Overview
Choosing a structure is a balance: what the business needs commercially, what protects the assets you already own, and what the tax position looks like once profits are actually being made rather than reinvested. A sole trader ABN registered in ten minutes online is the right answer surprisingly often — and catastrophically wrong the rest of the time.
We set up new structures and reorganise existing ones, and we are direct about the cost of changing later, because it is almost always higher than the cost of getting it right now.
Scope
Structures we establish
- Companies
- ASIC registration, constitution, share structure, director IDs and the registrations that follow — ABN, TFN, GST, PAYG.
- Discretionary trusts
- Family trusts with the trustee, appointor and beneficiary class set deliberately, and the distribution mechanics explained to the people who will run it.
- Unit and fixed trusts
- Where unrelated parties invest together and entitlements need to be fixed and transferable.
- Partnerships and joint ventures
- Including the difference between the two, which matters more than most people are told.
- Self-managed super funds
- Fund establishment as part of a broader structure — see SMSF.
- Restructures
- Moving an existing business into a new structure, including rollover relief, CGT and duty consequences modelled before anything is signed.
Process
How we approach it
Understand the business
Who does the work, who carries the risk, what assets exist, who else is involved and what you intend to do with the business eventually.
Model the options
Two or three viable structures with the tax, asset protection, cost and complexity trade-offs of each set out side by side.
Establish
Registrations, deeds, resolutions and the opening accounting file — with your lawyer engaged where a document needs one.
Hand over
A short written explanation of how the structure works and what you must do each year to keep it effective.
Questions
Common questions
Company or trust?
It depends on whether profits will be retained or distributed, who the beneficiaries are, whether you need to bring in outside investors, and what you plan to sell one day. There is no default answer, and any adviser who gives you one without asking those questions is guessing.
Can we restructure without triggering tax?
Sometimes. There are rollovers designed for exactly this, including the small business restructure rollover, but each has conditions and each has a duty consequence in NSW to check separately. We model it before you commit.
Do we need a lawyer as well?
For shareholder agreements, partnership deeds and anything bespoke, yes — and we’ll say so. We work alongside your lawyer rather than drafting around them.
Also
Related services
Registered Company Auditor
Independent audit and assurance, signed by a registered company auditor.
View →02Not-for-Profit & Charity Audits
ACNC reviews and audits for charities, associations and foundations.
View →03Self-Managed Super Funds
SMSF set-up, administration, tax and independent audit.
View →Talk it through before you commit to anything.
Tell us the situation and the deadline. We'll tell you what's involved, what it costs and whether it's us you need.