Ongoing Fee Arrangement Renewal: Reference Day, the 60/150-Day Window and Lapsed Consent

Published 3 November 2026 by Steffan Kharmaaiarvi, founder

An ongoing fee arrangement renewal is now a single written consent each year, signed within a window set by a reference day. Miss the window and the arrangement ends by law: no further fee may be charged under it and no service is owed. This note sets out the current rules in Part 7.7A of the Corporations Act 2001 and ASIC's guidance, how the window is worked out, what the consent has to contain, and what an adviser must do when it lapses. It ends with an illustrative example and what Borderfolio for Advisors records. It is a summary for practice management, not legal advice.

Which rules apply

The rules changed with the Treasury Laws Amendment (Delivering Better Financial Outcomes and Other Measures) Act 2024 (the DBFO Act). ASIC says the reform consolidates the consent process for entering into and renewing an ongoing fee arrangement and for authorising fees to be deducted from a financial product, and removes the obligation to give clients a fee disclosure statement each year.

• New regime. ASIC's Information Sheet 286 (INFO 286) applies to arrangements entered into on or after 10 January 2025, and to arrangements already in force on that date from their first anniversary after it.
• Older guidance. Information Sheet 256 (INFO 256), written for the earlier renewal and fee disclosure statement rules, generally continues to apply to arrangements entered into or last renewed before 10 January 2025, until that first anniversary.

By now most arrangements have passed an anniversary after 10 January 2025, so the rest of this note describes the current sections.

What the consent must contain

Under s962G, a consent to enter into or renew an arrangement must be in writing, signed and dated by the client, and kept by the fee recipient. Before obtaining it, the fee recipient must disclose in writing:

• the fee recipient's name and contact details, and why the consent is sought;
• the maximum period until the consent ceases to have effect;
• the services the client is entitled to in that period;
• each ongoing fee and its frequency, or a reasonable estimate with the method used when the amount cannot be known;
• that the client can terminate at any time, that the arrangement ends and no further advice or fee follows if consent is not given, and the date it will end.

ASIC notes that there is currently no prescribed form and that consent can be given electronically, for example by ticking a box on a web page.

The reference day and the 60/150-day window

Section 962H sets when a consent stops having effect. It ceases 150 days after a day determined under s962H(2), unless a new consent is given in the period that starts 60 days before that day and ends 150 days after it, in which case the old consent is replaced when the new one is signed.

The day in s962H(2), which ASIC calls the reference day, is the earlier of:

• a day specified in the current consent, if there is one; and
• the anniversary of the day the arrangement was entered into (for the first consent), or of the previous consent's reference day (for later ones).

ASIC adds that, for a reference day to have effect, it must be earlier than the anniversary of the day the arrangement was entered into, and must be disclosed before the client consents. Once agreed, its anniversary drives the window each year until a different day is agreed; the date the client actually signs does not move it. ASIC's own example: an arrangement entered into on 1 September 2025 with no reference day can be renewed from 3 July 2026 to 29 January 2027.

When consent lapses

• The arrangement terminates. Under s962F it is a condition of every ongoing fee arrangement that it terminates if the client has not given a compliant consent, or if a consent has ceased under s962H and no new one was given in the window.
• No further fees. ASIC states that once the arrangement terminates, no further fees can be charged under it and there is no obligation to continue the services. A fee recipient must not deduct or accept ongoing fees when the consent has ceased (ss962R and 962S, as cited by ASIC), and civil penalties apply.
• Tell the product provider. Where the fee recipient arranges deductions from a client's account, it must notify the account provider within 10 business days after the consent ceased and stop arranging deductions (s962V(2), as cited by ASIC).
• Payments after termination. A client who pays after termination is not taken to have waived their rights or entered a new arrangement. The fee recipient is not obliged to refund, but a court may order a refund (s962F(2)–(3)).
• The client can end it anyway. Under s962J the client can terminate at any time by written notice, effective that day, and a termination charge is void beyond accrued liabilities and costs caused solely by the termination.

Records must be kept for at least five years: each consent, any notice to renew, not renew or terminate and its date, the information disclosed, and the date and basis of any termination (regulation 7.7A.11AA(2), as summarised by ASIC).

An illustrative example

The dates are invented to show the arithmetic. A client entered into an ongoing fee arrangement on 14 March 2025 and agreed no reference day.

• First year. The client signs a compliant renewal on 20 February 2026, inside the window. No new reference day is agreed, so the next reference day is the anniversary of the previous one, 14 March 2027.
• Second year. The adviser sends the renewal in January 2027, but the client does not sign. The consent ceases at the end of 11 August 2027 and the arrangement terminates.
• What follows. The fee due on 31 August 2027 must not be deducted. If fees were deducted from a platform account, the platform must be told within 10 business days after the consent ceased. The termination date and its basis go into the client file.

Counting calendar days the same way as ASIC's own example, 60 days before 14 March 2026 is 13 January 2026 and 150 days after it is 11 August 2026.

What Borderfolio records

• Arrangement and consents. On the client's Reviews tab you record the date the arrangement was entered into, an agreed reference day if any, a fee description, and each renewal consent with the date it was signed and any new reference day it sets.
• The window, computed. Borderfolio works out the current reference day (the agreed day, else the anniversary), the window from 60 days before to 150 days after, and the status: current, window open with days left, or terminated. A consent counts only if it was signed inside its window.
• Lapse flagged. When a window closes without a recorded consent, the arrangement is shown as terminated from the next day, with the note that ongoing fees should stop. The firm's Overview lists consents falling due.
• Reviews alongside. The same tab keeps the review cycle, so the service delivered in the year sits next to the consent that pays for it.

Borderfolio is record keeping only. It does not generate the consent form or the disclosure, does not notify product providers, does not check that an agreed reference day falls before the anniversary (record only a day that does), and draws no legal conclusion beyond these dates. Arrangements still under INFO 256 are not modelled separately. Coverage by country is on the countries page.

Sources: ASIC, INFO 286 FAQs: ongoing fee arrangements and consents, ASIC, INFO 256 FAQs: ongoing fee arrangements, Corporations Act 2001 s962F, s962G, s962H, s962J.

Frequently asked questions

When can a client renew an ongoing fee arrangement?

From 60 days before to 150 days after the reference day (s962H Corporations Act 2001). The reference day is a day specified in the current consent, or else the anniversary of the day the arrangement was entered into or of the previous reference day, whichever is earlier.

What happens if the renewal consent is not signed in time?

The consent ceases at the end of 150 days after the reference day and the arrangement terminates (s962F). No further fees can be charged under it, there is no obligation to keep providing the services, and the account provider must be told within 10 business days if fees were being deducted.

Do advisers still have to give a fee disclosure statement every year?

No. ASIC states that the DBFO Act removed the obligation to give clients a fee disclosure statement annually. The disclosure is now made in writing before each consent under s962G.

How long must ongoing fee consents be kept?

At least five years, according to ASIC: each consent, any notice to renew, not renew or terminate with its date, the information disclosed, and the date and basis of any termination.

Not tax advice. This article is general information for financial advisers, current as at 3 November 2026. Confirm each client's position with a registered tax agent or lawyer before acting.