Checklist · Superannuation
SMSF wind-up checklist
A step list for winding up a self-managed super fund, from the exit plan and the final audit through to the final return and closing the bank account. It does not decide whether a member has a condition of release.
- Kind
- Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Where it applies
- Australia
- AI use
- Green The tool writes the first draft inside a template you have already tested. You check it. Without that test, first drafting starts at Yellow.
- Law stated as at
- 22 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 22 October 2026 against the 2 authorities it cites, for Australia.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use when trustees have decided to wind up an SMSF and need the ATO's order of steps. Do not use it to pay a benefit, or to cancel the ABN before the final return is processed. Record-keeping periods and pension minimums were on pages that were not opened.
Used for these tasks
Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.
How AI may be used
AI may tick the wind-up steps from the trustee minutes and list what is still open. It must not decide that a member can be paid in cash, or that the fund has been wound up.
AI may
- List assets still held, expenses unpaid, and reporting not yet lodged
- Record that each trustee has signed the wind-up agreement, including an electronic signature if that is how it was signed
- Note the final-return questions the page names, without completing the return
- Record who has been told: employers, the tax agent, the auditor and the financial adviser
AI must not
- Must not decide that a condition of release is met, or pay or journal a benefit
- Must not state a supervisory-levy amount or a record-keeping period. Those figures are not on this page
- Must not close the bank account before liabilities, refunds, rollovers and the ATO's confirmation
- Must not write to the ATO to cancel the ABN. Lodging the final return is how the page says the fund is wound up
The lawyer checks
- The deed has been read for how assets may be transferred, and for who must sign
- A member who has not met a condition of release is rolled to another complying fund, not paid in cash
- The final audit is by an approved SMSF auditor and covers every year since establishment, including the final year
- Enough cash is left for professional fees, audit fees and tax after the return is lodged
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Read the full text
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- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
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All precedents for Superannuation · Tasks and AI use in this area