Straight answers to the questions founders ask us.

It depends on the group: how many entities, how much bookkeeping, how often you want reporting and how much advice you want through the year. What does not change is the shape of it. You get one number for the year, in writing, with every inclusion listed, before any work starts. The first call is free and we will give you a clear indication of fees on it.

Fixed for the scope we agree. Compliance, bookkeeping, reporting and the planning cadence you choose are covered by the monthly fee and we do not charge for phone calls or emails. If the business changes, say a new entity, an acquisition or double the transaction volume, we re-scope and agree a new number before the extra work starts. Projects outside the plan, like a restructure or a valuation, are quoted up front and only go ahead when you say yes.

Usually because you are comparing a tax return with a team. A compliance-only accountant lodges what happened. We plan what happens: monthly numbers, tax planned before 30 June, structure reviewed every year, and a designated team who knows the business. The clients who move to us typically find the tax saved and the decisions improved outweigh the difference in fee, often in the first year. If that is not likely to be true for your business, we will say so on the first call.

Monthly, by direct debit, spread evenly across the year so there is no large invoice at tax time. Project work is invoiced when it is quoted and accepted, with the amount agreed before we start.

You are not locked in. The engagement is reviewed every year and you can end it with notice at any point. We hand over your files, your Xero and your ATO correspondence cleanly, because the way a firm behaves when you leave says more about it than the way it behaves when you join.

Usually, yes, once the business has real transaction volume. The accountant prepares your returns and advises on tax and structure; the bookkeeper keeps the ledger reconciled every week so those returns and that advice are built on current numbers. An accountant working from an unreconciled file spends your fee fixing the inputs. At New Wave the bookkeepers sit inside the accounting firm, so the two never disagree about the numbers.

When the decisions have outgrown the information. Typically that is somewhere between $2M and $20M of revenue: several entities, sites or channels, a team of twenty or more, a growth plan that needs funding, or a founder making calls on the bank balance because there is no forecast. If the bookkeeping is behind or compliance is messy, fix those first. A CFO on top of bad inputs spends their time fixing the inputs.

Yes, and it is usually the cleanest arrangement, because the three roles work off one file and one set of numbers. The risk is a firm that only really does one of them and sells the other two as add-ons. Ask who does each role day to day, how often the books are reconciled, who reviews the file before lodgement and who sits in the monthly meeting. At New Wave the bookkeeping, accounting and virtual CFO teams are separate people under one roof, with one fee agreed up front.

Usually both. A company trades (limited liability, flat tax rate, easy to sell or bring in investors) and a family trust holds the shares (flexibility over who receives dividends, capital gains discount on a sale). Which one trades depends on whether you are reinvesting profit, how many owners there are and what the exit looks like. It is a modelling exercise, not a rule.

Often not. The small business restructure rollover and other rollover provisions let a business move from a sole trader or partnership into a company or trust, or reorganise within a group, without a CGT bill, provided the conditions are met and the economic ownership does not change. Stamp duty and GST also need checking. We model the whole cost before anything is signed.

A company set up to receive distributions from a family trust, so income above what the family can absorb at lower marginal rates is taxed at the company rate instead of the top personal rate. You need one when the trust is consistently distributing more than the family members can take at reasonable rates. The distribution has to be actually paid or put on a complying loan, otherwise it creates a Division 7A problem of its own.

April and May, with real year-to-date numbers. Trust distributions, super contributions, prepayments and asset purchases all have to be done by 30 June to count in the current year, so the planning has to leave time to act. Anything discussed in September is reporting, not planning.

No. Tax planning uses the choices the law gives you, such as who receives trust income, how much goes to super and when expenses are paid, and documents them properly. The ATO publishes these strategies itself. Avoidance is arrangements with no commercial purpose other than reducing tax, usually sold by a promoter. We do not do those and will tell you if something you have been offered is one.

Only if you were going to buy it anyway. A deduction reduces the tax on the purchase, it does not make the purchase free; spending $50,000 to save $12,500 in tax is still $37,500 out the door. If the equipment is planned for July, buying it in June so it is installed and ready for use before year end is sensible. Buying it only for the write-off is not.

Not formally. We send them an ethical clearance letter, which is the standard way one firm takes over from another. A short email from you saying you are moving is polite and usually speeds up the handover, but it is not required.

No. Your financial statements, tax returns, trust deeds, registers and bookkeeping file belong to you and must be handed over. A firm can withhold its own internal working papers, which we rarely need, and can hold out for payment of invoices for work already done. Pay what is owed and the file follows.

No. We can take over at any point. If last year’s return is lodged we start clean from 1 July; if it is not, the old firm finishes it or we take it over. The one thing worth timing is tax planning: if it is April or May, move now so the 30 June planning is done rather than missed by both firms.

Because the same service costs very different amounts for a one-entity consultancy and a four-entity ecommerce group, and a number without a scope misleads one of them. We give a clear indication on the first call once we know the entities, the bookkeeping and how much advice you want, and the full fee in writing within the week.

Yes. Fees for managing your tax affairs and for running the business, including bookkeeping, financial statements, tax returns, BAS and tax planning advice, are deductible to the business in the year they are incurred. The cost of setting up a new structure is treated differently and is usually deducted over five years. Either way, the after-tax cost of good advice is lower than the invoice.

