The following Membership terms and conditions (Membership Terms) govern access to, and use (as a Member) of The SMSF Academy website (Site).

The Site is owned and operated by The SMSF Academy Pty Ltd ABN 53 146 136 521 (The SMSF Academy, or TSA or we or us).

The Site and the content uploaded to the Site is restricted based upon the level of membership that the person has agreed to in the Membership Terms.  The SMSF Academy offers three levels of paid membership plans – bronze, silver and gold, in addition to a free membership plan.

By making payment for your Membership subscription you will be deemed to have agreed to the Membership Terms and a legally binding contract, incorporating those Membership Terms, will then exist between you and TSA in relation to your use of the Site.  Registration for a free membership also constitutes your acceptance of these Membership Terms.

If you agree to be bound by the Membership Terms on behalf of a third party (which may include your employer or other entity) named in the details you provide before clicking “I agree”, you represent and warrant that you have full legal authority to bind that third party to the Membership Terms.

Membership Terms and Conditions

  1. Definitions

In these Membership Terms:

  • Content means all activities that occur under your Member Account on the Site
  • Fair use means unreasonably or unfairly high volumes of document generation across one or more of the following document categories: SMSF Start & Update, Companies, SMSF Income Streams, Estate Planning and SMSF Compliance.
  • Member means a person who signs up as a Member by creating an account and accepting these Membership Terms and Privacy Policy.
  • Member Account has the meaning given to that term in clause 5.
  • Products mean SMSF documents and other materials available on the Site including, but not limited to,legal documents, compliance documents, training materials, webinars and courses.
  • In these Membership Terms, a reference to “TSA” or “we” or “us” means The SMSF Academy and a reference to “you” or “your” means a Member.

  1. Membership

You may only become a Member if you are 18 years or over.

You must be a human. Accounts registered by “bots” or other automated methods are not permitted.

You do not have an automatic entitlement to Membership and TSA may, at its sole discretion, elect to:

  • refuse your request to become a Member; or
  • once Membership is granted, suspend, terminate or restrict your Membership at any time.

TSA is not obliged to give reasons for any decision it makes to suspend, terminate or restrict your Membership or to reject your request to become a Member.

Your Membership is non-transferable.

Once Membership is granted you will only be able to access areas of the Site with use of the username (your email address) and password you set up at the time you become a Member.

You are responsible for each and every access or use of the Site that occurs in conjunction with use of your username and password.

Use of your username and password is conclusive evidence that you have accessed the Membership sections of the Site.

You must use all reasonable efforts to keep your username and password confidential.

You must not allow any third party to access the Site using your username and password and make use of the Site on your behalf.

You must notify TSA in writing as soon as you become aware of any unauthorised use of your Member Account, username or password.

You acknowledge and agree that you are liable for, and will indemnify TSA, its related bodies corporate, affiliates, officers, directors, agents and employees against, any and all claims made by a third party arising out of your access to, and use of, the Site as a Member.

  1. Member Information 

To become a Member and use the Site, you will be asked to provide certain personal information to us (Member Information). You promise that the Member Information you provide is true, accurate and complete.

The SMSF Academy’s information collection and use policies with respect to the privacy of such Member Information are set out in the Site’s Privacy Policy.

By becoming a Member, you consent to receive occasional email notifications from us. These notifications will advise you of Service updates and occasional marketing material.

Any Member Information that you disclose may be used by TSA, its agents and contractors in relation to the provision of services accessible on the Site, including marketing activities in relation to the Site.

