Our Services
Tax Agent Information
From 1 July 2025 our tax agent practice is required to supply the following information to existing and prospective clients:
Your rights under Taxation Laws (including Tax Agent Services Act and the Tax Agent Services (Code of Professional Conduct))
Please refer to the link below for a fact sheet published by the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) summarising your obligations to the ATO, and your tax practitioner’s obligations to you, the TPB and ATO.
The fact sheet is here: https://www.tpb.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-10/Information%20for%20clients%20factsheet.pdf.
Register of Tax Agents and BAS Agents available for you to search
The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) maintains a register with details of registered, suspended and deregistered tax and BAS agents. This register is available to the public to search at https://www.tpb.gov.au/public-register.
We are obliged to advise clients of certain events which may influence your decision to engage us as your tax agent. There are no current issues about which are obliged to advise you.
We are also obliged to advise you whether there are any conditions attached to our registration.
There are no current conditions attached to our registration.
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.
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.
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.
Succession and Exit Strategies
We always recommend ‘beginning with the end in mind’.
Well before you are ready to leave your business, regardless of whether the business will be transitioned under a succession arrangement or you are preparing it for sale, there may be activities and transactions required to obtain the best possible outcome for both vendor and purchaser.
Where a sale is envisaged, 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 the great opportunity your business presents.
A prospective purchaser is looking to the future when assessing the benefits of the acquisition of your business - the financial history provides a guide as to what has occurred, but may not be a predictor of the future. How well is your business structured, and what are the processes and systems that you have in place to ensure that the business 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, companies and trusts may have been created that are no longer 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.
