SMSF corporate trustee: directors, ASIC and the records to keep

About 72% of SMSFs have a company as trustee (ATO annual statistics overview, 30 June 2025). This guide explains how that works in plain English: who has to be a director, what to do when the directors change, the company’s yearly paperwork with ASIC, how the fund’s assets should be titled, and which records to keep. It’s written for trustees who already have a corporate trustee, and for people deciding between the two structures.

Terms are explained the first time they appear, and the glossary has the rest. Where the rule depends on your fund’s trust deed or your company’s constitution, we say so, because those documents can change the answer.

Corporate trustee or individual trustees: the differences

An SMSF can have individual trustees or a corporate trustee (a company acting as trustee for the fund). Either way, the members run the fund and carry the responsibility. The structure changes the paperwork, not who is in charge. The ATO suggests talking to an SMSF professional about which suits you.

Two things are the same for both. The assets must be kept separate from anyone’s personal assets, and nobody can be paid for their duties as a trustee or director of the fund.

Who has to be a director

• Every member must be a director of the company, and every director must be a member. The ATO’s page says each member of your SMSF must be a director of the corporate trustee.
• A one-member fund can have the member as the sole director, or the member as one of 2 directors, provided either the member and the other director are relatives, or the member is not an employee of the other director. These are the two arrangements the ATO describes for a one-member fund, apart from the representative cases below.
• More than one member: the ATO’s description of an SMSF with a corporate trustee adds that no member can be an employee of another member unless they’re related, and that neither the company nor a director is paid for services to the fund.
• Eligibility. A person must be at least 18, not under a legal disability (such as mental incapacity), and not a “disqualified person”: for example someone convicted of a dishonest offence, or who is bankrupt or insolvent under administration. It’s an offence to knowingly act as a trustee while disqualified.
• When a member can’t act for themselves, a legal personal representative may have to be appointed as the director. The ATO lists a member who is over 18 with a legal disability, under 18, needs someone holding an enduring power of attorney, or has died (until the death benefit becomes payable). A member under 18 can also have a parent appointed.
• The company must be able to act. A company can’t be a corporate trustee if it has reason to suspect a director is disqualified, or an administrator, receiver, provisional liquidator or restructuring practitioner has been appointed, or winding up has started, or ASIC has deregistered it.

Getting a director appointed: step by step

1. Director ID first. Each director needs a director identification number, which is free and which you apply for once and keep. If you plan to become a director, you must apply before you’re appointed. You must apply for your own: nobody, including your accountant, can apply for you. The ATO adds that a corporate trustee’s directors must have one before the fund is registered. ASIC enforces the director ID rules, and the ABRS notes that it’s a criminal offence not to apply on time.
2. Written consent. Every trustee or director must formally agree in writing to being appointed. This can be recorded in meeting minutes. The ATO says to keep it for the life of the fund and for 10 years after the fund winds up.
3. The trustee declaration, within 21 days. Each trustee or director signs a declaration that they understand their obligations. The ATO says it must be signed within 21 days of appointment. Keep it for as long as you remain a trustee or for 10 years, whichever is longer. You don’t send it to the ATO unless it asks.
4. Tell the ATO within 28 days, and ASIC too, which is usually done in the same time (see the next section).
5. Record it. Add the director to your records with the appointment date, the date the declaration was signed and the dates you told ASIC and the ATO.

When the directors change: telling the ATO and ASIC

The ATO says superannuation law requires you to notify it within 28 days of a change in the trustees, the directors of the corporate trustee, the members, the contact details, the addresses, or the fund’s status. For a change of director, ASIC is told as well, and that is usually done within the same 28 days. The ATO’s page mentions the same period for both.

ASIC has its own rule. ASIC’s pages say the company must tell it within 28 days when it appoints a director, or a director resigns or retires, and also when an officeholder’s name or residential address changes. A late fee applies after that. If ASIC is told more than 28 days after a director’s role ended, it records the end date as the date it was told, not the date the directorship actually ended, although the company can apply to change that. The company does this on ASIC’s online officeholder portal (the “change to company details” form, Form 484), and a director can also tell ASIC about their own resignation.

The ATO lists these ways to notify it:

• online through the Australian Business Register;
• through a registered agent (your tax agent or accountant can usually do this);
• by phone on 13 10 20, if you’re the authorised contact for the fund;
• by lodging the paper form Change of details for superannuation entities (NAT 3036).

You can’t use the SMSF annual return to tell the ATO about a change of structure. Notify it separately, and as soon as you can: the ATO says early notice helps it protect your super from unauthorised access.