  1. Benefits conferred by Membership

By being registered as a Member you are, subject to these Membership Terms and your level of membership entitled to the following:

Gold Membership

  • Generate SMSF legal and compliance documents (subject to the Fair Use policy as outlined in clause 14)
  • Access all webinar training and online courses on the Site for continuing professional development (CPD) purposes
  • Access to the SMSF101 course for CPD purposes (an additional fee will apply for RG146 certification  as outlined in clause 8)
  • Participate in online forums
  • Access telephone and email support during normal trading hours
  • Generally make use of the Membership section of the Site

Silver Membership

  • Generate SMSF compliance documents (subject to the Fair Use policy as outlined in clause 14)
  • Access all webinar training and online courses on the Site for CPD purposes
  • Participate in online forums
  • Access email support during normal trading hours
  • Generally make use of the Membership section of the Site

Bronze Membership

  • Access all webinar training and online courses on the Site for CPD purposes
  • Participate in online forums
  • Generally make use of the Membership section of the Site

  1. Member Accounts

When you become a Member you will have a single account that is accessible by you for the Site (Member Account). Among other things, through your Member Account, you will be able to access and update your profile information, password and view record of payments made by you to TSA, including any outstanding amounts.

You are responsible for all Content posted and activity that occurs under your Account.

  1. The SMSF Academy’s Role

The Site only provides a Service that entitles you to the Benefits conferred by your level of Membership.

The ownership of the Benefits conferred by Membership remain with TSA or the licensee where they are provided under licence to TSA.  Where a Product is provided under licence, TSA does not have any control over, and does not take any responsibility for, the quality, safety or legality of any Products viewed, generated and/or downloaded by you from the Site.

Legal Advice

This Site is intended to provide legal information only. The Content, Products and or any other information contained on the Site do not constitute legal advice, and nothing on this Site or Service should be construed or considered as giving legal advice.

TSA strongly recommends that you obtain qualified, proper and independent legal professional advice.

TSA is not responsible for any misinterpretation or omissions from the use of the Products and/or Content on the Site and you accept any risks of not seeking proper and qualified legal advice.

General Advice Only

The Site is not intended to constitute financial product advice.  All training (delivered online and/or face-to-face) provides general advice only.  No direct or implicit recommendations are given in any training that is provided.

TSA believes that the information provided within its Products is correct at the time that the training was prepared but does not warrant the accuracy of that information. Save for statutory liability which cannot be excluded, TSA disclaims all responsibility for any loss or damage which any person may suffer from reliance on this information or any opinion, conclusion or recommendation in this presentation whether the loss or damage is caused by any fault or negligence on the part of presenter or otherwise.

  1. Availability and Use of the Site

The Site will usually be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week or as otherwise stated on the Site.

TSA may, in its absolute discretion, and for any reason, and at any time, with or without notice:

  1. interrupt or suspend your right to access the whole or any part of the Site; and/or
  2. alter, interrupt or suspend the provision of the whole or any part of the documents and/or services available on the Site.

You agree that TSA will not be liable to you for any loss that you may suffer as a result of any such interruption, suspension or alteration.

When accessing the Site (as a Member) and using the services available on the Site, you must also comply with any directions, instructions or protocols posted on the Site from time to time.

  1. Fees and Services

The SMSF Academy offers four levels of membership – free, bronze, silver and gold.

All prices are exclusive of GST unless otherwise indicated.

All references on the Site or in this Membership Terms of Service to “$” and “dollars” are Australian dollars.

Bronze Membership 

The Bronze Membership is a monthly subscription of $70.00 + GST per month, or $700 + GST annually.

A valid credit card is required for payment of the subscription, unless agreed to direct debit from your nominated account. If you sign up for the Bronze Membership (monthly), you will be billed monthly in advance during your subscription period, unless your subscription is suspended or terminated in accordance with clause 2. If you sign up for the Bronze Membership (annual), you will be billed in advance for the annual subscription period, unless your subscription is suspended or terminated in accordance with clause 2.

The Bronze Membership applies only to the registered Member and/or the employer or other entity within a single physical office or individual practice location. A CPD certificate will only be issued to the registered Member, unless agreed otherwise with us.

Payments made are non-refundable.

If you upgrade from the Bronze Membership to a Gold or Silver Membership, the credit card that you provided will be will be billed for the pro-rata amount of the Gold or Silver Membership based on the remaining days in the month.  You will then be automatically charged the new rate on your next billing cycle.

