It can save on fees to only use one company as trustee for multiple trusts such as an SMSF, discretionary trust and bare trust (the latter especially problematic). 

However this issue is becoming more rare with various financial and regualtory parties disapproving of transactions involving this.

A company is a separate legal person with Pty Ltd at the end or other text depending on the type of company.

• A company has shareholders who own shares in the company, directors who make decisions for the company, and the shareholders like SMSF members and unitholders have the power to change the directors of the company

• The difference for a company acting as trustee of a SMSF or unit or discretionary or bare trust is that the shares in that company should not hold value as all the assets are for the beneficiaries being the members or the unitholders or the bare trust beneficiary and not the shareholders 

• and there is a required clause in the constitution for SMSF company that no distribution be made to the shareholders while it is acting as trustee for the SMSF

You generally should not use the same company as trustee for the SMSF, discretionary trust, bare trust and company on its own - decision of Application by Gainer Associates Pty Ltd [2024] NSWSC 1437.

You can have a company acting as trustee and beneficiary in different capacities but its not recommended for example if the bare trustee and SMSF trustee are the same company and theres a time to wind up the LRBA then the LRBA property will have to be transferred under a property conveyance on PEXA and if the transferor and transferee are the same company there would be problems.

Although there may be some grounds to argue that the one company can legally act in multiple capacities, there are a multitude of other issues that can arise if this issue is not correct from the start, and the issues can compound to the point of not being worth the amounts saved from not incorporating another company.