Compliance tells you what happened. Tax planning tells you what the year will look like. Advisory is about the decisions in between, where pricing, hiring, capacity, and direction are shaped, and where having clean numbers and a thinking partner changes the answer.
Most of our advisory work starts from the same question. Where is the business now, where does the owner want it, and what needs to change to get from one to the other. Everything that follows is about making the path visible and the decisions cleaner.
This is not strategy consulting dressed up as finance. It is partner-led financial advisory for growth-phase Australian businesses, grounded in your actual numbers and the detail of how you run the business.
What’s included
A thinking partner, on cadence.
The right question, asked early, is the work.
Cash-flow forecasting
Rolling twelve-month forecasts built in Syft or similar, tied back to Xero, updated against actuals, so you see the shape of the coming months before they arrive.
Pricing and margin review
Product, project, or service-line profitability, contribution margins, and a clear view of where the real money is being made, and where it is not.
Owner remuneration strategy
How much to draw, how, and when. Coordinated with tax planning across the structure so the answer is consistent rather than reactive.
Capacity and scaling decisions
Whether the business can take on this contract, hire this person, or open this new line without the cash flow giving way. Modelled before the decision, not after.
Quarterly business reviews
A scheduled sixty-to-ninety minute call each quarter, with a short written summary, walking through where the business is and what to change.
Ad-hoc decision support
The "should we do this?" calls when something material comes up. Included within scope, without time-billing for thinking.
Who it’s for
Growth-phase businesses making real decisions.
Businesses past start-up, with revenue and a team, where the decisions being made every quarter actually move the needle. Owners who want a sounding board that knows their numbers, not a spreadsheet handed over once a year.
It is less of a fit for very early-stage founders, where the question is usually fundraising rather than margin, or for businesses happy with set-and-forget compliance. If you want a partner who thinks about your business between reports, advisory is the right starting point.
How we approach it
Understand. Model. Review.
- 01
Understand the business
First we dig into how it actually runs. Product, customers, pricing, people, competition. Not just what the profit and loss shows, but how the money is made.
- 02
Build the financial picture
We put the numbers into a rolling forecast tied back to Xero, with the assumptions surfaced so decisions can be modelled against them cleanly.
- 03
Review and decide, on cadence
Quarterly review meetings, with material decisions brought in between. The rhythm is what makes advisory work. Not a one-off deck, but an ongoing conversation grounded in current numbers.
From our work
An honest answer first, then a plan for the next two years
Based on real jobs and typical situations. Names, figures and details changed.
The situation
A sole director ran a home-based care business through his company, with his wife starting to help in the office. Turnover was growing, but a change in the market the business relied on was coming, and they were both close to retirement. He wanted to draw a set amount each month on top of living costs, to get the mortgage down quickly, and asked how to set up his salary and his wife's wage to make that work.
What we looked at
Before answering, we went through the year-to-date accounts, last year's financial statements, the loans between the company and the owners, both super balances and the ATO accounts. Our reply covered:
- What the business can actually fund. After staff, running costs and vehicle finance, one pot of profit has to cover both wages, the company's tax and the loan repayments. Getting the amount he wanted into his hands after tax would have needed a salary well beyond what the business frees up in a year. We showed him the realistic ceiling between them.
- A wage for his wife that would stand up. A family member's pay has to match the work they do, so we set a rate that is fair for the role, backed by a simple timesheet.
- The amount the owners owed the company. This year's minimum repayments are covered through dividends, with the rest planned for later low-income years, when the tax on it would be minimal.
- Tax instalments set too high. Reducing them keeps cash in the business this year.
- Super against the mortgage. Over 60, with unused contribution room partly expiring on 30 June. But using a large part of their super to pay down the mortgage, just as their income stopped, needed a licensed financial adviser alongside us, so we recommended bringing one in.
- An exit either way. If the market change goes against them: staff entitlements, company vehicles still under finance, and keeping the company open just long enough to clear the loans tax-effectively. If a buyer emerges, a sale using the small business CGT concessions.
- A new granny flat, set up for tax from day one so the family home keeps as much of its main residence exemption as possible.
Why it mattered
He got a straight answer, with the reasons behind it, and then a plan that works with the business he actually has. Every decision for the next two years is set out on one page, in the right order, with the tax worked out before anything is drawn.
Technical note
Money drawn from a private company that isn't salary or a dividend can be treated as a deemed dividend under Division 7A unless it is repaid or put on a complying loan agreement with minimum yearly repayments. Wages paid to family members are deductible only to the extent they're reasonable for the work performed. From 1 July 2026, super guarantee contributions must reach the employee's fund within seven business days of each payday. Personal super advice and recommendations on retirement income need a licensed financial adviser.
FAQ
Common questions.
If yours isn’t here, ask it on the first call. Thirty minutes, no fee.
Is this financial advice?
No. Business advisory is about the operational and financial decisions of running a business. It is not personal financial product advice. Where licensed advice is needed, we will refer you to the right professional and work alongside them.
How often do we meet?
Quarterly as standard, plus any ad-hoc decision points. Some engagements step up to monthly during intensive periods such as a capital raise, an acquisition, or a fast-growth phase.
Can you help with raising capital or selling the business?
We can support from the numbers side. Getting accounts investor-ready, modelling the transaction, working with corporate advisers. We do not act as the lead corporate adviser on a deal, and we are clear about that boundary.
Do you use specific tools or platforms?
Syft Analytics for reporting, Xero for the ledger, with integrations depending on what the business already runs. The tools are our problem. What you see is the insight.
How do you price advisory?
A fixed monthly retainer, scoped at engagement and adjusted annually. No surprise invoices, and no time-billing for thinking.
Related
Where this usually leads.
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