If you downgrade from the Bronze Membership to the free membership, the credit card (or bank account) that you provided will no longer be automatically charged from the next billing cycle.  Where TSA exercises its rights under clause 2, you will not be charged for the Services covering the period of suspension or from the date of service termination (as the case may be).

Silver Membership 

The Silver Membership is a monthly subscription of $450.00 + GST per month.

A valid credit card is required for payment of the subscription, unless agreed to direct debit from your nominated account.  If you sign up for the Silver Membership, you will be billed monthly in advance during your subscription period, unless your subscription is suspended or terminated in accordance with clause 2.

The Silver Membership applies only to the registered Member and/or the employer or other entity within a single physical office or individual practice location. A CPD certificate will only be issued to the registered Member, unless agreed otherwise with us

Payments made are non-refundable.

If you upgrade from the Silver Membership to a Gold Membership, the credit card that you provided will be will be billed for the pro-rata amount of the Gold Membership based on the remaining days in the month.  You will then be automatically charged the new rate on your next billing cycle.

If you downgrade from the Silver Membership to a Bronze membership, the credit card (or bank account) that you provided will automatically be charged the new rate on your next billing cycle.  Where TSA exercises its rights under clause 2, you will not be charged for the Services covering any period of suspension or from the date of service termination (as the case may be).

If you downgrade from the Silver Membership to the free membership, the credit card (or bank account) that you provided will no longer be automatically charged from the next billing cycle.  Where TSA exercises its rights under clause 2, you will not be charged for the Services covering the period of suspension or from the date of service termination (as the case may be).

Gold Membership

The Gold Membership is a monthly subscription of $1,350 + GST per month.

A valid credit card is required for payment of the subscription, unless agreed to direct debit from your nominated account.  If you sign up for the Gold Membership, you will be billed monthly in advance during your subscription period, unless your subscription is suspended or terminated  in accordance with clause 2.

The Gold Membership applies only to the registered Member and/or the employer or other entity within a single physical office or individual practice location. A CPD certificate will only be issued to the registered Member, unless agreed otherwise with us

All payments made are non-refundable.

If you downgrade from the Gold Membership to a Silver or Bronze membership, the credit card (or bank account) that you provided will automatically be charged the new rate on your next billing cycle.  Where TSA exercises its rights under clause 2, you will not be charged for the Services covering any period of suspension or from the date of service termination (as the case may be).

If you downgrade from the Gold Membership to the free membership, the credit card (or bank account) that you provided will no longer be automatically charged from the next billing cycle. Where TSA exercises its rights under clause 2, you will not be charged for the Services covering the period of suspension or from the date of service termination (as the case may be).

Additional fees and charge with Gold Membership

  1. Company incorporations

In order to register a company through ASIC you will need to pay a fee for each company incorporation. A fee of $488 is payable at the time a company document is completed by you.  This includes:

  • the ASIC registration of $463 (2015-16); and
  • our processing fee of $25 (with e-companies).
  1. Registered Training Organisation (RTO) fee

In order to obtain your RG146 requirements using the SMSF101 course, you will need to pay a fee to SMSF101 Pty Ltd (SMSF101) of $500 for RTO services.  The SMSF101 course utilises DeakinPrime as the RTO for the course.  Upon successful completion of the course and assignment, DeakinPrime will issue you with the RG146 certification that demonstrates the relevant units of competency.

  1. Legal Review of SMSF documents

As a Member generating SMSF documents through the Service, you may wish to have certain documents that you have prepared reviewed by a suitably qualified lawyer. Glenister & Co, Business Lawyers can undertake a legal review of any legal documents that you have prepared through the Service for a fee of $200 + GST

Bank Fees

The SMSF Academy uses eWAY and Paypal for all membership payments.

Credit card payments made through eWAY do not attract a fee.  Credit Card payments made through Paypal will incur transaction processing fees of 2.4% + $0.30.