A business accountant looks after your business’s tax and compliance (tax returns, BAS, ASIC) and helps you make better decisions with your numbers. A good one also plans your tax before year end, reviews your structure as you grow, and explains what your reports mean for cash flow and profit.

It depends on the number of entities, transaction volume and how much advice you want, which is why we don’t publish a set price. At New Wave, business accounting is one fixed monthly fee, quoted after a free call, with tax returns, BAS, reporting and planning included. We quote anything outside that scope before doing it.

Yes. We are based in Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast, and much of our work is done by video with founders across Australia. You get the same team and the same agreed monthly fee wherever you are.

Yes. We contact your current accountant for a professional clearance and your records, then handle the handover. Most changeovers are completed within a few weeks, and we time them around your BAS and tax deadlines.

Most of our clients turn over $1M or more, often with several entities. We also work with a select number of startups each year. If you are earlier on, see our small business accounting page.

Yes, for the owners and family members of the businesses we look after, as part of the group. We don’t take on individual-only tax returns.

You do. Bills are captured, coded and routed to you or a manager for approval inside Xero, then a weekly or fortnightly payment batch is prepared with what is due. The batch is authorised in your own bank by your signatories; nothing leaves your account on our say-so. Remittance advices go to suppliers automatically once the payment clears.

With a sequence you agree in advance: a courtesy note before the due date, a reminder after it, a call from your bookkeeper when it is genuinely late, and an escalation to you before anything goes further. Most late payers are disorganised rather than unwilling, and a consistent, polite process gets paid faster than sporadic chasing. Disputes are logged and worked through, and payment plans are set up where that gets the money in.

Matching the purchase order, the delivery or receipt and the supplier invoice before a bill is approved, so you only pay for what you ordered and received at the price agreed. It suits businesses buying materials or stock in volume, such as builders, manufacturers and wholesalers. A professional firm or a clinic usually does not need it; approval thresholds and coding review are enough. We set up whichever fits.

No. New Wave does not process pay runs, pay superannuation or lodge Single Touch Payroll. Accounts payable covers supplier bills; accounts receivable covers customer invoices and collections. Wages and super are reconciled in the books each month from the reports your payroll system produces, so the figures on the BAS are right, but running the pay cycle stays with you or your office manager.

A budget is a target for revenue and expenses over a period. A cash flow forecast is a prediction of the bank balance, week by week or month by month, built from when money actually arrives and leaves: customers paying on 45 days, suppliers paid on 30, BAS and super on their due dates, loan repayments and the big purchases. A profitable business with a healthy budget can still run out of cash in a quarter, which is what the forecast is for.

Twelve months rolling, updated monthly, with the next 13 weeks in more detail. Twelve months captures the seasonal shape and the annual commitments like income tax and insurance; thirteen weeks is where decisions about hiring, purchases and payment timing actually get made. A forecast built once and never touched is wrong by the second quarter, which is why ours is refreshed with each month’s actuals.

Not a useful one. The forecast is built from your actual payment patterns and commitments, and if the file is three months unreconciled the starting position is a guess. We will say so on the discovery call and fix the bookkeeping first, usually in a few weeks, then build the forecast on real data. A forecast on bad inputs gives false confidence, which is worse than no forecast.

Lenders generally want a three-way forecast: profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow that reconcile to each other, with assumptions stated, prepared or reviewed by an accountant. We produce that format when a facility, a refinance or an investor is in play, alongside the operating forecast you use month to month. The two are built from the same model so they agree.

Three years of financial statements and tax returns, four quarters of BAS, bank statements for the same period, the current year to date, the lease, employee details and entitlements, supplier and customer contracts, details of any related-party arrangements, and a list of assets included in the price. Our due diligence checklist article sets out the full list. A seller who will not provide these is telling you something.

Earnings that peaked in the year before sale, owner salaries missing from the costs, rent paid to a related entity at below market, revenue concentrated in one or two customers, a lease with less than three years to run, staff entitlements not provided for, and BAS that does not reconcile to the financials. None of these necessarily kills a deal, but each changes the price or the terms, and all are easier to find before settlement than after.

Yes, doing different jobs. The accountant verifies the numbers, normalises the earnings, forms a view on value and advises on which entity should buy and what that means for tax. The lawyer reviews the sale contract, warranties, title to assets, leases, licences and employment matters. Each relies on the other’s findings. If you do not have a commercial lawyer, New Wave Law is in the same building and the two reviews run off one file.

Up to four weeks once the seller’s documents arrive, for most small and medium businesses. Larger acquisitions with several entities, sites or an operational review take longer and are scoped accordingly. The quote is agreed up front, you do not need to be an existing client, and we support you and your lawyer through negotiation after the report rather than handing over a document and leaving.

Yes. We map your existing chart of accounts to the new one, bring across opening balances and the comparative year so prior-period reports still work, reconcile the conversion to your last lodged BAS and financial statements, and run both systems in parallel for the first month if you want the comfort. Migration is quoted as a project before it starts and timed to a quarter or year end where that helps.

Whatever you make decisions by: jobs for a builder, sites for a multi-location business, practitioners for a practice, channels for an online store, departments for a professional firm. Two tracking categories are available in Xero, so the choice matters. Set up properly, profit by site or by practitioner is a standard report. Set up badly or not at all, it is a spreadsheet exercise every month.

