After your entity's data has been loaded from your old system onto Class, the next step is for you to review the data to ensure it has been migrated correctly and completely. This is a general guide to assist you in performing your review.
Please peruse this guide prior to completing your transitions review and/or closing/rejecting the fund on the TMS. Please note this step in your implementation should be performed once you get a notification from the TMS that your funds are ready to review, and prior to performing any transaction processing on the funds in Class.
You should also consider that there will be differences with the way that Class deals with things like asset classes, tax positions, reporting etc., so you should not expect the balance sheet to look exactly like the one generated from your previous system, although the core components should be the same. We will explore some of the idiosyncrasies in this document.
Transition Report Package
You have been automatically provided a report pack in your business called 'Transition Report Package'.
You should run this report pack to check and verify the opening balances and other information against the last book close date.
Data Being Checked | Class Report | What to Check | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Basic Fund Details | Fund Details Report | Fund details, e.g. ABN, TFN, Contact Details, Fund Start Date etc. | Only need to check for non-automated transitions. The details for automated transitions will be exactly as they were entered into the old system, so you may need to check them in the event that the details entered in are out of date. |
Cost Base History and Investment Codes | Unrealised Capital Gains Report | Check the cost bases of the assets in Class against the cost bases per the old system. Check tax deferred per investment Check the investment codes |
The market value per the Class reports may vary slightly from your reports, however, this is due to the system automatically picking up market prices and applying them to the holdings. If you check the opening balances screen you will be able to check the market values that were originally entered. Please also note that the fund must be balanced prior to being loaded, and you will also check this when you check the Statement of Financial Position. If the investment was already linked to an ASX/APIR code in your old automated system, it will be linked to the same ASX/APIR code in Class. If the assets were not linked, and you are unable to provide this information, Class Transitions will attempt to match your holdings to the correct ASX/APIR code. You should double check this code. |
Member Details | Member Statement (Please use detailed members statement, not consolidated) | Member Details (e.g. DOB/TFN) Preservation & Taxable Components Pension Type & Start Date |
Member Details (e.g. DOB/TFN) do not need to be checked for migrations from BGL & Desktop Super. Pension Start dates for all ABP & TRIS pensions will be set as 01/07/07 if they were started prior to this date. The initial start date will need to be entered manually. |
Properties | Investment Summary Report | Check property value is correct Check depreciation is correct |
The depreciation worksheet only needs to be checked if this is set up by the transitions team as an additional service request. Note that we will combine the fixtures and fittings accounts and set up under a property where the assets relate to the property. |
Balance Sheet Items | Statement of Financial Position | Ensure all balances tie into the statement of financial position from the old system. | Please note that there may be some discrepancy with how your old system treats some accounts (e.g. debtors or income tax payable/refundable) and how they will appear on Class. However, the balances should still match. |
TBAR | TBAR Console | TBAR data records and/or SuperMate BGLDesktop BGL360 TBAR data records |
Tracking of Transfer Balance Account |
Rejecting/Accepting Funds on TMS
To reject or accept a fund on TMS, simply follow below steps.
- Click the arrow icon
- Click on the name of the fund which you like to review (This will take you straight into the fund in Class)
- Select the green tick button (This will simply mark the fund as accepted)
- Select the red cross button to reject the fund (This is if you require further changes to the fund)
- If you wish to reject a fund, you must add comments to this box
- Click here to add files and any notes to the files
- Click Submit
- Click Reject fund (This will send the fund back to our WIP queue)
In most cases, it will be quicker and easier for you to fix the issues yourself, as it can take the transitions team up to one week to fix the issues depending on the current workload of the team.
We generally recommend that you fix simple issues yourself, and only reject funds where there are more serious errors. For example:
- Fixing the acquisition date of a property will be much quicker to fix on Class yourself using the fund opening balances screen (as explained per the Load Opening Balances ).
- However, if you find that the cost base of all the assets is missing an adjustment that was in the reports, then it will be easier to reject the fund and let the transitions team fix this.
Adjusting Opening Balances
You can amend figures that relate to the entity's opening position within the Load Opening Balances screen.