Two cautions from the ATO. First, a change in structure, for example from individual trustees to a corporate trustee, is reviewed. The ATO reviews funds that add new trustees and members. If it sees a possible risk, the fund’s status on Super Fund Lookup can show “Regulation details withheld” while it looks further, and it aims to finish within 56 days. Second, every member must still be a trustee or a director. If a change leaves the fund no longer meeting the legal definition of an SMSF, you have 6 months to fix it, or wind the fund up and roll the benefits to an APRA-regulated fund. If you do nothing, the ATO can make the fund non-complying and disqualify the trustees.

The company’s yearly review with ASIC

A company has its own annual routine, separate from the fund’s. Each year ASIC sends the company an annual statement. After it arrives, the company must:

1. Pay the annual review fee. It’s due about 2 months after the review date. If you don’t pay on time, a late fee applies, and ASIC may consider deregistering the company.
2. Check its details (registered office, directors and so on) and update them if they’re wrong.
3. Pass a solvency resolution within 2 months of the review date: the directors’ statement on whether the company will be able to pay its debts when they fall due. A company that has lodged a financial report with ASIC in the past 12 months doesn’t need one. Keep a record of a positive resolution. A resolution that says the company can’t pay its debts has to be reported to ASIC, so check ASIC’s page if that ever arises.

The ATO notes that the annual fee is lower if the company acts only as trustee of an SMSF, and higher if it also does something else, such as running a business. ASIC calls the lower category a special purpose company. Which fee applies to your company, and what it is this year, is a question for ASIC or your accountant, so we don’t quote a figure here. A company that stays unpaid can be deregistered, and the ATO says a corporate trustee that has been deregistered can no longer act, which forces the fund to restructure.

How the fund’s assets should be titled

The fund’s assets must be kept separate from the personal and business assets of the trustees and directors. That protects them from creditors and avoids disputes about who owns what. Where possible, hold them in the name of the corporate trustee “as trustee for” the fund. The ATO’s example is “ABC Pty Ltd as trustee for the Tari Family Super Fund”. You’ll often see this shortened to ATF, as in “ABC Pty Ltd ATF Tari Family Super Fund”.

• This applies to bank accounts, share holdings, property titles, contracts and the fund’s insurance.
• If a director joins or leaves, the names on ownership documents don’t change, because the company is still the trustee.
• If you change from individual trustees to a company, the ownership of each asset has to be moved to the company. This is done asset by asset, with banks, registries and land titles offices, and can take some time. Keep clear records of each change and the evidence of the fund’s ownership.
• Some state and territory laws may stop an asset being held in the fund’s name. The ATO says to establish ownership clearly another way (for example a caveat or a declaration of trust) and to get legal advice on how.
• An asset under a limited recourse borrowing arrangement is held by a separate holding trust until the loan is repaid.

Records to keep

• For every director: their written consent to act, a note that they’ve obtained a director ID, and their signed trustee declaration.
• The company’s own documents: a current ASIC company extract, its constitution (or a note that it uses ASIC’s standard “replaceable rules”), copies of the change-of-details notices lodged with ASIC, its register of members, and each year’s ASIC annual statement with proof the fee was paid and the signed solvency resolution.
• The fund’s own records: the trust deed and any amendments, minutes and written decisions, the investment strategy and its reviews, and the records the ATO lists in its record-keeping guidance. See our guide to trustee minutes for how long to keep each.
• Evidence of the notices: the date and confirmation of each time you told the ATO and ASIC about a change.
• If the structure changed: the deed that changed the trustee, and the date it took effect. An auditor will want the trail of who the trustee was for each year, so don’t rely on memory.

These records matter at audit time. See our guide to the audit pack for what auditors commonly ask for.

Minutes and resolutions when the trustee is a company

When a company is the trustee, the decisions are made by its directors, so the record is of directors’ resolutions. The fund still needs a record of its trustee decisions (and the ATO expects minutes of investment decisions). The company also has its own obligations under company law and its constitution about how resolutions are passed and recorded. The two records often overlap, but they’re not the same thing. A sole director has no meeting to hold, so their signed written record of the decision is the resolution. Ask your accountant or lawyer how your company should pass and sign its resolutions.

What if something goes wrong?

