of investment reserves the ATO has published SMSF Regulators Bulletin SMSFRB 2018/1 on the uses of reserves in SMSFs. The ATO has a number of concerns which include
the use of reserves to manipulate a member’s balance in the fund. If the reserves are used for purposes of manipulating a person’s total superannuation balance then the ATO may take action as indicated in the Bulletin. Here is the link to the Bulletin.

Question

How will Div 296 work for SMSF asset valuations?

Comments


Asset valuations for purposes of Div 296 will be no different to the valuations used for the accounts of the SMSF. The reason is that the member’s Total Superannuation Balance is reported to the ATO at the end of the financial year and is used to calculate the member’s ‘superannuation earnings’ for the year and the calculation of the proportion of the member’s Total Superannuation Balance that lies above the $3 million threshold.

In relation to asset valuations, over the past year the ATO has had a project which identified 16,000 SMSFs with assets in property and unlisted trusts that where the fund had reported the same value for 3 or more consecutive years. Trustees and their advisers were asked by the ATO to make adjustments so that the assets were reported at their market value. When annual returns for the funds under review were lodged with the ATO 80% had adjusted the property values but only about 48% had adjusted the value of unlisted trust investments by SMSFs.

Question


Is a re-contribution strategy available for only 60-65 year-old range or up until age 75?

A re-contribution strategy is available up to 28 days after the month in which the member has reached age 75. In simple terms the member may withdraw an amount from their superannuation
account and recontribute non-concessional contributions back to their account or another member’s account in the fund, such as their spouse

A recontribution strategy is where a member:

• has an unpreserved benefit which can be paid to them from the fund, and

• part of all of the amount received is recontributed to superannuation as a non-concessional contribution.

Benefit of re-contribution strategy

• Reduction of the taxable component of a benefit mainly for estate planning purposes

• For Div 296 purposes it can reduce the member’s account and the amount recontributed will increase the account of the member’s spouse in the SMSF

A re-contribution strategy requires that a condition of a release of retirement is met to withdraw an
amount from super.

Conditions of release of retirement:

• Person is older than preservation age (currently age 60) and has ceased any gainful employment in which they were engaged between age 60 and 65,

• Person has retired from gainful employment between age 60 and 65, or

• Person is age 65 and over.

The amount received from the fund is made, wholly or in part, back to superannuation as a non- concessional contribution.

Question


If a super fund’s taxable income is calculated by not following tax law, and an accountant will not amend the financial statements, i.e. claiming ASIC fines as an allowable deduction, or treating property capital improvement items as deductible repair expenses, the financial statements can be qualified, but is there a SIS contravention? and is there a reportable SIS contravention? I have considered s65(1)(b) but have not used it.

Note: s65(1)(b)

I am not sure why reference has been made to s65(1)(b) as it relates to providing financial assistance to fund members or their relatives, as follows:

65(1) A trustee or an investment manager of a regulated superannuation fund must not:

(a)…..

(b) Give any other financial assistance using the resources of the fund to:

(i) a member of the fund; or

(ii) a relative of a member of the fund.

Comments:
When accounts are prepared for any entity, including an SMSF, they may be for different purposes. For example, for accounting purposes the net income of an SMSF may account for ASIC fines and treat capital items as expenses. However, when the accounts of the SMSF are being prepared for taxation purposes adjustments may be made to the accounting records to exclude those expenses which are not permitted as tax deductions.

For purposes of GS009, which is the AuASB’s Guidance Statement on Auditing SMSFs, clause 21 says:

21. The auditor is required under the SISA to:

(a) provide an auditor’s report on the SMSF’s operations for the year to the trustee in the approved form, no longer than 28 days after the trustee of the fund has provided all
documents relevant to the preparation of the report to the auditor; (b) report in writing to the trustee, if the auditor forms the opinion in the course of, or in connection with the performance of, the audit of the SMSF, that:

• (i) any contraventions of the SISA or SISR may have occurred, may be occurring or may occur in relation to the SMSF (section 129 of the SISA); or

• (ii) the financial position of the SMSF may be, or may be about to become, unsatisfactory (section 130 of the SISA);

Therefore, for purposes of the SISA or SISR the auditor is to report on the operations of the fund for the relevant financial year and whether there have been any contraventions of that legislation including the financial position of the fund. Therefore, the audit required does not include an audit of the fund’s income tax returns and whether an amount is assessable income or a tax-deductible expense.