The fund opening balances screen is where you can make changes to the opening balances of the fund. Please note that while we encourage you to make any minor adjustments to the opening balances if there are wholesale changes to be made you should reject the fund on TMS and we will make the changes for you.
To navigate to a fund’s opening balances page, click on Fund > Load Opening Balances. You can navigate through the various tabs at the top to make any necessary adjustments. For example, if you wanted to change the acquisition date of the property, find the property by scrolling down and click on edit parcel history.
You can also make changes to member balances, reserves, tax position and assets and liabilities (i.e. accruals). Once you have made the changes, ensure you review the opening balances by clicking on the review button at the top of the page, ensuring that the fund still balances. If you are satisfied with the changes, click on the submit button.
Please see our Load Opening Balances article for more detail.
FAQ
1. What data is brought across in the transition?
The transition will convert the following data onto Class:
- Fund reference Data - This includes all basic fund, trustee, member, pension, reserve and investment details
- Opening balances – This includes all investments, member (accumulation and pension), accruals, reserves, and any liability balances
- Historical CGT history of investments on hand as at the book close date
- For BGL Simple Fund transitions only, we extract cash and broker transactions processed in BGL after the book close date. This information is presented in an excel transaction loader for clients to load into Class if they wish
2. Where does the fund data come from?
This depends on your previous system. We can obtain data extracts from the major SMSF administration platforms (SuperMate, BGL, and Desktop Super). These are referred to as automated transitions. For all other systems, we manually enter the data onto an Excel Fund Loader and then load to Class and such transitions are termed manual transitions.
3. Why do we need reports?
Unfortunately, we are unable to rely solely on the data extracts from your previous system as they are not always 100% accurate. As such, we verify all the balances extracted against the reports provided to ensure accuracy.
4. How do we handle variances?
Where there is a variance between the extracted data and reports provided we will always refer to the reports. This is always the basis we use to load the data onto Class.
More specifically here are the reports we use to check the balances:
Market Values > Trial Balance Report > Balances must tie into the member balances and accruals; sometimes the market values may differ on the investment summary on Class as at book close date due to variances between the previous systems valuation and Class’s valuation, but the market values transitioned will be as per the provided trial balance. The balances from your trial balance will also form the basis of your prior year comparatives and not the 30 June price in Class. You can check this on the opening balances page.
Member Balances/Components > Member Statements Report > Where you have negative taxable/tax free components, you will only see positive balances on the Class member’s statement net of the negative amount. You can see the underlying negative balance in the opening balances page. Class maintains any negative tax component in the background and does not report these on the member statements. At no circumstances will there ever be a negative preservation component recorded as this is not in line with the SISA & SISR. Where there is a negative preservation component for a member statement, this is netted off against any positive preservation balances.
Reserves > Trial Balance > We set up reserves as reserve accounts or custom holding accounts in Class depending on the type (refer to the reserves section under 'Our Approach'.
Cost Bases/Adjustments > Detailed Projected Investment Disposal Profit/Loss/Accrued Capital Gains/CGT Valuation Reports > Please check these closely as this is where we find the most variances between our data extracts and the reports. These figures can be reviewed by checking the unrealised capital gains report.
Accruals > Trial Balance > You can review these amounts by referring to the statement of financial position generated from Class.
Tax Position > Trial Balance/Tax Return > Income tax balances are recorded in the same field regardless of whether it is a receivable or payable. The same applies to GST balances. Receivables are reflected as a negative in the opening balances screen. You can review the amounts in the generated statement of financial position from Class. Please note that we record any carried forward losses as per the tax return provided. You cannot produce a report to check carried forward losses, so carried forward losses should be reviewed in the opening balances page.
5. What about the general fund details?
For automated transitions, the basic fund details (e.g. fund name, address, member details, trustee details etc) are pre-filled. Where you use other systems to maintain client details and you had not updated your previous SMSF system, the transitions team will use the data that was extracted from the database from your old system. Therefore, the details transitioned onto Class will contain fund details that were not updated per your previous system.
In relation to manual transitions, you should ensure that there are no typing errors when completing the Manual Data Collection Form as these details will be reflected in the fund details on Class.
