Service
Real Estate Trust Account Audits in Queensland
Get your agency's trust account audit done in Queensland, from the first list of records to the signed audit report.
Queensland at a glance
- Audit covers
- The same 12 months each year, based on your licence issue month
- Audit due
- Four months after your audit period ends
- Report lodged by
- The agency (the auditor can lodge it for you)
More about Queensland's rules
- Regulator
- Office of Fair Trading (Queensland)
- Audit period
- The audit period depends on the month the licence was issued. It covers the same 12 months each year (except in the first and last year of business) and ends on the last day of a month. For a licence issued in October, for example, the audit period is 1 July to 30 June.
- When it is due
- The audit report must be lodged within four months after the end of the audit period, so the report for an audit period ending 30 June is due by 31 October. In the last year of business, it is due within two months after the agency stops trading.
- Lodging the report
- The agency lodges the audit report, signed by the auditor, with the Office of Fair Trading online, by email or by post. The auditor can lodge it for the agency.
Fixed fee
$800 + GST per trust account
- A planning meeting before the audit, to agree the timetable and what we need
- A review of your trust account practices and procedures
- The audit of your trust records, with any problems flagged
- The signed audit report in the form your regulator requires
- A walkthrough of what we found, with practical fixes
For a trust account with more than 300 properties under management or more than 100 sales in the year, we agree a fixed quote with you before we start. If we find something that needs extra work, such as missing records, reconciliations to catch up or a suspected irregularity, we stop, explain it and agree the cost with you before going on.
Also available on request, for a separate fee: staff training on trust accounting, support through the year and updates when trust account rules change.
Get a quoteOur work
What we handle
- Money in and out Receipts and payments, and whether money was banked promptly
- Balancing the account Monthly reconciliations of the bank account against the trust records
- Client balances Client ledgers, including any that went into debit
- Payment authority The authority behind payments out of trust
- Everyday controls How your procedures and controls work in practice
Why OziDesktop
Why work with us
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We work to the trust account rules in Queensland and know what the regulator asks for in the audit report.
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We audit real estate agency trust accounts in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory, and the work can be done remotely.
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Your fee is agreed with you before we start.
How it works
Engagement
We confirm the audit period, your trust accounts and the reporting form, and agree a timetable that works back from the due date.
Audit fieldwork
We test transactions and reconciliations, and raise questions while there is still time to resolve them.
Report and follow-up
We issue the signed audit report and go through what we found with you. In Queensland the agency lodges the report (the auditor can lodge it for you).
What we need from you
- Trust bank statements for the whole audit period
- Receipt and payment records, including electronic transfers and how bonds and deposits were handled
- Client ledgers for landlords, tenants, vendors and purchasers, and the trust cash book or journal
- Monthly reconciliations and trial balances
- Access to your trust accounting software, or reports from it
- Details of every trust account the agency operated, opened or closed during the period
- Access to the licensee and the staff who manage the trust account
FAQs
Common questions
What if our trust account was not used during the audit period in Queensland?
If the trust account was not used at all during the whole audit period, the agency can lodge a statutory declaration instead of an audit report. A Justice of the Peace, Commissioner for Declarations or lawyer must certify it.
When do we need to appoint an auditor in Queensland?
The agency must appoint an auditor within one month of opening a trust account, and email the Office of Fair Trading evidence that the auditor accepted within one month of the appointment.
Can we get more time to lodge the audit report in Queensland?
The agency can apply to the Office of Fair Trading for an extension by email before the report is due, giving the reasons and how much extra time it needs.
What if we change auditor in Queensland?
If the agency changes auditor, the agency and the auditor must both email the Office of Fair Trading the reasons within one month.
How much does a trust account audit cost in Queensland?
$800 + GST per trust account. For a trust account with more than 300 properties under management or more than 100 sales in the year, we agree a fixed quote with you before we start. If we find something that needs extra work, such as missing records, reconciliations to catch up or a suspected irregularity, we stop, explain it and agree the cost with you before going on.
Need something outside this scope?
Every business is different. If you need additional accounting, bookkeeping, advisory or specialist work, we'll explain what's required and agree the scope with you before proceeding.
Talk to an accountant about your business
- Fixed fees, agreed upfront
- We contact your old accountant
- Free discovery call