Just to confirm that the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 does not allow a tax deduction for fines or capital expenses. However, capital expenses may be added to the cost base of a CGT asset if permitted by the legislation. Here is what the ATO’s website says about fines and capital expenses:

No deduction for fines:

Section 26-5 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 specifically makes penalties or fines imposed as a result of breaches of an Australian law non-deductible.

Deductions for capital expenses:

“You can claim a tax deduction for expenses relating to repairs, maintenance or replacement of machinery, tools or premises you use to produce business income, as long as the expenses
are not capital expenses.” ATO website Capital expenses can add to the cost base of a CGT asset.

Question

I have a client who turns 75 years old on 29 June 2025 and wishes to make the maximum non-concessional contributions to her SMSF before her cut-off date which is 28 July 2025.

Answer:

Age eligibility

For the 2022–23 and later financial years, if you're under 75 years of age at any time in a financial year, you're eligible to use the bring-forward arrangement in that financial year, subject to the age-related and other restrictions on the types of non-concessional contributions your fund may be able to accept.

If you're 75 years or older for all of the financial year, you're not eligible to use the bring-forward arrangement in that financial year.  Link to ATO website:

https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/super-for-individuals-and-families/super/growing-and-keeping-track-of-your-super/caps-limits-and-tax-on-super-contributions/non-concessional-contributions-cap

A person who is age 75 on 29 June 2025 may be able to access the 3 years bring forward rule in the 2024-25 financial year.  However, they could not access the bring forward rule in the 2025-26 financial year as they would not be under age 75 at any time in that year.

Therefore, if they wish to use the 3 years bring forward rule which allows a non-concessional contribution of $360,000, it would need to be accessed in the 2024-25 financial year, subject to the person's Total Super Balance on 30 June 2024 being less than $1.66 million.

If the person wished to contribute in the 2025-26 financial year up to 28 days after the month in which they turned age 75 (28 July 2025) they could only make non-concessional contributions of $120,000 for that year, subject to their Total Superannuation Balance being under $1.9 million on 30 June 2025.

Options:

non-concessional contributions 2024-25 financial year

non-concessional contributions 2025-26 financial year

To use the 3 year bring forward rule the Total Super Balance must be less than 

$1.66 million on 30 June 2024

$1.67 million on 30 June 2025

non-concessional contributions

$360,000 if 3 years bring forward rule can be used

$Nil

$240,000 if 2 years bring forward rule can be used

$Nil

$120,000

$120,000

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The Cloudoffis Bulletin - End of Year Edition

As the calendar flips closer to the end of the year and the silly season sneaks up faster than ever, we want to pause and reflect on the incredible year that’s been. Above all, we want to thank the amazing Cloudoffis community for your unwavering support and enthusiasm, making our roles so fulfilling.

Initially, we planned to write all about this year’s highlights, but as we started, we realised one newsletter just couldn’t capture everything. So instead, we’ve created a short clip featuring the Cloudoffis team sharing their top moments from 2024.

Before we sign off for the year, if you missed the ‘Ask Graeme’ webinar, don’t worry! You can catch the full recording and browse through the Q&A from the session here.

Given the fantastic response to this year’s event, we’re excited to announce that plans are already underway for next year’s first ‘Ask Graeme’ webinar. You can register for the February webinar here.

Here’s to a joyful end of 2024 and an exciting year ahead.

Warm wishes
The Cloudoffis Team

Team reflections of 2024

We asked our team what they loved most about working at Cloudoffis in 2024 and their favourite feature launched this year. Here’s what they had to share!

