A properly run SMSF, especially one built around a business owner’s broader financial picture, can involve accountants, financial planners, lawyers, mortgage brokers, valuers, and conveyancers, sometimes all at once during a single strategy such as a commercial property purchase. Managed as five disconnected relationships that you personally have to coordinate, it is exhausting, and it quietly costs you time, money, and missed opportunities.
The Reality of Managing an SMSF Alone
If you are coordinating your own SMSF across multiple independent professionals, you are usually the one holding the whole picture together. You are the one explaining your situation to each new professional from scratch, chasing updates between them, and making sure nothing falls through the gaps.
Why This Is Becoming a Bigger Issue, Not a Smaller One
ATO figures show the sector added more than 38,000 net new funds in the year to March 2026 alone, a 6.1 per cent increase, with over 672,000 SMSFs now in existence. Industry analysis suggests the ratio of SMSFs to financial advisers has climbed to roughly 44.5 funds per adviser as at March 2026, more than doubling since 2018.
What Changes With a One-Team Model
1. No repeating yourself
You explain your situation and your goals once. Every professional working on your fund already has that context.
2. Everyone knows the main goals
Decisions get made with your actual objectives genuinely in view, not just the narrow task sitting in front of each individual professional at that moment.
3. No handovers, no gaps
A connected team means the person preparing your trust deed genuinely knows what your financial planner is recommending, and the person managing your tax return knows what your legal documents actually say.
Where This Matters Most
This connected approach makes the biggest measurable difference in exactly the situations that involve the most moving parts: setting up a corporate trustee structure, purchasing commercial property using an LRBA, planning a business exit, or aligning your estate planning with your trust deed.
A Realistic Example
Consider a business owner buying commercial property through their SMSF. Engaged separately, the mortgage broker arranges finance without checking whether the lender’s preferred corporate trustee requirement is already in place. The valuer produces a valuation on a timeline that does not align with the finance approval. The lawyer drafting the lease is not told the property will be financed via an LRBA, and drafts a standard lease that does not reflect the specific requirements an LRBA lease needs to satisfy. Settlement is delayed by weeks while the gaps between them are found and fixed.
What to Look for in an SMSF Practice
It is worth asking directly: do your accounting and financial planning teams actually communicate about my specific fund on an ongoing basis, or are they simply both separately engaged by me and reporting back independently.
How New Wave SMSF Helps
New Wave SMSF was built around this exact idea from the outset. Accounting, financial planning, and legal advice, supported by trusted valuers, brokers, and conveyancers where required, working as one team around your fund.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many professionals are typically involved in an SMSF property purchase?
This can include your accountant, financial planner, a lawyer, a mortgage broker, a valuer, and a conveyancer, which is exactly the scenario where coordination matters most.
Is it more expensive to use an integrated SMSF practice than separate professionals?
Not inherently. The value of integration typically comes from avoided gaps and duplicated effort.
Can I switch to an integrated SMSF team if my fund is already established?
Yes. This generally starts with a comprehensive review of your fund’s current accounting, investment strategy, and trust deed.
Why has the SMSF-to-adviser ratio increased so much?
The number of SMSFs has grown significantly while the number of financial advisers has remained comparatively flat.
What questions should I ask a prospective SMSF provider about integration?
Ask whether your accounting, financial planning, and legal advice would be handled internally with shared visibility, or referred out separately.
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This article is general information only and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation, or needs. It does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Figures referenced are drawn from published ATO and industry statistics and are current as at the date of publication. New Wave Financial Planning Pty Ltd is an Authorised Representative of NWG Financial Services Pty Ltd, AFS Licence No. 538619. Please speak with your New Wave SMSF adviser before acting on any information in this article.