There has been a lot of talk about SMSF data feeds recently especially with the ATO’s proposed new events based reporting.
And at least one software supplier in the SMSF industry has gone to extreme lengths to convince the industry their data feeds are better than anyone else – interesting since we all get much of our data from the same places. And there have even been suggestions from one SMSF admin software supplier that getting data from stock brokers is better than getting holding balance confirmations direct from the share registries. Really ? I don’t think anyone is silly enough to believe that. The registries ARE the source of truth.
But what I find most amusing is this exchange at the ATSA 2017 SMSF Panel Discussion in Sydney earlier this week:
I made the comment: “It would be nice if all the data feeds and the data coming from the banks was reliable, worked all the time and we weren’t spending all our time chasing up the problems that they cause us on a regular basis”
And then this same SMSF admin supplier CEO jumped in and said – and I quote: “It’s not just the banks. It’s just a general thing around data feeds. They’re just not as good as we would like them to be yet.”
Yet this same CEO is bragging about an ASAE 3402 assurance report for these data feeds that “are just not as good as we would like them to be”. So how can anyone provide assurance around data feeds that “are just not as good as we would like them to be” ?
And after this revelation, which SMSF auditor would be happy to hang their hat on an ASAE 3402 assurance report around data feeds that “are just not as good as we would like them” ?
BGL, in Simple Fund 360, reconciles bank feeds to bank balances contained in the bank data feeds we receive from banks. This gives us some level of assurance the data received through the data feed is complete and accurate.
BGL Simple Fund 360 reconciles holding balances for listed securities with Computershare and Link. As these organisations are the registries for over 90% of listed securities, this tells our clients the security balances in our software are correct – no ifs, no buts, not assured – just correct.
I have been saying for a while that clients with SMSFs that pay pensions need automation. They need daily data feeds. Simple Fund 360 has 200+ data feeds and is clearly the industry leader. Having these data feeds will help our clients with the ATO’s proposed events based reporting.
While others continue to beat their chests saying – look at me, look at me – BGL continues to deliver the most technically advanced SMSF admin solution in the market place. And I have to say the numbers (and the share prices) do tell the story. BGL has added almost 50,000 SMSFs to Simple Fund 360 over the past 6 months. The others have not….. And just look at their share prices….