Which feature made the biggest impact for you this year? Let us know – we’d love to hear from you!







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How Tax Sorted Transformed Paul Money's Work Paper Processes

Company Overview

Paul Money is an accounting firm with two offices in Collingwood and Greensborough, led by Sarah Molinaro, a senior manager overseeing business services and SMSF clients.

Sarah and her team at Paul Money have embraced Tax Sorted as a vital tool for managing work papers in a consistent and efficient manner. Tax Sorted has streamlined their document management processes, improved collaboration between offices, and provided a user-friendly platform that the entire team can easily adopt.

Challenges Before Implementing Tax Sorted

Before adopting Tax Sorted, Paul Money relied heavily on Excel for preparing workpapers. While functional, Excel had several limitations:

  • Manual Processes: The firm had to double-handle tasks, creating inefficiencies and inconsistencies across the two offices.
  • Clunky Alternatives: Previous attempts to adopt web-based solutions were unsuccessful due to difficult setup, poor user experience, and lack of automation.
  • Document Overload: Files were scattered between Excel and FYI Docs, making document retrieval cumbersome, especially for review processes.

Why Tax Sorted?

The team sought a cloud-based, automated solution to streamline their processes and eliminate the inefficiencies of Excel. Having already used Cloudoffis for SMSF workpapers, they were excited by the prospect of a Cloudoffis solution for their tax team and wanted to bring similar benefits to their business services.

Key Benefits of Implementing Tax Sorted

  1. Consistency and Efficiency: With Tax Sorted, all workpapers are now cloud-based, improving accessibility and collaboration across both offices. This has allowed the firm to create consistent templates and workflows, which reduces the time spent on preparing and reviewing documents.
  2. Streamlined Document Management: Rather than clogging up FYI Docs with numerous files, Tax Sorted allows Paul Money to keep everything in one system, making it easier to retrieve, review, and store documents.
  3. User-Friendly Interface: Sarah highlighted how easy it is for her team, especially new graduates, to use Tax Sorted. Unlike other work paper systems her team had trialed, Tax Sorted was intuitive and quick to set up, allowing the firm to create templates and start using the software immediately.
  4. Automation and Integration: Tax Sorted imports the trial balance, profit and loss, and balance sheet data directly into the work papers. This integration with Xero saves time and reduces errors, as all relevant documents are automatically linked and available in one place.
  5. Potential for Time and Headache Savings: Although still in the early stages of adoption, Sarah believes that Tax Sorted will save significant time and reduce the headaches of managing work papers across two offices. The system’s ability to carry forward documents year-to-year, particularly for permanent files like capital gains schedules, will streamline future work.


Paul-money



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The Cloudoffis Bulletin
October Edition

Welcome to the October edition of the Cloudoffis Bulletin.

It seems the Cloudoffis team doesn’t have an off switch, as October was another huge month. Between launching Tax Sorted, hosting intimate customer breakfasts and introducing new Auditomation features, we’re always focused on driving innovation and delivering better solutions for the Tax and SMSF industry.

So grab your coffee, settle in for the read, and don’t forget to register for our ‘Ask Graeme’ webinar below.

Sydney breakfast event: Attracting Tomorrow’s Top SMSF Talent – The Tech Advantage

At our first Cloudoffis event of the year, SMSF industry leaders gathered to tackle a pressing challenge: attracting new talent to the accounting profession, especially in SMSF auditing. With over half of SMSF auditors set to retire in the next 5-10 years, discussions quickly moved into solution mode.

A big thank you to Graeme Colley, Marjon Muizer, and Jacob Kewley for leading such an inspiring discussion on the future of SMSF firms across all tier sizes. The energy in the room was incredible, with peers sharing ideas, insights, and support.

Don’t miss out on similar events across our capital cities next year! In the meantime, check out Graeme’s reflections on our Sydney event.

