Our Services

Business Advisory Services

We all work to the limits of our knowledge and expertise – we don’t know what we don’t know. Sometimes there is significant benefit in bringing in a fresh perspective to discuss the next stage of your innovation and growth agenda.

Having seen businesses in all different industry sectors transition from start up, through growth (often more than once) to maturity, and sometimes decline, we have the depth of experience to add value to your internal conversations.

Whether you are looking for an external perspective regarding an existing strategy or advice, or you are looking for a non exec to join your management committee or Board, we can assist.

In addition, we offer taxation and accounting advice and professional services.

Exit Strategies

We always recommend ‘beginning with the end in mind’.

Well before you are ready to exit your business, you should have prepared it for sale – a prospective purchaser will usually undertake three (3) years of historical due diligence before purchasing, so you should ensure that your internal accounts and financial statements correctly reflect upon what a great opportunity your business is.

But a prospective purchaser is looking to the future when assessing the benefits of this acquisition. How well is your business structured to ensure that it can continue to generate increasing returns?

What changes do you need to make now to be able to exit at a time of your choosing, with the best possible financial and lifestyle result?

Often, over time, we accumulate extra companies and trusts that may no longer be fit for purpose. There may be legacy benefits of income tax or capital losses associated with these, or legacy loans or distributions to be accounted for and paid. Part of your business exit strategy may include taking positive steps now to vest or deregister these structures (where possible), to enable you to focus on the value being built in your business.

Governance and Risk Services

Governance and risk systems provide the framework that everyone in your organization relies on, from the Board to the newest graduate. When the systems are well known by all team members and working well, there is a high level of trust in the organization, from both an internal and external perspective.

Ongoing maintenance, education and training is essential for this trust to be maintained. The framework is only as good as the last time you were able to rely on it.

What is keeping you awake at night? If you are looking to establish a risk/governance/audit committee to support your existing Board, we can assist with the design, charter and recommended composition for you to commence this additional layer of assurance.

Early Stage Innovation Companies (ESIC)

What is the value of being classified as an ‘Early Stage Innovation Company’?

To the owner of the company (and usually the inventor), it may make it easier to raise capital to take the company through the next stage of it’s evolution, but this comes at the expense of losing some equity (with the corresponding advantage that the capital injection is not debt funding with an interest and repayment obligation).

For the potential investor, if the company truly has potential and the company and investor meet the ESIC entry hurdles, shares held for between 12 months and 10 years can be sold with no capital gains tax obligation, and there is a tax offset available on investment for 20% of the amount contributed (limits apply). Having had the benefit of the tax offset, if the shares end up having no value, no capital loss is available. Note, the onus is on the investor to ensure that the ESIC concession is available.

The rules are complex, but worth complying with for growth opportunities. Note, there are reporting obligations for the company in July each year to register the new qualifying interests, so that investors are able to claim the concession. We can assist both from the company and the investor perspective, in determining whether the ESIC concessions many apply.

Sustainability Reporting

Every organization needs to ask themselves the following questions:

• What are the most significant impacts, both positive and negative, that your business has on the economy, environment and society, including human rights?
• How do you distill these impacts into ‘material topics’ that your internal and external stakeholders can consider, analyse and develop strategies to expand or mitigate?
• How many opportunities for future growth and profitability (both from increased revenue and reduced costs) can you identify from this analysis?
• Why haven’t you undertaken this process before now?

Sustainability reporting is a journey that every organization will eventually commence – there is no end to this journey, as it is a process of continual improvement. While some organizations will be required to start this process after pressure from financiers, investors, competitors etc, many organizations will see the benefits of being more mindful of the way they conduct their business and understand the benefits to be gained from the subsequent improvement in the culture of their organization.

What information are you already collecting through your accounting and other IT systems? How can you leverage this data to save time and money? The simpler your data collection systems, the more time and effort you can devote to using the data to make a difference to your organization, and to effect positive changes in the eyes of your staff, customers, investors and your community.

With the announcement that the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Board has created a new standard setting Board for sustainability matters (International Sustainability Standards Board), financial statements and sustainability reports will be aligned in future, and ideally your trusted accountant/advisor may be able to assist with both areas of your business reporting.

Ready to start the journey? Contact us