Usually not. A clean-up is faster than a rebuild and keeps the history, bank feeds and integrations intact. We review the file, quote the catch-up up front, re-code and reconcile the problem periods, clear suspense balances and tidy the chart of accounts, then hand it back ready for the monthly package. A new file is the answer only when the old one is wrong at the entity level.

It is Xero’s highest partner tier, based on the number of clients a firm supports on Xero and the certifications its staff hold. In practice it means the people on your file work in Xero all day, know the app ecosystem for your industry, and have direct access to Xero’s partner support when something breaks. It is not a reason to choose a firm on its own, but it does mean the setup will be done properly.

You must register once turnover reaches $75,000, and you can register earlier. Registering from the start makes sense if you will have large setup costs with GST in them to claim back, or if your customers are businesses that expect a tax invoice. It is a cost if your customers are consumers and you are well under the threshold, because you are adding 10 percent to your price. We work it out with you before the ABN application goes in.

Not always, and defaulting to one is a common mistake. A company suits a business with staff, risk, retained profits or more than one owner. A sole trader structure is cheaper and simpler for testing an idea with low risk, and a trust belongs in the picture for some family situations. The cost of choosing wrongly is a restructure later, so we model the options against the plan rather than pick a default.

An ABN, a TFN for a new entity, GST if required, PAYG withholding before the first employee is paid, a business name if you trade under something other than the entity’s legal name, and the company or trust establishment itself. Then the ASIC and ATO links to New Wave as your agent so lodgements flow. We handle all of them in the setup project and put the resulting obligations in a compliance calendar.

Later than most founders expect, and that is the danger. A company that starts trading in July may not pay income tax until the following May, by which time the cash has often been spent. We plan tax in the first year, estimate the bill as the year unfolds, and set up the PAYG instalment pattern so money is put aside as you go. Our start-up package is sized for a business that is still small.

Helps you make the decisions a tax return cannot: whether the pricing is right, which part of the business makes the money, whether to hire or contract, how to fund the next stage, how to structure the group before a partner or buyer arrives. At New Wave the adviser works from your actual numbers, with the compliance file open, and each session ends with a written action list that the next session starts by checking.

Yes. Advisory is available as a standalone engagement, quoted up front, and some clients keep their existing compliance accountant. In practice most advisory clients move their compliance across within a year because it is simpler when the same team holds the file and the recommendation accounts for the tax consequence in the same conversation. There is no requirement to do so.

Quarterly suits most owner-led businesses doing $1M to $5M: enough time between sessions to execute, close enough to catch a drift before it becomes a quarter of lost margin. Faster-moving businesses, or those in the middle of a change, run monthly. Some owners need a single session on a single decision, and we offer that too. The cadence is set in the proposal and can change.

Yes. The advisers who run these sessions build and back businesses of their own, across accounting, pharmacy, medical clinics, ecommerce, property development and technology. That matters because the advice is from people who have had to live with the same decisions, hire the same roles and fund the same growth, rather than from a framework.

It depends on your balance, your appetite for being a trustee, what you want to invest in and the cost compared with your current fund. An SMSF suits people who want direct control, for example to hold a business property or a specific investment, and who have enough in super for the fixed costs to make sense. It is not right for everyone. This is general information only; whether an SMSF suits your circumstances is personal advice that New Wave SMSF’s licensed advisers give after understanding your situation.

Annual accounts and the SMSF tax return, an independent audit, the ATO supervisory levy and any investment or administration costs. The accounting and audit are the fixed part and are agreed up front with New Wave SMSF. As a general point, the smaller the balance the larger those fixed costs are as a percentage, which is one reason an SMSF is not suitable for every balance. General information only; costs for your fund depend on its investments and complexity.

Business real property can generally be acquired by an SMSF, including from a related party, provided it is at market value, meets the sole purpose test and the fund’s investment strategy, and the lease back to the business is on arm’s length terms. Borrowing to buy it has strict rules. Whether it is appropriate for your fund is personal advice. This is general information; New Wave SMSF’s licensed advisers assess your circumstances before any recommendation.

Every SMSF must be audited each year by an independent approved SMSF auditor before the annual return is lodged. The auditor is separate from the accountant who prepares the accounts. New Wave SMSF prepares the financial statements and coordinates the audit with an independent auditor, then lodges the return once the audit is complete. General information only; lodgement dates depend on the fund’s circumstances.

Because the advice stops contradicting itself. Your accountant knows the business, the entities and the tax position; your planner knows the super, the investments and the insurance. When they share a client file and a corridor, a decision about taking profit out of the business, contributing to super or buying a property is made with both in the room. This is general information about how New Wave Group is set up, not personal advice.

Typically superannuation and SMSF strategy, investing outside the business, personal insurance such as life, total and permanent disability and income protection, retirement planning and the transition to it, and estate planning alongside New Wave Law. For business owners the common thread is building wealth that does not depend on the business selling for the hoped-for price. General information only; the right mix for you is personal advice.

Yes, the first conversation is free: a meeting to understand your situation and what you want, and to explain how advice works and what it would cost before anything is prepared. If advice is appropriate, the fee is agreed in writing before any work starts. This is general information; whether advice is suitable for you is determined in that first conversation.