Our Approach
1. Members
Members will be set-up as per your previous system. Member details will usually be verified against the provided member statements. Please note that we will not load any beneficiary details, nor will we be able to load any prior year contribution amounts and/or if the member is retired. You will need to add these details to Class once your funds have been transitioned.
If Member TFNs have not been provided, we will usually leave this blank. To update this, go to Members > Browse members and select the relevant member. Navigate to the member details tab, and click on the edit button next to the TFN field. Enter the missing TFN. You can make any other changes to member details in this section, including changing the address, entering the member eligible service period start date, and the member beneficiary details.
2. Pensions Transitioned and TBAR Reporting
We will not load any reversionary beneficiary details for pension accounts.
We load pensions established post 01 July 2007 as Account Based Pensions and make no distinction between TRIS/TTR pensions and regular Account Based Pensions for members below age 65. In this instance, the system will assume that income streams established post 01 July 2007 are Transition to Retirement (TRIS) accounts for members that are not in retirement phase. Where a member has met a condition of release, you will need to enter the Member's Condition of Release under Member Transitions. This is to ensure that the system recognises that the members Account Based Pension is a retirement phase income stream for the purposes of satisfying ATO’s TBAR Report.
We load pensions established post 01 July 2007 as full Account Based Pensions for members over age 65. You do not need to set a Member Transition record in this instance and Class will automatically include this pension balance as a retirement phase income stream for the purposes of satisfying ATO’s TBAR Report.
Class will not allow Account Based Pensions to have a start date prior to 1 July 2007, so if the pension was started prior to this date and switched to an Account Based Pension from an Allocated Pension, you will need to enter in the start date of the original pension yourself. To do this, go to Members > Browse Members > select Pension Account > click Edit > click Maintain Establishment Details. In the Pension Details tab, you can enter the Previous Pension Date. You can also amend the establishment date in the pension establishment screen if you would like to update the pension start date that we have entered. You can also enter any other pension details such as original commencement value, relevant numbers, and any prior year commutations.
3. Reserves
Generally, the two reserve accounts that we see are contributions reserves (using a contribution reserving strategy), or an investment reserve. Investment reserve accounts will be set up as a reserve account on Class, which behaves a lot like an additional member account.
Contributions reserves, on the other hand, will be set up as a custom holding account as contribution reserves are typically temporary reserve accounts. Further, it is much simpler to allocate the contribution in the relevant income year if we set it up as a custom holding account.
4. Listed Securities
When we load listed securities, we load them according to the ASX code that is provided. For example, Commonwealth Bank of Australia will be loaded with a security issue code of CBA. Class will then use the price feed to determine the market price of the asset at various points, as well as use the market type that is automatically allocated to this investment (Listed Security) as sourced from the ASX. This also applies to hybrid securities, listed unit trusts and stapled securities.
For example, BGL classifies some listed securities as Listed Unit Trust which is not necessary on Class. If for any reason, you would like to change the market type for an investment at a fund level, you can do so by navigating to Investments>Browse Holding Accounts and by selecting the holding account, the reporting categories can be edited.
If the ASX code used for a holding is incorrect, please navigate to Investments>Browse Holding Accounts, select the relevant holding and edit, the Security Issue field can be changed to the correct ASX code.
5. DRP Residual Accounts
Where you maintain DRP residual amounts, this will generally be created as a one-line Custom Holding Account where you have not provided the Transitions team with the breakdown of the amounts attributed to the relevant investment holding. This is because we are unable to distinguish which investment holding account the DRP residuals is attributed to. Once on Class, you should ensure that you clear the CHA and allocate the residual balances to the correct investment accounts. Alternatively, if you provide the breakdowns we will be able to enter the DRP amounts correctly when we transition your fund.
6. Managed Funds
When we load managed funds, we try to match the managed fund with the corresponding APIR code (An APIR Code is a unique identifier issued by APIR to participants and products within the Financial Services Industry). This way the prices, distributions and asset allocations will automatically be generated in Class from our provider data feeds. In most cases, the APIR codes are available, as BGL, Desktop and SuperMate also have the functionality to obtain and record APIR codes in the system.