Read more

Register for our upcoming ‘Ask Graeme’ webinar

Last month, we announced our partnership with Graeme Colley, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive due to Graeme’s influence on many SMSF careers. That’s why we’re pleased to invite you to a Q&A session with Graeme, where he’ll be available to answer your burning SMSF questions.

When: Wednesday 4th December
Time: 10-10.45am AEDT

Register today

Customer spotlight

SMSF Auditomation: New ‘Organise Documents’ features

We recently released enhancements to the organise documents features, streamlining document management and saving you up to 30 minutes admin time across each workpaper. Enjoy:

  • Easy document switching: Move between documents seamlessly without closing and reopening them, reducing unnecessary steps.
  • Direct tagging in DMS: Tag documents directly from the Document Management System (DMS) without navigating to financial line items.
  • Document filters & icons: Filter documents into categories (Unsorted, Tagged, Permanent) and use icons to quickly identify document types.
  • Efficient tagging & multiple bookmarks: Tag documents more efficiently and add multiple bookmarks for various items in one go.
  • Checklist & financials integration: View multiple line items and checklists within an open document, improving clarity and workflow efficiency.

Access our step-by-step guide and demo video to help you get started.

Top Tip:
New features and updates can sometimes lead to unexpected behaviour, yet clearing cache and cookies can to get back on track in no time. View our how-to guide.

Tax Sorted is now live!

We’re excited to showcase the latest addition to the Cloudoffis family: Tax Sorted.

The past few weeks have been exciting, revealing to Tax Accountants across Australia how Tax Sorted is able to turn routine tasks into valuable time spent with clients.

With features such as our automated excel integration, one-click document imports from Xero, a secure platform with access levels that align with Xero and even the option to customise your Tax Sorted portal to a colour that suits your mood, Tax Sorted has truly impressed our clients with its capabilities and vision.

There’s even more to explore, so get your tax team to book a demo today.

Book a demo Find out more

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Attracting Tomorrow's Top SMSF Talent: The Tech Advantage

Co-Authored with Graeme Colley

In a recent panel held by Cloudoffis, Graeme Colley, Marjon Muizer, and Jacob Kewley discussed critical trends shaping the SMSF audit industry. Top of mind for the panelists and attendees is the shrinking auditor workforce, the role of technology in driving industry evolution, and how to equip the next generation with the essential skills for success. Read on for more insights on these topics.

The difficulties in attracting staff to the accounting profession and particularly auditing SMSFs is concerning. More than half the registered SMSF auditors are over 60 years old and expected to retire in the next 5 to 10 years. We continue to see sustained and significant increases in the number of SMSFs being established. Both of these factors are expected to have far-reaching impacts on the industry.

The regulators indicate that around 2/3rds of SMSF auditors each complete no more than 50 fund audits annually with most auditing less than 5 funds. At the top end, around 10% of auditors each undertake more than 250 fund audits which is about 70% of all the funds being audited. The trend is that there is a decline in the total number of SMSF auditors and a move towards a greater number of funds being audited by the top end. Who is going to tackle the growing number of SMSF funds when the number of industry specialists is declining?

 

The opportunity

The challenge facing the auditing and accounting professions is attracting talent who are willing to learn the essential skills in operating and developing an SMSF audit business. These include understanding the technical issues, compliance and adapting to changes in technology.  Whether there are sufficient newly qualified accountants interested in auditing SMSFs who are willing to pursue further study to become registered may be the hurdle. Current audit education on SMSFs is limited.

Anyone who has a long-term view in shaping the future of the industry should be preparing for the expected changes in demographics and the skills required to grow a successful SMSF audit business.

Cloudoffis are well positioned to help auditors address these challenges by offering solutions that tackle both the talent attraction issue and the evolving technological demands of the profession.

By automating time-consuming tasks, Cloudoffis’ practice tools enhance efficiency and appeal to younger auditors, enabling new employees to quickly adopt processes, integrate, and start adding commercial value to the business. Technology simplifies onboarding and allows staff to spend less time on administrative duties and more on revenue-generating activities.