Yes. New Wave Financial Planning’s advisers are Representatives of NWG Financial Services, Australian Financial Services Licence No. 538619. Personal financial advice is only given by licensed advisers after considering your objectives, financial situation and needs, and is set out in a written statement of advice. The content on this page is general in nature and does not constitute financial advice.

Generally two years from the day the notice of assessment was issued for small business entities, and four years for others, with longer periods in some circumstances. That window is why the review looks at the last two lodged returns: anything worth amending is usually still open. We confirm the exact dates for your entities as part of the review rather than assuming.

It does not have to. The review is confidential and does not oblige you to move. Some owners take the report back to their current accountant and use it to ask better questions, and some stay. If the review finds nothing material we say so, and that is a useful answer. If it finds something significant, you decide what to do with it.

The last two lodged tax returns for each entity, the financial statements behind them, and a Xero or other accounting file export for the same periods. If there was a significant event in those years, such as a property or business sale, a restructure or a payroll tax matter, the related paperwork helps. The report follows in about seven days from receiving them.

In our experience: depreciation and instant asset write-off choices, small business concessions, prepayments, motor vehicle and home office treatment, bad debts never written off, trust distribution resolutions not optimised, Division 7A loans left to build up, and structures that stopped fitting the business years ago. Generic coding in the bookkeeping is behind most of them, which is why the review reads the file as well as the return.

Most trading businesses are valued on a multiple of maintainable earnings: profit normalised for market-rate owner salaries, one-off items and related-party costs, multiplied by a figure that reflects the industry, the size and the risk in the business. Asset-heavy or loss-making businesses are valued on net assets, and businesses with long contracted revenue on discounted cash flow. The method is chosen to match what a buyer in your industry would actually use.

Customer concentration, how much of the business depends on the owner personally, the lease term, the quality of the financial records, recurring versus one-off revenue, the systems and the team in place, and the trend in earnings. Each moves the multiple, and each can be changed. If you are two or three years from a sale, the report doubles as the list of things to fix first.

You need a defensible number both sides accept, and a written valuation is how you get it without the relationship souring over a guess. The report also feeds the structure of the buy-in: which entity issues shares or units, how the incoming partner funds it, and the tax position for the existing owner. New Wave Law drafts the shareholder or partnership agreement in the same building.

Most reports are delivered in two to four weeks from receiving the documents, faster where the file is already with us. We need three years of financial statements and tax returns, the current year to date, details of owner salaries and related-party arrangements, the lease, and a short conversation about the business and the purpose of the valuation, because a valuation for a sale, a partner buy-in and a dispute are approached differently.

Weekly. Bank feeds, sales channels and payment gateways are coded and reconciled to the bank every week, and any queries come to you in a single batch. Quarterly reconciliation is how numbers end up wrong by the time anyone looks at them.

Xero is what we run and what we recommend, and we are a Xero Platinum Partner. If you are on MYOB or QuickBooks we can still take you on, and in most cases we will suggest a move to Xero at a sensible point in the year, which we manage for you.

Yes. We review the file, tell you exactly what it will take to bring it current and quote the catch-up as a one-off project before any work starts. Once it is clean you move onto the normal weekly cadence. Most catch-ups are done inside a month.

A designated bookkeeper who knows your file, reviewed by a senior, with the accountant who signs your returns looking at the same Xero all year. You get the same people, not a different junior every quarter. If your bookkeeper is away, someone on the same team who already knows the business steps in.

Both are registered with the Tax Practitioners Board. A BAS agent can prepare and lodge business activity statements and advise on GST, PAYG and the other items on them. A tax agent holds the broader registration: income tax returns, tax advice and planning as well as BAS. New Wave is a registered tax agent, so your BAS, tax return and tax planning come from the same team and reconcile to each other.

Quarterly BAS is due on the 28th of the month after the quarter: 28 October, 28 February, 28 April and 28 July. Lodging through a registered agent generally gives a later due date for three of those quarters under the ATO’s lodgement program; the December quarter is already 28 February for everyone. Monthly BAS is due on the 21st of the following month. We put every due date in your compliance calendar and lodge once you have approved the figures.

Yes. New Wave does not process pay runs, pay superannuation or lodge Single Touch Payroll on your behalf, but the PAYG withholding figures on the BAS come from the payroll reports your system has already produced. We reconcile wages, PAYG withholding and super in the books every month, check them against what has been reported through STP, and carry the right figures onto the BAS.

It is part of the monthly package with your tax returns, financial statements, tax planning and ASIC compliance, not a separate fee per BAS. The package is priced on entities, transaction volume and complexity and agreed up front. Nothing is billed by the hour. If you have overdue BAS to catch up, that is quoted as a one-off before the work starts.

Weekly. A week is short enough that you still remember what a transaction was, and long enough to batch the questions into one message rather than ten. Businesses that reconcile monthly or quarterly spend the BAS week reconstructing, not reviewing, and the owner is making decisions on a bank balance rather than a profit figure in between. Our small business bookkeeping runs on a weekly cycle for exactly that reason.

Very little once it is set up. Supplier bills forwarded to a Hubdoc or Xero inbox address, invoices raised from your system, and answers to the batch of questions your bookkeeper sends, usually three or four items a week. Bank feeds and card feeds come in automatically. If you are still handing over a shoebox at BAS time, the first month is a catch-up and then the rhythm takes over.

