Do I need to do that? The new financial year is the ideal time to ensure all the paperwork is in order for the year just gone and to put plans in place for the coming year. Graeme Colley, ING Australia's head of self-managed super funds, says trustees commonly add to their costs by not having all the paperwork in order when their fund's affairs are sent off to the accountant and auditor. "The best thing you can do is have all the information ready and avoid questions," he says. "Make sure your fund's bank statements are linked to its transactions. If you've made contributions make sure they're in the bank statement and the amounts are all reconciled. If you've bought or sold assets during the year, have all the documentation ready.

"And if you've made contributions, make sure you've done the necessary elections for tax purposes."

Simpler Super hasn't significantly changed the administrative work involved in running a self-managed fund but the Tax Office is auditing more self-managed funds and you have a higher risk of running into problems if you've been slack. Colley says accounting industry groups have also tightened up their standards for fund auditors, which means you're less likely to get away with sloppy paperwork. Audits must be independent from the accounting process, so there is a genuine second set of eyes checking your accounts.

All transactions will need to be clearly identified and must conform to the super rules. Where funds do not conform, there is a requirement for contraventions to be reported to the Tax Office. One extra form that will need to be filled out is the new trustee declaration. Under Simpler Super any trustee, or director of the corporate trustee of a self-managed fund, appointed after June 30 last year must sign this within 21 days of their appointment.

What else should I do? There is no legal requirement to do so but Colley says now is a good time to review your fund's investment strategy - especially if something has changed - such as the fund gaining a new member or one of the members going into, or planning to go into, pension phase. You may also want to consider changing your asset allocation in response to market conditions.

If the fund or one of the members' accounts is in pension phase, decisions will also need to be made about how much pension is to be paid this year and how it will be funded, Colley says.

"You may find your account balance has dropped due to falls on the sharemarket and have to think about whether to take a higher percentage of your account balance to maintain your pension income," he says.

If that is the case, the fund may have to change its investments to ensure this money is available.

"A lot of financial planners make sure people have at least two or three years' pension income in cash or liquid assets within the fund," he says. That ensures they can ride out periods of volatility and will not be forced to sell assets during down periods to fund pension payments.

For those still working, Colley says July is the best time to consider this year's super contributions, particularly if you can salary sacrifice.

As you can only sacrifice prospective earnings, not money you've already earned, a salary sacrifice arrangement put in place early in the financial year ensures you can sacrifice as much of your income as you want to, within the maximum limits set by the Government. Tax deductible contributions are limited to $50,000 a year for the under-50s and $100,000 a year for those aged 50 or more.