Additionally, by providing tools that simplify compliance and technical issues, Cloudoffis reduces the complexity of audits, allowing firms to manage more funds with fewer resources.

At the other end of the business journey, for retiring business owners, embracing technology before selling their practice can significantly boost its appeal and value. Adopting software like Cloudoffis not only makes practices more attractive to younger accountants and auditors, who are generally more comfortable with technology, but also prepares businesses for future regulatory changes, making them a more secure investment for potential buyers.

A tech-savvy practice also streamlines the transition of ownership, making acquisitions smoother and reducing post-purchase problems. New owners will appreciate not having to overhaul outdated systems, allowing them to focus on growth and innovation. By integrating modern technology, retiring auditors can enhance their practice’s marketability and ensure a seamless handover.

In a rapidly changing landscape, adopting technology like Cloudoffis empowers both new auditors and those nearing retirement to thrive, securing the future of their practices and attracting the next generation of talent.

 

 

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The Cloudoffis Bulletin:
August Edition

Welcome to this month’s Cloudoffis Bulletin!

As we transition into the first quarter of the year, the momentum is building, and so are our updates. We’ve packed this edition with exciting news, new product launches and valuable insights to keep you ahead of the curve.

So, sit back, relax, and dive into all the latest from the Cloudoffis team!

Industry highlights

The SMSF Association Technical Day

The Cloudoffis team was thrilled to participate in the SMSF Association’s Technical Day on 24-25 July at the Hyatt Regency Sydney. The event featured continued discussions around policies affecting the industry including the proposed Division 296 Tax.

Dr. Irene Guiamatsia shared compelling trends, highlighting the growing adoption of technology among SMSF specialists. She also noted that new trustees are increasingly influenced by internet research and word-of-mouth recommendations.

At Cloudoffis, we’re seeing the impact of these trends first hand as leading SMSF businesses are looking to Cloudoffis to support with better operational efficiencies, compliance support and protecting their clients data for their SMSF practices.

Get in touch today

Ensuring a seamless transition to Cloudoffis

Over 20% of SMSF funds are already audited using SMSF Auditomation by Cloudoffis, and that number keeps rising every month.

At Cloudoffis, we understand that managing process changes and upskilling your team on new systems can feel daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Our dedicated onboarding program ensures a seamless transition, so you and your clients can start benefiting from better efficiency, data security and compliance support sooner.

Learn More


BGL Regtech Sydney

We had an incredible time at the BGL Regtech event in Sydney!

A big thank you to everyone who visited our booth – it was fantastic to connect with so many passionate professionals.

We showcased our latest features in SMSF Auditomation and SMSF Sorted, and introduced our newest product, Tax Sorted. The excitement and feedback we received were truly inspiring!

 

Graeme Colley

We extend a heartfelt thank you to Graeme Colley, Ambassador to The Auditors Institute, for partnering with Cloudoffis to review our inbuilt checklists.

His expertise ensures that Auditomation continues to support our customers in maintaining compliance.



Product updates

ISO 27001 Certification

At Cloudoffis, safeguarding your data is our top priority. We are proud to announce that we have again achieved ISO 27001 certification, the internationally recognised standard for information security management systems (ISMS).

This important certification demonstrates Cloudoffis’ commitment to continual improvement, development, and protection of information and sensitive data by implementing appropriate risk assessments, appropriate policies and controls.

Read more about our data security policy



Introducing Tax Sorted

We’re excited to invite our accounting community to join the waitlist for the upcoming product launch of Tax Sorted, a new tax workpaper solution by Cloudoffis.

Tax Sorted empowers accountants to prepare and submit tax returns with greater confidence and efficiency. By streamlining workpaper preparation and securely importing and organising your clients’ financial data, it allows you to effortlessly cross-check for final approval in a fraction of the time.

To learn more, book a demo or join our waitlist for the October launch, please visit our website

Join our Waitlist


Innovation is in our DNA

As Australia’s leading independent Software-as-a-Service provider dedicated to the SMSF industry, we bring over 8 years of unmatched experience. As pioneers, we consistently set the standard for innovation.