Yes, and the handover is usually simple because the file lives in Xero. We review the file, agree a start date (normally the first day of a BAS quarter), take over the bank feeds and bill inbox, and reconcile any gap the previous bookkeeper left. Clean-up of past periods is quoted separately before it starts, so you know the cost of catching up before you commit.

Usually, because the clean-up work disappears. When the bookkeeper and the accountant are on the same designated team and the same chart of accounts, year-end does not involve re-coding a year of transactions, and tax planning in May is done from numbers that are already right. The bookkeeping fee is set by transaction volume and complexity, agreed up front, and the saving shows up in the compliance side.

For most companies lodging through a registered tax agent, the return for the year ending 30 June is due by 15 May the following year, with earlier dates for larger companies and for those with a poor lodgement history. Lodging yourself, the deadline is 31 October. Trusts and partnerships follow similar agent timetables. We put every entity’s due date in your compliance calendar and lodge well before it, because tax planning is finished by then.

Yes, for the owners and family members of the businesses we look after. The company, trust, partnership and individual returns in a group are prepared together, because distributions, dividends, Division 7A loans and franking credits only make sense across the whole picture. We do not prepare individual-only returns for people without a business.

The financial statements behind it, prepared to the standard a lender or a buyer expects, the return itself, the ASIC annual review, the franking account and Division 7A loan workings, and a review by a senior accountant before anything is lodged. It sits in the monthly package rather than being billed as a one-off in October, which is also why tax planning in May is part of the same work.

Lodge it. The ATO applies a failure to lodge penalty per 28 days overdue, capped for small entities, and general interest on any tax owing, but it is far more accommodating with a business that lodges and arranges a payment plan than one that stays silent. We prepare the overdue years in order, lodge the oldest first, request remission of penalties where there is a reasonable case, and set up the calendar so it does not recur.

Because a payout is sales less refunds, less Shopify Payments fees, less chargebacks, sometimes less a reserve, often spanning several days of orders, and excluding anything paid through PayPal or Afterpay. Reconciling the bank deposit as revenue understates sales and hides fees. A settlement tool such as A2X breaks each payout into its parts and posts them to Xero, so the deposit matches to the cent and the fees become a visible cost line.

Xero’s own Shopify connection posts a daily summary and suits a single-channel store with simple GST. Once you have Amazon or eBay alongside Shopify, sell overseas, use several gateways or need gross margin by channel, A2X or an equivalent settlement tool is the cleaner choice because it reconciles per payout and handles each channel’s fee structure. We set up either; the discovery call is where we work out which fits.

Stock is an asset when you buy it and a cost when you sell it. If purchases go straight to expenses, profit swings with every container that lands and gross margin means nothing. We hold purchases in inventory, move the cost of what sold to cost of goods sold each month from your stock counts or inventory system, and value closing stock at 30 June for tax. Landed cost, freight and duty are part of that, not separate overheads.

Generally no. Goods exported to a customer outside Australia can be GST-free when the export conditions are met and you keep evidence of the export, while sales to Australian customers carry GST once you are registered. Low-value imported goods, platform-collected GST on some marketplaces and GST on overseas advertising and software each have their own treatment. Getting the channel mapping right in the settlement tool is what makes the BAS correct without manual adjustments.

It depends on who owns it, the risk, the profit and what comes next. A company caps tax on retained profits at the company rate and limits liability, but profits coming out are taxed again in the owner’s hands with franking credits. A discretionary trust distributes income flexibly across a family group but cannot retain profit at a lower rate. Many groups use both: a trading company owned by a family trust, with a bucket company for retained earnings. The review models your numbers rather than picking a default.

We map every entity, who owns what, where the risk sits and what each is costing in tax, then model the alternatives against three years of your numbers and the events you can see coming: a partner, an investor, a property, a sale. The result is a written recommendation with the tax cost of changing and the saving once changed. The review is quoted up front, and implementation is quoted separately if you proceed.

Sometimes. The small business restructure rollover and other rollover provisions can defer or remove the capital gains tax on moving assets between entities when the conditions are met, and stamp duty varies by state. Some restructures still trigger tax that is worth paying for the long-term saving; some are not worth doing. We model both before anything moves, and time the change to a financial year end where that helps.

If you run a business with staff, contracts or public exposure, yes, and the time to do it is before any claim exists. The usual pattern is a trading entity that owns as little as possible, a separate entity holding the valuable assets, and a holding company or trust above both, so a problem in the trading entity cannot reach the home or the equipment. Asset protection done after a claim arises can be unwound, which is why it is part of every structuring engagement.

Advisory answers a specific decision: pricing, structure, funding, a sale. Coaching is the standing relationship that makes the decisions get executed, with a 90-day plan, a scorecard of the numbers that matter, a regular session and accountability between sessions. Many owners use both: coaching surfaces a structure question that becomes an advisory project. We will tell you on the discovery call which one you need first.

We open with the scorecard, four to six numbers pulled from your Xero file and management reports, not from memory. Then the commitments from last session: done, not done, why. Then the obstacles, the decisions and the next commitments, written down. A session is 60 to 90 minutes, monthly or fortnightly, and your coach is a message away between sessions when something comes up.

