30 July 2019
Reminder – Financial audit year ended 30 June, deadline of 30 September 2019 approaching!
All agents who hold a current triennial certificate and have held or received monies in trust during the financial year ended 30 June 2019 must lodge an audit report with the Commissioner for Consumer Protection by 30 September 2019.
Agents who have not held or received monies in trust during the financial audit year ended 2019 should submit a Declaration of no receipt of trust funds in lieu of an audit report.
An infringement notice may be issued where an audit report or declaration of ‘no receipt of trust funds’ is received after 30 September 2019, or not at all.
Agents who have held the roles of the agent in bona fide control, branch manager, licensed director, partner or licensed partner for another licensed trading entity may not be required to submit an audit or statutory declaration for their individual licence, for the period during which they held that role.
Agents operating a business under their individual licence and triennial certificate as a sole trader, who have held or received trust monies during the financial year ended 30 June 2019, will also need to follow the audit requirements for their trust accounts.
Avoid common problems:
- Disclose all trust accounts, including interest bearing trust accounts.
- Provide all records relating to discrepancies in trust accounts, regardless of how the error occurred or whether the department has already been notified.
- Ensure the address provided in any statutory declaration is the agent’s current address.
Change of Auditor
Any change of auditor must be submitted to the Trust and Audits Team no later than Friday 30 August 2019. Lodgements after this date may not be processed in sufficient time for your auditor to submit the audit report by the 30 September 2019 deadline.
We encourage agents and auditors to submit audit reports and statutory declarations via email to audits@demirs.wa.gov.au.
For more information see A guide to auditing trust accounts: Real estate agents, business agents, and settlement agents and business settlement agents.
You can also contact the audits team at audits@demirs.wa.gov.au or on (08) 6552 9538.