MANAGE YOUR BUSINESS WITH SPECIALISED ADVISERS

If you’re planning to start a business – or have recently started one – having the right partner to provide advice and services can make all the difference.

Strategic business planning

Start your business on the right foot. We can help with a comprehensive competitor analysis, the optimal way to raise capital, and put in place the right management and tax structures that sets your business up for growth.

Tax and accounting

Tax obligations go hand in hand with running a business. Many businesspeople pay more tax than they need to. This isn’t surprising, as finding the right strategy to effectively manage your tax bill can be complex and time-consuming.

We can advise on the optimal way to buy and sell assets for tax and balance sheet optimisation, and the right structures to minimise tax liability – all as part of a flexible, legal tax strategy that reduces your paperwork, compliance burden, tax bill and headaches!

We also take care of the important but time-consuming activities, including compliance and reporting obligations. 

With a long history of supporting businesses through times of economic crisis, such as the GFC, we have the experience and expertise to help your business prepare a budget for uncertain economic times. 

Business structure advice

As well as appropriate tax structures, we can also advise on ways to improve profitability, simplify your administration and manage people and remuneration.

We can also help you put in the business structures and plans to emerge with confidence from the current economic downturn, as well as establish remuneration strategies that help you attract and retain your most important business assets – your people.

Superannuation

Super is the most tax-effective way to build your wealth for the future. We will help you find the right platform for your super, including setting up a self-managed super fund where your super assets may also support your business growth. We also work with you on an optimum contribution strategy to maximise your super balance and keep you up to date with constantly changing rules for superannuation.

Wealth and business protection

Our insurance strategies encompass life insurance, total and permanent disability, trauma insurance and income protection. Just as importantly, we tailor those insurances to be tax-effective, to work effectively together and to integrate with your investment and superannuation strategies.

We’ll also make sure the insurance you need to protect your business is not overlooked, as well as some risk and compliance steps you may not have considered, such as information and data security.

If you have insurance in place, we’ll help you review your cover to see if it’s right for you and make sure you know what you’re getting for your premiums.

Our advisers have years of experience helping business owners and managers grow and protect their companies. We understand typical business paths (and pitfalls) and can advise on the right time to make a change. We also ensure your business growth plan is aligned with your personal wealth plan, protecting your assets and the future of those you care about.

Profit improvement

It’s a great feeling to run a profitable business. But has your business gone as far as it can? What more can you do to grow your business? We have the experience to investigate and measure your true business performance, uncover areas for improvement and implement a strategic plan with specific actions for success.

Our experience working with privately owned businesses means we can help you avoid many of the common pitfalls we see with new businesses. We can also make sure your business has in place the right plans and structures it needs to continue growing.  

Mergers and acquisitions

It’s a dream of many business owners to take over their competitors on the road to success. But is it always a good idea – and what are the best ways to do it? We can help identify and value your competitors as well as advise on the best financing options. This includes working with your company to unlock synergies and efficiencies and uncover genuine cost savings to make your acquisition more profitable.

If somebody approached you today with an offer to buy your business – or sell you theirs – could you make a well-informed decision? To help you understand what’s involved, we look at the differences in how transactions are structured and structures that may suit you better as a buyer or a seller.

Managing debt

Whether you’re starting out, expanding or buying new equipment, debt will play an important part in growing your business. But what is the best way to manage your debt?

We’re always careful to build debt management into your financial plan. We can also help you find the right loan, consolidate and refinance high-cost debt, and structure repayments in a way that lets you grow your business without sacrificing the lifestyle you’ve earned. 

When organising your finances and banking, diversification can also be vital. We look at how you can avoid risks by working with different financial institutions.

Investment advice and management

Should I invest more in my business? What about shares or super? How about my property?

There’s no right or wrong answer to these questions. Just what’s right for you. You may want more income, maybe you’d like to grow the value of your business, or simply protect your nest egg.

With a deep understanding of where you are now, what you want for yourself and your family, your attitudes to investing, risk and much more, we’ll carefully design an investment strategy that is aligned to your goals.

Find out more.

There are a range of options available to you when the time comes to step away from your business, each suited to a different set of circumstances. Here are some of the services we offer to help you get the best outcome when you sell or exit your business, and prepare for your life after work:

Transition to retirement

Highly ambitious individuals don’t work one day and retire the next. However, your priorities will change as you move through your career. As you begin to wind down your working hours and step back from the day-to-day of running your business, you might want to supplement your income with a pension from your super to maintain your income. If you’re eligible, we can put in place a transition to retirement strategy that lets you do just this.

Succession planning or sale?

When considering how to exit your business, your first big decision could be whether you want to sell your business or set up a succession plan. Either way takes careful planning and preparation. We can advise you on what type of ownership transfer will give you the best return as well as help with tax management, timing of the sale and even ways to retain equity for the future.

There’s a lot to think about if you’re planning on selling your business – including making sure the buyer knows what they’re getting. We can help you prepare what’s required so prospective purchasers can do their due diligence.

Estate planning

When you’re no longer there to help the people and causes closest to you, that job passes to the legal and financial structures you create. A structured will and estate plan that covers all the bases – business succession planning, asset protection, powers of attorney and trust structures are how you extend a helping hand long after you’ve gone. Our job is to help you do that as easily, efficiently and fairly as possible.

We can advise on estate planning and, when necessary, connect you with our trusted legal partners to put in place your enduring legacy.

Together, we can also help your family avoid the added complexities in settling your estate without a will.