We take a practical approach to your audit compliance requirements…
Real Estate Trust Account Audits
It’s all we do!
Requirements for Real Estate Trust Account Audit
All Real Estate Agents in Queensland who open or operate a Trust Account, are responsible for ensuring each trust account is audited each year by a qualified auditor. The Qld Office of Fair Trading is the responsible Government Department for administering the applicable legislation, licensing and registration for Real Estate Agents.
Agents must set up and maintain their trust account(s) in accordance with the following Act and Regulations:
- Property Occupations Act 2014;
- Agents Financial Administration Act 2014; and
- Agents Financial Administration Regulation 2014
These laws exist to ensure trust money held by agents is properly dealt with and can be accurately accounted for at all times. Agents have a legal duty to their clients, and the controls imposed by the Act and Regulations increase public confidence in the protection of client money and the services of agents.
Trust Account Audit Report Due Dates
Other than the first and last year of operation, the audit reporting covers the same 12 month period each year.
Your audit report must be lodged within 4 months after the end of your audit period, unless it is your last year of business where it must be lodged within 2 months after you stop carrying on a business.
Hear From Our Clients
“Daren from QLD Audit Specialists was extremely time efficient and was able to explain all aspects of my Trust Audit in fine detail allowing a better understanding of what was needed. I found them to be quite affordable with a professional service and would highly recommend to work colleagues.”
“We have been very happy with the service provided to us by QLD Audit Specialists, they were very professional and punctual with the service provided and even came to our premises to conduct the audit saving us time and travel costs. We would highly recommend them to any prospective client”
“I made contact with Qld Audit Specialists after finding them in a google search and received a detailed response very quickly. This was followed up with a phone call in which we discussed my requirements in great detail and agreed a plan of action. I was already late in submitting my annual return but QLD Audit Specialists reassured me that they would get on with my audit immediately, which is exactly what they did. The level of communication is excellent and I received some additional advice/suggestions to make my life easier for future audits. I am very happy to recommend QLD Audit Specialists to anyone who is looking to engage a Trust Account Auditor.”
“After contacting Qld Audit Specialists, they were able to direct me to what was required, by when and what my responsibilities were which I found extremely helpful and comforting. Daren was in touch regularly to keep me abreast of the processes which ultimately made it possible to complete and submit my audit to the OFT. Along the way, I was able to put in place the correct and compliant processes going forward to enable future trouble free audits. I would highly recommend Qld Audit Specialists and will continue to use them for my business.”
About Us
We truly are Audit Specialists! We only provide professional audit services of Real Estate Trust Accounts in accordance with the Queensland legislative requirements. We are specialists because we don’t do anything else. We service all areas of Queensland, and aim to provide the best value trust account audits.
Our Audit consultants are semi-retired qualified accountants who generally have many years experience in running their own accounting practices including services to Real Estate Agencies. As such our overhead costs are low compared with typical accountancy firms our prices are far more cost effective.
We do not provide other business accountancy or taxation services and are not in competition to your existing accountants or taxation advisors. In fact in many instances we are able to work closely with your existing business accountants so they can concentrate on providing you with the best value from their services.