Our latest insights

When you’re a family business, the lines between business and family can become blurred. For some family businesses in operation for multiple generations, this is even more apparent as the family business may be all they’ve ever known.

To ensure your assets will be protected should you become unable to make financial decisions due to an accident or bad health, we recommend your Estate Plan includes an Enduring Power of Attorney.

Tariffs on emissions-intensive imports are expected to be introduced to adhere to the Government’s proposed emission targets. Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen put forward a proposal to enforce pollution caps on the country’s 215 biggest emitters, with the view to reduce their greenhouse output by 5 per cent a year until 2030. There’s no doubt that these emission targets are aggressive – but with penalties in place if organisations don’t comply, we expect to see a positive impact on the adoption of sustainable practices across businesses, manufacturing processes and along the supply chain.

In July last year, the Appeals Panel of the New South Wales Civil & Administrative Tribunal (“the Panel”) decided against the taxpayer in the Thomas & Naaz appeal.

Schools and education facilities are not immune to fraud and misconduct. It can be in the form of theft, misappropriation of funds, or the granting of contracts to known associates of key people.

Generally, when we talk with family businesses about the next generation ‘taking over’ we break this down into two parts – management and ownership. Every business – like every family – is different and what this means in one family business may be completely different in another.

It is not uncommon for parents to advance their children money. What the funds are used for may be a significant consideration in how the transfer may be structured from the family business entity, or group of entities, as there may be several financial, taxation and legal consequences.

It is evident the pandemic created many challenging situations for CEOs where they were required to act quickly on problems their business faced. But is it now time to stop, reflect and reassess? As we near the end of the year where we become fatigued, the effects of the pendulum can start to surface, and these issues should be addressed.

Across New South Wales (NSW) there are 128 local councils, all with the important role of building community, maintaining infrastructure, and supporting future developments as well as providing a range of social services.

You may think that your business is too small to target – too insignificant to warrant the attention of the widely publicised cyber-criminal groups that chase multimillion dollar ransoms. In reality, a large number of criminal groups exist around the world, exploiting the entire spectrum of online activity.

Sibling rivalry is the type of dispute that can be destructive when it comes to making decisions in your family business, so it is important to have strategies in place to mitigate conflict.

Businesses rely heavily on the expertise and guidance of accountants in their start-up and early development phases. But some businesses could be costing themselves money – and stifling their potential – by staying with their current accountant. How do you know if you’ve outgrown your accountant? How do you know when there’s a mismatch between your needs and their capabilities? We’ve identified four telltale signs.