Customer feedback drives every feature we deliver. From enhanced integrations to intuitive platform experiences, continuous improvement is woven into our DNA, ensuring your ongoing success.

In case you missed our EOFY product wrap, click here to see what we’ve been busy working on.


Unlock more new features this financial year

As we kick start the new financial year, we’re excited to share the latest features we’ve packed into Cloudoffis. These updates are designed to ensure you enter FY25 with enhanced efficiency across your practice and improved communication and transparency between accountants and auditors.

We’ve been busy, so grab yourself a coffee and get into the updates!


Customer spotlight:

The Compliance Advantage for Superannuation Audit Services

Superannuation Audit Services, led by Denise Surjenko and Daniel Surjenko, has been a key player in this field for over 25 years. Based in Melbourne, Victoria, their award-winning firm has built a reputation for providing swift, independent auditing services with a personalised touch.

However, even the most established firms face challenges. For Superannuation Audit Services, reliance on traditional methods like Excel and hard copy documents created a bottleneck in their operations. The process was not only time-consuming but also prone to errors, impacting their ability to deliver the fast and accurate service their clients relied on. Enter Cloudoffis.

Read the full case study here.

Inside Cloudoffis

The Aussie team was thrilled to welcome our founders, Viral and Manish, to the Sydney office this month. Their visit included meetings with both existing and new clients and our partners in the industry.

Importantly, we took the opportunity to come together as a team to discuss our plans for the upcoming year, including the launch of Tax Sorted, our new Tax Workpaper solution, and how our products and services will continue to evolve to support the SMSF industry into FY25.

Rest assured that it’s going to be another big year ahead for Cloudoffis!




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Switching to Cloudoffis Made Simple

Did you know that over 20% of SMSF funds are audited using SMSF Auditomation by Cloudoffis? Each month, more auditors join the Cloudoffis community. However, many tell us that managing process changes and upskilling their team on new systems has been a barrier to making the move earlier.

Given the volume of new customers we onboard each month, we have evolved our onboarding program to ensure a smooth transition for everyone.

Onboarding Without the Headaches

Our industry-leading onboarding program supports your entire team to upskill and adopt Auditomation or SMSF Sorted by Cloudoffis seamlessly.


Daniel

However, what surprises our new customers the most is our comprehensive onboarding program for their accounting clients. In the last two months alone, we have onboarded over 30 accounting firms on behalf of our new customers.

Our service stands out because we have a dedicated account management team that works with you from before you become a customer, all the way through your Cloudoffis journey. From day one, we understand your investment goals in Cloudoffis and tailor our support to help you achieve them. Our team comprises industry experts who are committed to your success and speak your language.

Over time, we have also invested in our program to support the transition of files from new clients’ existing platforms and processes, ensuring historic records are uploaded and securely stored on Cloudoffis with ease. Whether you’re using Excel and email or another platform, our dedicated onboarding team makes the data transition a breeze.

Don’t Let Change Be a Barrier to a Better Way of Working

If you have been hesitant about how process change will affect your team’s productivity or morale, we encourage you to get in touch to discuss your concerns. You’re not alone. The good news is many clients before you have done it and only seen upside.

View our most recent customer testimonials.   

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New feature releases:
SMSF Sorted & SMSF Auditomation

As we kick start the new financial year, we’re excited to share the latest features we’ve packed into Cloudoffis. These updates are designed to ensure you enter FY25 with enhanced efficiency across your practice and improved communication and transparency between accountants and auditors.

We’ve been busy, so grab yourself a coffee and get into the updates!

Transform Your SMSF Workflows:
New features across Auditomation & Sorted Pro

Import & Re-import Flow in Auditomation & Sorted Pro

We are thrilled to announce a revamped Import & Re-import Flow for both Sorted and Auditomation! 🎉 Experience the new, efficient workflow today.

What’s New?

