General Information

The Real Estate and Business Agents Act 1978 (the Act) and the Real Estate and Business Agents (General) Regulations 1979 (the Regulations) require the strict maintenance of a formal set of trust account records, which show at any time the state of a real estate and business agent's trust account

To audit an agent's trust account, a person must be a registered company auditor,
under Part 9.2 of the Corporations Act 2001(Cwlth).

View theReal Estate and Business Agents' Trust Account Handbookfor more information.

Appointment of auditor

If you are an agent and have opened a trust account you are required to provide the details of your trust account and auditor. Please complete theNotification of openinga trust accountform and email it toaudits@commerce.wa.gov.au

Change of auditor

An auditor's appointment is continuous until Consumer Protection approves a change to the auditor (under section 73 of the Real Estate and Business Agents Act 1978). To request approval, complete thechange of auditorform and email it toaudits@commerce.wa.gov.au

Agents seeking to change their statutory appointed auditor must lodge an application with Consumer Protection no later than one month after the end of the year to be audited. For example, where the audit period expires on 31 December 2016, an application must be received by Consumer Protection by 31 January 2017. Applications for a change of auditor will not be accepted after this time, as it will be nearing the due date for the annual audit.

Auditing

When conducting the audit we considerInformation for auditors of real estate and business agentsandA guide to auditing trust accounts

Key details:

Audit Period:1 January to 31 December

Audit Due Date:31 March

Audit Report submitted to:The auditor is required to deliver the audit report to
Consumer Protection