In the case that we are unable to source the APIR codes directly from the provided documents and/or data files, we will make an informed assumption on the APIR code by searching through the security list in Class using the available description and selecting the APIR code we feel is most appropriate. The problem with this approach is that sometimes a managed fund with the same or very similar description may have more than one APIR code, depending on the Wrap provider/whether it is wholesale or retail, etc.
If you notice that the price you have on Class varies from the report from the managed fund/wrap provider, this is usually the reason why. If after checking the APIR code it has been determined that the incorrect code has been entered, simply navigate to Investments>Browse Holding Accounts, select the holding, click Edit, and edit the security issue to the correct APIR code by clicking on Change:
Start typing the correct APIR code in the Security Issue Box and a list of securities will appear:
Select the correct security and click Save at the bottom of the page.
If we are unable to find a suitable match in our security list, we will set the managed fund up as an unlisted trust. If you subsequently find what the APIR code should be, you can use the method mentioned above to change it. If you are unable to find the correct code, you will need to manually enter in price and distribution data going forward when you begin processing funds or portfolios on Class.
7. Foreign Investment Assets
We load foreign investments as foreign investments on to Class. However, unless we are provided with the stock exchange that the foreign asset belongs to (i.e. NYSE, NASDAQ, LSE etc.) and have the correct Security Issue Code (e.g. AAPL, GOOG, ORCL etc.) we will not load the foreign asset to the security issue that will automatically bring across prices and distributions. It will instead be loaded as a "User Created Asset", which behaves much like an unlisted security.
The reason for this is we do not want to make too many assumptions around this, especially as the asset can appear on more than one stock exchange. If you would like to change this to the community level asset whereby the prices and distributions will flow through, use the same method as noted above in the managed fund section to apply the correct security. Ensure you click on the 'Include Foreign Markets' radio button to include all foreign securities in your list:
8. Property Accounts Including Depreciation
Generally, we will load property accounts the same way they have been set up in your previous system. For example, if you have one main property account and 5 fixtures and fittings accounts they will be set up separately as 6 properties in Class. Where you have requested for a depreciation worksheet, the depreciable assets relating to the property will be amalgamated to the property. We consolidate the property by recording the various related items as first element adjustments. This is the recommended way of recording property on Class.
We load property balances net of any accumulated depreciation, so if your property account on your previous system has a balance of $500,000 with a contra amount of $50,000, the market value on Class will be recorded as $450,000. The reason that we do not create a separate accumulated depreciation account is because there is no way to clear this account or add capital purchases going forward. Please note this does not preclude you from continuing to depreciate the property on Class. The depreciation amounts claimed are recorded as first element adjustments to the cost base of the property.
If you would like the transitions team to load the depreciation worksheet for you after the fund has been loaded, please note your request in the review comments box and reject the fund. Please upload the depreciation schedule on the TMS prior to rejecting the fund. Please note that because this is not part of the standard transition an additional charge will be applied.
9. Wrap Accounts
We will load wrap accounts the same way they have been set up in your previous system. If the wrap account is created as a one-line asset, we will create the asset as a one-line Custom Holding Account. When a custom holding account is processed in Class, any capital gains are processed as a standalone tax adjustment. This means that you do not need to enter in any tax deferred/tax free adjustments in the opening balances. As such, we will enter in the cost base as the 'adjusted cost base', net of any tax deferred/tax free adjustments.
If you have requested for us to complete a portfolio reconstruction for a one-line wrap account and you have provided the necessary reports, the investments held in the wrap will be recorded separately. Where a reconstruction is required, the portfolio valuation provided must reconcile with the carrying value of the wrap, per the trial balance. Where there is a variance, we will adjust the market value of the largest holding and note this as an assumption for your review.
10. Non-Standard Investments
Any investments that do not fit into the categories of Investments, Property, Collectible, Cash, and Term deposits will be set up as a custom holding account. The asset will be classified as 'Other Assets' on the General Ledger. Since it is a custom holding account you do have the ability to change this classification in Class, by going to Investments > Browse Holding Accounts, click on the asset, click on Edit, and change the classifications.