People who own and run businesses themselves, across accounting, pharmacy, medical clinics, ecommerce, property and technology, and who have made the mistakes you are trying to avoid. The coaching sits inside an accounting firm, so the numbers in the room are your real ones. We do not run a coaching course or a franchise methodology; it is an operator working with an operator.

The owners who get the most from it are the ones still doing the quoting, the rostering and the chasing themselves at night. The work is building a management layer and an operating rhythm so the business produces the same result in the weeks you are not there, which is also what gives it a value beyond your own hours. If you want group coaching rather than one-to-one, New Wave Group runs programs through Empwr Coaching.

One chart of accounts and a Xero tracking category per site, so every location codes revenue, wages, rent and royalties the same way from day one. Site-by-site comparison is then a standard report rather than a spreadsheet exercise, and a new site is onboarded onto the same structure before it opens. Where the franchisor requires a particular format, the reports are produced from the reconciled file in that format on their calendar.

Yes. Royalty and levy calculations are checked against the franchisor’s statements each period, differences are chased before they compound, and the amounts are coded so they show as the cost line they are rather than disappearing into general expenses. Owners are often surprised how much a percentage point of royalty on the wrong base adds up to across a year and several sites.

Daily or weekly, depending on volume. Tills, EFTPOS terminals, delivery platforms and loyalty programs are reconciled to Xero with a clearing account per channel, so a settlement that goes missing is caught in the week it happens rather than at BAS time. Cash handling variances are reported by site, which tends to tighten up quickly once a franchisee can see them.

Clean intercompany accounts between head office and any company-owned stores, royalty income reconciled to what franchisees were charged, marketing fund accounting that stands up to franchisee scrutiny, and consolidated group reporting. That work is scoped separately from franchisee bookkeeping because the structure is different, and it is quoted before it starts.

Your accountant reports and advises on what happened: financial statements, tax returns, tax planning, structure. A virtual CFO works on what should happen next: the forecast, margin by product or site, pricing, funding and the decisions coming up. At New Wave the same team does both, so the CFO is working from numbers the accountants already trust.

Usually $2M of revenue and up, or earlier if the decisions are big: a second site, outside funding, a purchase or a sale. Below that, a strong accountant with monthly reporting and tax planning covers most of what you need. If we think you are not ready, we will say so on the first call and tell you what to fix first.

A standing monthly meeting with your senior adviser, the pack and forecast prepared by the team beforehand, and the adviser available between meetings for the decisions that cannot wait. The scope sets how much senior time is in it; a group with six entities and a funding round gets more than a single-site business, and the fee reflects that, agreed up front.

You aren’t legally required to use one, but most small businesses save more than the fee. A good accountant makes sure you claim what you’re entitled to, lodge on time, avoid ATO penalties and use the right structure. They also free up hours you would otherwise spend on BAS and paperwork.

Ideally before you start trading, so your structure and registrations are right from day one. After that, the usual triggers are registering for GST, hiring your first employee, or your profit reaching the point where your structure matters.

A bookkeeper records your day-to-day transactions and keeps your accounts reconciled. An accountant uses those records to prepare tax returns, plan your tax, advise on structure and help with decisions. Many small businesses need both; we can provide both, or work alongside your bookkeeper.

Yes. We regularly help small business owners catch up on overdue lodgements and deal with the ATO, including payment plans. The sooner you start, the more options you usually have.

For most small businesses we recommend Xero: it connects to your bank and most other apps, and you can see your numbers in real time. We’re a Xero Platinum Partner and also support QuickBooks and MYOB.

Sometimes. We take on a select number of startups each year, usually where the founder has a clear plan to grow. If that’s you, our start-up services get your structure and registrations right from day one, and you can move onto an ongoing package as the business grows.

A progress claim is revenue for the work completed to that point, recorded when it is certified rather than when the cash arrives, with retentions held by the client shown as a receivable due at practical completion and at the end of the defects period. Treating claims as revenue only when paid, and forgetting retentions altogether, is why many builders cannot tell whether a job is profitable until it is long finished.

Each licence category has a maximum revenue, a minimum net tangible asset position and a current ratio test, and licensees must report annually with financial information prepared to the standard the QBCC accepts. Grow past your category’s revenue limit without a new category and you are trading outside your licence. We monitor the position through the year and deal with a category change before it is a problem.

Job by job, with the claim schedule, the retention release dates, the subcontractor and supplier payment terms and the variations approved but not yet claimed, rolled up into one forecast for the business. A builder is a cash flow business before it is a profit business, and the forecast is what shows a quiet claim month three months ahead. It sits inside the virtual CFO or advisory work and is updated monthly.

A trading company that holds the licence, the contracts and the employees and owns as little as possible, a separate entity for the equipment and any property, and a family trust or holding company above both. The licence sits with the trading entity, so a restructure has QBCC as well as tax consequences and is planned around both. Director guarantees to suppliers still exist, which is why the valuable assets sit outside the trading entity.

Usually as a multiple of the annual management fee income, adjusted for the quality of the roll: average rent, management fee percentage, arrears, lost managements per year, concentration among a few landlords and how long properties stay on the roll. Sales commission is valued separately and at a lower multiple because it is less predictable. We prepare rent roll valuations for sales, partner buy-ins and refinancing.

We prepare the financial statements, tax returns and management reporting for agencies that hold trust accounts, and work alongside the independent trust account auditor the legislation requires. The trust account is kept separate from the agency’s own books, and we report the agency’s margin by property manager and by sales agent so principals can see where the profit is.