  1. Cancellation and Termination

You are solely responsible for properly canceling your account.  You can cancel your Member Account at any time by emailing info@thesmsfacademy.com.au.

All of your content will be immediately be inaccessible from the Service upon cancellation. Within 30 days, all this content will be permanently deleted from all backups and logs. This information can not be recovered once it has been permanently deleted. TSA does not accept any liability for any loss that may be incurred.

If you cancel the Service before the end of your current paid up month, your cancellation will take effect immediately, and you will not be charged again.  There will not be any prorating of unused time in the last billing cycle.

  1. Modifications to Membership and Prices

TSA reserves the right at any time and from time to time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, any level of Membership, or any part of the Service with or without notice.

Prices of all levels of membership are subject to change upon 30 days notice from us. Such notice may be provided at any time by posting the changes to the TSA site or the Service itself.

The Company shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, price change, suspension or discontinuance of the Service.

  1. Proprietary Rights

TSA, and its licensors own all:

  1. the content on the Site (other than logos or images which a Member may add for use in generating SMSF documents).
  2. the look and feel, design and the organisation of the Site;
  3. the compilation of the materials on the Site; and
  4. the intellectual property rights (if any) subsisting in the works described in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) above.

Your use of the Site does not grant to you any ownership or like interest in any content, code, data or materials you may access on or through the Site or any intellectual property rights subsisting in any of those things.

  1. Trademarks

The trademarks, logos, service marks and trade names (collectively the Trademarks) displayed on the Site are, unless otherwise stated, the registered and unregistered Trademarks of The SMSF Academy Holdings Pty Ltd.

A Trademark may not be used by you without the approval of its owner.  Nothing contained on the Site should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any license or right to use any Trademark displayed on the Sites without the written permission of its owner.

  1. Confidential Information and Privacy

TSA does not warrant or represent that your use of the Site will be confidential.

TSA is not responsible for any harm that you or any person may suffer as a result of a breach of your confidentiality in respect of your use of the Site.

While TSA has taken precautions to protect information that you transmit to the Site over the internet, TSA does not warrant the security of that information. Once TSA receives your transmission, TSA will take reasonable steps to preserve the security of such information.

You must not disclose any confidential information made available to you through the Site.

When using the Site or dealing with other users of the Site you must respect the privacy and legal rights of other Members.

  1. Prohibited Conduct

You warrant that while using the Site and the various services and features offered via Site, you will not:

  • breach the Fair Use policy that applies to your Member Account;
  • use a false email address or impersonate any person or entity or misrepresent your affiliation with any other person or entity; or
  • use the Site for any illegal or unauthorised purpose. You must not, in the use of the Site, violate any laws in your jurisdiction (including but not limited to copyright laws).

Any Prohibited Conduct will lead to Suspension and/or termination of your Member Account.

Fair Use

Unlimited use to generate SMSF documents is provided for gold and silver members.  However, during the subscription period TSA will actively monitor document generation usage for an excessive and suspicious activity.  Where we believe that you are in breach of ‘fair use’, TSA will provide written notice to you and reserves the right to terminate your subscription in accordance with clause 2.

If you breach the Fair Use policy, termination of the subscription will occur with immediate effect.

  1. Severability

If any part of these Terms of Service is or becomes illegal, invalid or unenforceable, it shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other part or provision of these Terms of Service.

  1. Governing law

These Terms of Service shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Victoria and of the Commonwealth of Australia. You submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of Victoria and the Commonwealth of Australia.

  1. Company Incorporation Declaration & Consent

By making the Declaration at the end of the company incorporation order form or the company incorporation – special purpose order form, you authorise and consent to thesmsfacademy.com.au arranging for CNCNA Pty Ltd ABN 63 129 795 339 submitting / lodging the application for registration as an Australian company (Form 201) to ASIC and warrant that the information contained therein is not false or misleading in any way.