11. Borrowings
Any loans to the fund (typically a Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangement) will usually be created as custom holding accounts. If the LRBA account can be identified as a bank account, we will set it up as a bank account with a negative balance. This will then allow you to set up an automated data feed for the loan account (where a data feed is supported).
If the loan is set up as a custom holding account and you would like to change it to a bank account, simply create the new bank account, and move the balance from the custom holding account to the bank account on the fund’s Load Opening Balances page.
For loan that is a type of investment and can earn interest, it will be set up as custom holding account with the default account classification as per below screenshot. It is optional to update the GL Behaviour from Dual to be Asset/Liability.
You can consolidate the loans in one line by updating the GL Behaviour from Dual to be Asset/Liability, or the other option is to leave it as Dual to show the asset/liability separately.
What you may need to add
While the transition process loads up most of the details for your funds, there are still some additional details that you will need to enter in yourself.
These are all optional fields that include but are not limited to the below:
Member Details
Data Field | Navigation in Class | Notes |
---|---|---|
Member Insurance | Member > Browse Members > Select Member Name > Member Details Tab | This is extracted if it is entered into BGL |
Centrelink Reference Number | Member > Browse Members > Select Member Name > Member Details Tab | This needs to be entered so it can show on the centrelink schedule report |
Beneficiary Nominations | Member > Browse Members > Select Member Name > Beneficiary Details | This needs to be entered so it can show on the member statements |
Contributions Bring-Forward Detail | Member > Contribution Caps > Select Member > Edit |
Pensions
Data Field | Navigation in Class | Notes |
---|---|---|
Pension Start Date if Prior to 1 July 2007 | Members > Browse Members > Select Member Pension Account > Edit > Pension Details | Only for ABP/TRIS with a start date prior to 01/07/07 that was converted on 1 July 2007 |
Condition of Release | Members > Browse Members > Select Member Pension Account > Edit > Pension Establishment | |
Pension Purchase Price & Establishment Balances | Members > Browse Members > Select Member Pension Account > Edit > Pension Establishment | This information will flow through the member statements |
Reversionary Beneficiary Details | Members > Browse Members > Select Member Pension Account > Edit > Pension Details | This information will flow through the member statements |
Relevant Number | Members > Browse Members > Select Member Pension Account > Edit > Pension Details | This information will be reported in the Centrelink schedule |
Commutations Since Purchase | Members > Browse Members > Select Member Pension Account > Edit > Pension Details | |
Current Year Pension Reviews | Members > Browse Members > Select Member Pension Account > Next Period | This will auto calculate minimums and maximums |
Other Details
Data Field | Navigation in Class | Notes |
---|---|---|
Default Bank Account for tax refunds | Investments > Browse Holding Accounts > Select Relevant Bank Account > Edit > Select 'Yes' Radio Button | The default cash account is used to prefill EFT details for tax payments and refunds |
Prior Year Operating Statement Comparatives | Fund > Load Opening Balances > Prior Year Operating Statement Tab | Once entered, these comparatives will reflect in the Operating Statement. |
Investment Strategy Percentages | Investments > Maintain Asset Strategy > Add | The information added here will help in generating the Investment Strategy minutes. |
Dividend Reinvestment Residual | See article Processing DRP Residual Amounts | This information is used to record DRP carry forward. |
Other Considerations
Please do not load funds that have already been loaded to TMS, as this will only create rework for the team and for you. You should only reload a fund on TMS where the fund needs to be re-transitioned and/or you require an additional service for the fund and the initial transitions request has already been closed off.
Please do not reject funds with Class application support queries, as this is not what the TMS is for. Please raise all Class application support queries by clicking on the 'log a support request' icon in the top right-hand corner of the Class application, or contact your implementation consultant.
As a matter of course, Class staff will not delete or suspend any funds that have been loaded in error or have subsequently left. You can suspend a fund by going to fund, fund details, click edit, and click on the suspend button at the bottom of the screen. Please note that once a fund is suspended, only the support team will be able to reactivate the fund, and it will be back billed for the period that it was suspended.
We do not load prior year operating statement comparatives as part of the standard transition. You will need to enter these in yourself using the fund opening balances screen if you want operating statement comparatives for the first year that you are on Class.