  • Instant Access: The moment you import financial data, you can jump straight to the job dashboard. No more waiting around!

  • Improved Efficiency: Financial data is accessible immediately while other data like observations, reports, and documents load in the background.

  • Enhanced Performance: With backend optimisations, system performance is significantly boosted, ensuring smoother execution and better resource management.

  • Streamlined Processes: These enhancements will make your existing processes more efficient, saving you valuable time.

Introducing ‘Waiting for Response’ Stage in Sorted and Auditomation!

We’re excited to introduce a new job stage, ‘Waiting for Response,’ to improve your workflow and communication! 📈

Problem Solved:

  • Auditors often have to pause audit job processing while waiting for responses from accountants. They typically change the job status to ‘Waiting for Client,’ but accountants cannot separately track these jobs, leading to delays.

The Solution:

  • New Job Stage: The ‘Waiting for Response’ stage will be introduced to accountants using Sorted and Sorted Lite, allowing accountants to easily track jobs pending their response.
  • Improved Turnaround Times: This new stage will streamline communication and speed up the turnaround times between accountants and auditors.


Big News for Auditomation Users


Reimporting clients details

We’ve listened to your feedback and are excited to introduce a new solution for re-importing client details in Auditomation! 🚀

What’s new?

  • One-Click Re-import: Now, with just one click, you can re-import client details. Fund, member, and trustee information will be updated automatically, ensuring accuracy and saving you time.
  • New ‘Add Alternate Address’ Field: You can now add an alternate address in the client details page. This new field is used for generating audit letters and reports with the alternate address, we’ve also added a placeholder called ‘Alternate Address’ to make it seamless.

These updates will drastically reduce manual efforts and enhance accuracy in your auditing process.

BGL Workpaper Docs

We’re excited to bring Auditomation customers a major time-saving enhancement: Auto Availability of BGL Workpaper Docs! 🚀

Previously, you had to manually convert each BGL Workpaper document to a Cloudoffis-supported format to use our bookmarking and search features. This was time-consuming, especially with a large number of documents.

The Solution:

  • BGL Workpaper documents will now be automatically converted to the Cloudoffis-supported format. No more manual conversions needed!


Billing Module & Practice Management

Whilst the Cloudoffis Billing module and Practice Insights were already available in the old version for Auditomation customers, we’ve now integrated them into the new version for a more streamlined and user-friendly experience. 🎉. Discover how Cloudoffis can streamline your practice management and enhance your workflow.

Checklist for FY24
Since there were no updates from the ATO this year, we’ve taken the opportunity to revamp and clarify our checklist for better understanding and ease of use.

 

Exciting updates for Class customers using SMSF Sorted Lite

We’re excited to announce more updates to enhance your SMSF Sorted Lite experience.

What’s new?

  • The audit console page is now even more action-oriented, allowing you to upload documents, submit jobs for audit, and download workpaper files directly from your Sorted Lite account, making your workflow smoother and more efficient.
  • The query module has been improved, enabling accountants to filter pending queries and prioritise actions for faster turnarounds.
  • We’ve made it easier for auditors to join the Cloudoffis Auditomation Pro platform, streamlining their audit processes and improving collaboration with Class accountants who use Sorted Lite, guaranteeing faster turnaround times.

$50 referral bonus SMSF Sorted Lite accountants

  • Did you know that as an SMSF Sorted Lite accountant, you can earn a $50 referral bonus when you refer your auditor to use Auditomation? Not only will you gain more control over every fund you manage, but you’ll also be able to automate your workpapers and submit audits to your auditor with just one click. This will help speed up the turnaround time of funds, as auditors will receive more structured data to work on. You’ll both benefit from easier collaboration with improved query management tools.

We love nothing more than investing in improvements to enhance your workflows and we continue to lead the industry with our product innovations. If you’d like any further information on the features we’ve delivered, reach out to Kresant in Sales or Dilnar and Jocelyn in Customer Success.

Read more about these releases in detail


SMSF Sorted

SMSF Auditomation





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