Auditing trust accounts |
For real estate agents, resident letting agents, auctioners and pastoral house agents
Audit period and due dates
The audit period is the 12-month period in each year ending on the last day of the audit month. Your audit period depends on when your licence expires. Check the table below to see when your audit report is due.
| Month of licence expiry | Audit period (dd/mm) | Audit report due by end of |
| January | 01/10 - 30/09 | January |
| February | 01/11 - 31/10 | February |
| March | 01/12 - 30/11 | March |
| April | 01/01 - 31/12 | April |
| May | 01/02 - 31/01 | May |
| June | 01/03 - 28/02 | June |
| July | 01/04 - 31/03 | July |
| August | 01/05 - 30/04 | August |
| September | 01/06 - 31/05 | September |
| October | 01/07 - 30/06 | October |
| November | 01/08 - 31/07 | November |
| December | 01/09 - 31/08 | December |
Applying for an extension
To apply for an extension to your lodgement time, notify us in writing before the audit report is due to be lodged.
The notice must state the reason for the extension and the extra time you require.
Lodging your audit report
If you are renewing your licence, attach your audit report to your renewal application. Otherwise we will send a requisition letter advising you to submit your report.
If you have a licence with a three-year term, you must send the audit report for the non-renewal years to the audit section.
Changing an auditor
If you change auditors, tell us in writing within one month and include the reason for the change.
Have your auditor either countersign your letter of appointment or tell us themselves that they will be acting as your auditor.
Applying for approval as an auditor
An auditor is automatically approved if they are:
- registered as an auditor under the Corporations Act
- a member of CPA Australia or the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia
- a member of the National Institute of Accountants who has completed an auditing component of study in accountancy over at least three years.
If the auditor is unqualified, they must lodge an application for approval to audit a licensee´s trust account using Form 14 - Application for approval as an auditor (PDF, 264 KB).
Ceasing to trade
You must lodge your final audit within two months after ceasing to trade.
Unused trust accounts
If you do not use your trust account within a year, you do not have to submit an audit.
However, you do need to submit a statutory declaration stating that you did not operate a trust account during the audit period.
Agents who have unclaimed trust money, i.e. money that has been disbursed but not presented to the beneficiary, that is more than 12 months old at the 1 April each year should contact the Public Trustee.
You can also get information on how do deal with unclaimed trust money from the Public Trustee´s Office.
Penalties
A penalty of $20 000 applies if an auditor improperly reports or leaves out required items.
We can suspend your licence if you continually fail to lodge an audit. If you continue to not lodge audits after being convicted, we can suspend your licence until you lodge the report or cancel the licence.
Last reviewed 21/11/2011 |
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