Service
Business Advisory
Beyond the numbers. Working with you on the strategic side of the business, from goal setting and startup advice through to funding, performance measurement and the network to make it happen.
Who this is for
Hardly anyone asks for business advisory by name. People tend to arrive with a question that sounds more like one of these.
- We made a profit last year, so why is the account always empty by the time the BAS is due?
- The bank has asked for a cash flow forecast and I have never written one.
- We are flat out and probably need another person, but I am not sure we can carry the wage through a quiet month.
- My business partner and I keep reading the same figures and coming to different answers.
- I am about to sign a lease on a bigger shed and want someone to check the numbers before I do.
The work suits owner-run businesses where the person making the decisions is also doing the work.
What the work involves
A budget you will actually open
A budget is a set of guesses written down, and it earns its keep because you can see where the guesses were wrong. We build it from your last twelve months in Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks, month by month, so the slow months show up where they really fall. Then we change the lines you control: prices, hours, a vehicle, a wage.
Cash flow, which is not the same as profit
In most sets of books, profit is counted when you invoice. Cash arrives when the customer pays, and leaves when the staff, the landlord and the ATO are due. A forecast puts those dates side by side for the next few months, so you see a tight fortnight coming instead of finding it in the bank account.
Tax causes a lot of the surprises. If you are registered for GST, it is 10% on most sales, so $1,000 of an $11,000 invoice is GST that you set aside and pay to the ATO (ATO: how GST works). Since 1 July 2026, employee super has to reach the fund within seven business days after each payday, where before it could wait for a quarterly due date (ATO: about Payday Super). We put both in the forecast on the dates the money actually leaves.
Reporting that answers your own questions
Monthly or quarterly reporting should start from what you want to know. A builder may want margin by job. A café owner may want wages as a share of takings, week by week. We set up the accounts so that figure comes out of the software without rebuilding a spreadsheet each time, and we show it against last year and against the budget.
The ATO publishes small business benchmarks that let you compare your turnover and expenses with similar businesses in the same industry. They are a rough yardstick. A ratio outside the range can mean costs are high, but the ATO's own guidance also lists plainer explanations, such as expenses recorded under the wrong label or sales not fully recorded (ATO: outside the benchmark range).
Getting ready to talk to a lender or investor
Lenders and investors ask much the same things: what the business earns, what it owes, what the money is for and how it comes back. We prepare the financial statements, the forecast and a plain note of the assumptions behind it, so you can answer those questions without guessing. Where it suits, we can introduce you to lenders, finance specialists or investors who fit what you are planning.
The lender or investor makes the decision. We will not stretch a forecast to get a yes.
A second view on growth decisions
Hiring, a second site, a large equipment purchase or a new partner each changes the numbers for years. We run the decision through your budget with a cautious case and a hopeful one, and tell you plainly what we see. Where a business has a board or several owners, that view comes from someone with no stake in which way the decision goes.
Some decisions raise a structure question, such as moving from sole trader to a company. That goes to our structures and wealth work, and you get advice on your own circumstances before anything changes.
Built from published rates only; this is not anyone's real business. Say an employee is paid $70,000 a year, all of it qualifying earnings. Super guarantee for 2026–27 is 12% of qualifying earnings, which is $8,400 a year (ATO: super guarantee rates). Paid fortnightly, that is 26 pay runs of about $2,692 in wages and about $323 in super, with the super due at the fund within seven business days after each payday. So the budget needs roughly $3,015 a fortnight before leave, insurance, equipment or training time. Whether the extra work covers that is the question we answer with your own figures.
How it works
A first conversation
Tell us what you are trying to decide or fix. We meet in person by arrangement in the Brisbane and Ipswich area, or online. We will then say whether this is advisory work, a bookkeeping catch-up first, or both.
What we need from you
Access to your accounting file or exports from it, the last two years' financial statements and tax returns, loan and lease details, and your own sense of what the next year holds.
Preparation
We check the books are reconciled before anything else. Then we draft the budget, forecast or report and write down every assumption in it.
Going through it together
We take you through the draft, line by line where it helps. You know which customers pay late and which supplier is about to put prices up, and that usually changes a few lines.
Anything that needs lodging
Decisions often lead to a lodgement: GST registration, payroll, a change of structure. For example, once your GST turnover reaches $75,000, or is likely to, you have 21 days to register (ATO: registering for GST). We tell you what a decision triggers and handle what falls to a tax agent.
Afterwards
If you want us to stay involved, we compare actual results with the budget each month or quarter and roll the forecast forward. If not, the model is yours to keep and use.
How fees work for advisory
Advisory work is scoped and quoted separately from tax returns and BAS. Before anything starts, we agree what is included, for instance a budget, a forecast and one review meeting, and the fee for that scope is fixed. If the job grows, we tell you and quote the extra before doing it.
Ongoing monthly or quarterly reporting is quoted the same way, for a defined scope. How our fees work explains how a quote is put together.
Everything on this page is general information. It does not take your circumstances into account, so get advice on your own situation before acting on it.
At a glance
- Strategic goal setting and startup advice
- Turning the idea into a plan with a budget, milestones and the tactics to win work.
- Funding and investment
- Introductions to lenders, finance specialists and capital investors suited to your expansion.
- Performance metrics
- Clear reporting and data analysis to track progress against the plan.
- Board and network access
- Objective guidance at board level and introductions across our partner and client community.
Common questions
Not always. A tax return looks back at a year that has finished; advisory work looks forward. If you are about to hire, borrow or make a large purchase, the forward view is worth having. If nothing much is changing, the annual accounts may be all you need, and we will say so.
We can prepare the financial statements, forecast and explanations a lender usually asks for, and introduce you to lenders or finance specialists who suit what you are planning. Approval is the lender's decision, so we cannot promise one.
For most small businesses, three to six months in weekly or monthly steps is enough to show the tight spots, with a twelve-month budget behind it. A loan application or a large project may need longer. We set the horizon by the decision you are making.
Yes, but the books come first. A budget built on unreconciled figures is not worth much. We will tell you how far behind they are and quote the catch-up through our [accounting and operations work](/services/accounting-operations) before any advisory work begins.
If you employ people, almost certainly. Up to the April–June 2026 quarter, super only had to reach the fund 28 days after the quarter ended, so the money could sit in the business account for weeks. From 1 July 2026 it has to reach each employee's fund within seven business days after payday, with some exceptions such as for new employees. The rate is still 12%, now worked out on qualifying earnings, but the money leaves within days of each pay run. Our [Payday Super article](/insights/payday-super-2026) has more.
Outcomes depend on your circumstances and current legislation. We do not promise particular refunds or savings; we do promise careful, current advice.
Sources
Ready for greater clarity?
Tell us about your tax, business or structure. A consultation is the quickest way to find out where you stand.