By property manager and by the roll each one looks after: properties under management, fee income, arrears and the cost of the manager and their support. Most agencies know the total but not the split, and the split is what tells you whether a portfolio is over or under its capacity. We build it into the monthly reporting from your property management software and Xero.

GST on commission and management fees, the timing of commission income when settlements span a period end, trust account interest, the treatment of marketing contributions paid by vendors, contractor versus employee status for salespeople on commission, and the structure of a group that holds the rent roll separately from the trading business. Tax planning in May covers all of them with the real numbers.

As a liability per vehicle, drawn when stock arrives and cleared when it sells, with interest and fees charged on the days each unit sits. Reconciling the floorplan statement to the stock on hand every month is the control that catches units sold but not cleared and vehicles aged past the curtailment date. We build that reconciliation into the bookkeeping for dealers.

A trade-in is a purchase from the customer at the agreed value and a separate sale of the new or replacement vehicle at its full price, not a net transaction. GST applies on the full sale price, and the trade-in from a private seller carries no GST credit while one from a registered business does. Netting them off understates both sales and GST and is a common finding in reviews of dealer and workshop files.

Hours sold against hours paid, parts margin, and the recovery rate on each technician, with jobs tracked in the workshop system and summarised to Xero by tracking category. Most workshops know their total revenue and have no idea which bays, technicians or job types make money. The monthly reporting we build answers that, which is where pricing and rostering decisions come from.

Usually a trading entity that runs the workshop or dealership and carries the risk, a separate entity that owns the property and leases it to the trading entity, and a holding structure above both, so a claim or a downturn in the business cannot reach the building. Whether the property belongs in super is a question for New Wave SMSF and Financial Planning, in the same building. We review the structure as part of onboarding.

The subsidy paid to the centre is part of the fee for each child, not separate income, so parent payments plus subsidy must reconcile to the fees charged in your childcare management software each fortnight. Differences come from attendance adjustments, absences and entitlement changes, and they compound if not chased. We reconcile the subsidy statements to the software and to Xero as part of the bookkeeping cycle.

Occupancy by room against licensed places, wage cost as a percentage of fee income, educator-to-child ratios actually rostered against the required ratios, fee income per place per day, and arrears. A centre running at 80 percent occupancy with ratios over-rostered has a profit problem that the total bank balance will not show for months. The monthly reporting is built around those five.

One chart of accounts and a Xero tracking category per centre, so each is reported the same way and compared side by side, with consolidated figures for the group. Head office costs are allocated on an agreed basis so each centre’s margin is fair. New centres are onboarded onto the same structure before they open, including the fit-out costs tracked separately from operating costs.

Yes. The approved provider, the operating entity, the entity that holds the lease or the property, and the owners’ holding structure all need to fit together so that a problem at one centre does not reach the others or the property, and so profits are taxed and distributed efficiently. Changes to the provider entity have regulatory as well as tax consequences, which is why structuring a childcare group is planned rather than done in a hurry.

Raw materials, work in progress and finished goods are each an asset until sold, and the cost of what was sold moves to cost of goods sold when it leaves. Expensing purchases on arrival makes gross margin meaningless and profit swing with every delivery. We set up inventory tracking that matches your production system, reconcile stock on hand monthly and value it at 30 June for tax with the method the ATO allows.

Potentially, if the work involves genuine experimentation to resolve a technical uncertainty rather than routine engineering or quality improvement, and it is registered with the relevant department before the deadline. Many manufacturers either miss eligible activities or claim ineligible ones. We assess the activities, help with the registration and prepare the claim as part of the tax return, with the records the ATO expects.

By matching the finance to the asset’s life, timing purchases around the instant asset write-off and depreciation rules in tax planning rather than discovering the effect afterwards, and keeping the equipment in an entity that is protected from the trading risk. Equipment finance repayments go into the cash flow forecast with everything else, so the business knows what the new line costs each month before the order is placed.

Gross margin by product line and by customer after materials, direct labour and the overheads that actually attach to production, plus capacity utilisation and the cost of waste and rework. Most manufacturers price from a standard cost that was set years ago. Monthly reporting that shows actual margin by product is what tells you which lines to push, reprice or drop.

Hours and costs by project against the fee agreed, with work in progress and fees billed in advance tracked so that profit for the month reflects work done rather than invoices raised. Practices that only look at the invoiced total discover unprofitable projects after they finish. We set up project tracking in your practice software and Xero and report margin by project and by stage.

Only as contractors where the arrangement genuinely operates that way: their own business, their own tools, the ability to work for others and to delegate. Long-term, full-time contractors who work only for your practice are employees in the eyes of the ATO and the state revenue office, with back-paid super, payroll tax and penalties when it is found. We review each arrangement on a new file.

Usually a company owned through each director’s family entity, with a shareholder agreement that covers how a director enters, exits, is valued and is paid, and a service entity where that is useful. Professional indemnity exposure makes it important that the practice’s valuable assets sit outside the entity that carries the risk. New Wave Law drafts the agreements in the same building.

Work done but not yet billed is an asset, fees billed in advance are a liability, and both need to be recorded so the profit and loss reflects the work actually performed each month. Retentions and fees contingent on a stage being reached are tracked separately so cash flow forecasting shows when the money really arrives. Most practice software can produce these figures; the work is getting them into Xero consistently.