• A director resigns or dies. The company remains the trustee, and the fund can keep operating, provided every member is still a director (or has a representative). Tell the ATO within 28 days, and ASIC usually in the same time. If a member resigns as a trustee, the ATO says their benefits will need to be rolled over to another complying fund if they haven’t reached preservation age, and the resignation should be clearly documented in the minutes.
• A member joins or leaves the fund. They become, or stop being, a director. Tell the ATO and ASIC, update your register, and (for a new director) the director ID, consent and declaration steps above apply.
• A director becomes disqualified. They must immediately stop being a director and tell the ATO in writing. A director of a company may also have to tell ASIC.
• The company can no longer act (for example insolvency or deregistration). The fund has to be restructured: re-registering the company, appointing a new company as trustee, or changing to individual trustees. The ATO says this can be complex and that you should talk to ASIC, because assets held by the company need to be transferred properly.
• You’ve missed a date. The usual step is to notify the ATO or ASIC as soon as you realise, and your accountant can advise on anything that is overdue.

A year in the life of a corporate trustee

1. When the ASIC statement arrives: pay the fee, check the company’s details, and sign the solvency resolution within 2 months of the review date.
2. Whenever a director, member or detail changes: tell the ATO within 28 days (and usually ASIC in the same time), then update your records.
3. At least once a year: check that your bank accounts, share holdings and property still show the company “as trustee for” the fund.
4. Each year with the audit: have the director records, the notices and the company documents ready, along with the usual audit pack.
5. Each 1 July: check the year ahead, including the company’s review date.

Questions to ask your accountant or specialist

• Is our company registered as a special purpose company, and is it on the right fee?
• Does our company’s constitution say anything that changes who can be a director or how decisions are made?
• Who is lodging the change-of-details notices, and have they been done for each change?
• Are all our assets titled to the company as trustee, including any that were bought before we changed structure?
• How should the directors sign and keep their resolutions?

Quick answers

Can a director be paid?

The ATO says directors of a corporate trustee can’t be paid for their duties or services as trustee in relation to the fund.

Does a one-director company work?

The ATO says funds with a corporate trustee can operate with one director. For a one-member fund that means the member is the sole director, or one of 2 directors as described above.

Do I need a director ID if I already have an ABN?

Yes. A director ID is a separate identifier for people who are directors, and you apply for your own.

Who can tell the ATO and ASIC for us?

The ATO lists a registered agent as one way. You, the company’s agent or your accountant can do it. What matters is that the ATO is told within its 28 days (ASIC usually has the same period) and that you keep a record of the date.

What if only a director’s name or address changes?

ASIC says the company must be told within 28 days, with a late fee after that. The ATO’s list covers changes of trustees, directors, members and the fund’s own contact details and addresses, so ask your accountant whether a director’s personal details also need an update with the ATO.

How SMSF Cockpit helps, and where it stops

Choose “A corporate trustee (a company)” when you create the fund, or later on Fund Profile, and Cockpit uses “director” wording and adds the records a company trustee needs:

• A register of directors on Fund Profile: when each was appointed and stopped, when they signed the trustee declaration, whether they’ve obtained a director ID (the ID itself is never stored), and which fund member they are.
• Reminders for the 28 days. When a director is appointed or stops, Cockpit shows the 28-day mark for telling ASIC and the ATO, and keeps a gentle prompt on What’s Due Next until you enter the date it was done. If a change of trustee structure is recorded (say individual trustees to a company), the same prompt applies to that change, and one date covers the directors appointed on that day.
• The company’s yearly ASIC review: enter the review date on Fund Profile and it becomes the due date of a task on the Compliance Calendar. A section on Fund Profile records each year’s fee paid, details checked and solvency resolution signed (or not needed), and What’s Due Next prompts you until each has a date.
• A history of changes of trustee structure, so an earlier year’s audit pack shows the structure that applied at that year’s end.
• Checks that the records fit together. In a fund with a corporate trustee the members and the directors are normally the same people, so Cockpit points out a member who isn’t recorded as a director, a director who isn’t a member, and a one-member fund whose directors look unusual. These are prompts to look, never findings. The same goes for a person recorded as an individual trustee in a fund whose trustee is a company.
• The Document Register suggests the documents a trustee company usually has, and the yearly checklist reminds you about how assets are titled.
• The minutes page is headed “Record of decisions by the directors” of your company, with each entry a “Director resolution”. It prompts you to keep the signed copy in the Document Register.

What it doesn’t do: it doesn’t decide whether your fund meets the rules for directors and members, and it doesn’t tell ASIC or the ATO anything. It records the dates you enter and can’t see either agency’s records. It doesn’t look up your company, or keep the company’s own accounts or registers. The minutes log is a record for the fund. It doesn’t replace the signed minutes or resolutions your company’s constitution and company law ask for. Who can sign in to the account is a separate question from who is a director: set access under Settings, and record directors on Fund Profile.