The franchisor’s disclosure document and the earnings of comparable sites, normalised for owner wages and the full royalty and levy load; the fit-out and working capital required beyond the franchise fee; the lease terms, because the site often matters more than the brand; and the exit terms. Then model the site’s cash flow for the first eighteen months. We run that review before the agreement is signed, not after.

On a multiple of maintainable earnings after a market-rate owner wage and the full royalty and levy load, adjusted for the remaining term of the franchise agreement and the lease, and subject to the franchisor’s approval of the buyer. Franchise agreements often set transfer conditions and fees that affect the net result. A valuation two or three years before the planned sale gives time to lift the number.

Typically a trading company owned by the family’s holding structure, with the agreement, the lease and the employees in that entity and the valuable assets elsewhere. The franchisor usually requires guarantees from the owners, so the structure limits what else those guarantees can reach. Adding a second territory later is simpler when the first was set up this way. We review the structure before the agreement is signed.

Yes. For a franchisor the work is the head office entity, intercompany arrangements with company-owned stores, royalty income reconciliation, marketing fund accounting that stands up to franchisee scrutiny and consolidated group reporting, plus the structuring of new territories and the eventual sale of the system. It is a different engagement from franchisee work and is scoped and quoted separately.

Fees billed, fees collected and write-offs by fee earner against their salary and the support cost allocated to them, with work in progress and disbursements tracked so the picture reflects work done, not just invoices raised. Partners usually know the firm total and argue about the split. Monthly reporting that shows margin by fee earner and by practice area ends most of those arguments.

The trust account is governed by the legal profession legislation in your state and audited by an external examiner; it is not the firm’s money and sits outside the firm’s books. We prepare the firm’s financial statements, tax returns and management reporting and work alongside the trust account examiner, making sure the firm’s own ledger and the trust records agree where they touch, such as disbursements recovered and fees transferred.

An incorporated legal practice owned through each partner’s family entity, with a shareholder agreement that covers entry, exit, valuation and remuneration, and in some cases a service entity that employs staff and owns equipment. Professional conduct rules in your state affect what is permitted, so the structure is designed with New Wave Law. The aim is a buy-in that does not create a tax bill for the existing partners.

Goodwill is valued on maintainable earnings after notional partner salaries, with the agreed method written into the partnership or shareholder agreement so future entries and exits use the same rules. Funding is usually a mix of the incoming partner’s borrowing and a period of reduced drawings, structured so the existing partners’ tax position is managed. We prepare the valuation and model the funding before the agreement is drafted.

It depends on how the arrangement actually operates, not what the agreement calls it. The ATO tests for superannuation and the state revenue office tests for payroll tax look at control, who bears the risk, who provides the equipment and whether the associate works for others. Dental practices have been a focus of payroll tax reviews. We assess each arrangement, set up service entity structures where they are the right answer and document them so they hold up.

Chairs, imaging, CAD/CAM units and the fit-out are depreciating assets, with the instant asset write-off available up to the threshold for eligible small businesses and depreciation over effective life above it. Timing a purchase before or after 30 June can move a significant deduction between years, which is why equipment decisions are part of tax planning in May rather than a surprise in October.

Whether each chair pays for itself after the dentist’s percentage, the nurse, the lab fees, the consumables and its share of the rooms. Billings per dentist are in the practice software; margin per chair is not. Once owners see it, decisions about adding a chair, changing a split, recruiting or letting a room go stop being guesses. We build it into the monthly reporting from the practice software and Xero.

With the practice in a trading entity that carries the risk, the equipment and any property in separate entities, and the owners holding through family structures, so a sale to a corporate or another dentist can be of the practice entity or its assets depending on what the buyer and the tax position favour. The small business capital gains tax concessions need to be planned two or three years out, not at the point of sale.

Each payment request to the NDIA, each plan manager and each self-managed participant is a separate receivable with its own timing, and the pricing must match the NDIS price guide for the support and the region. We reconcile claims to payments per stream, chase short payments and rejections while they are fresh, and report the cash cycle for each, because a provider can be profitable on paper and short of cash from claim delays alone.

Most are employees under the relevant award, and treating them as contractors because it is convenient creates back-paid super, payroll tax and penalties when it is reviewed. Genuine contractor arrangements exist but have to operate as such. We review every arrangement on a new provider file and make sure contractor payments are reported correctly where they are legitimate.

Billable hours as a percentage of paid hours for support workers, revenue per participant against the plan budget, claim rejection and short-payment rates, days from service to cash, and wage cost against the price guide for each support type. Providers that know those five numbers each month can price and roster properly; most only know their total revenue and their total wages.

Registration is held by the provider entity, so the structure needs to keep that entity stable while protecting the owners and any property from the risks of the business, which include worker claims and quality and safeguards actions. A trading company owned through a family structure, with assets held separately, is the usual shape. Changes to the registered entity have regulatory consequences, so structuring is planned before registration or expansion.

It depends on the purpose, the financing, who the income should go to and what happens when it is sold. Personal names give access to the capital gains discount and negative gearing against wages; a trust gives flexibility in who receives income and protection from business risk; a company caps tax on retained rent but loses the discount; super has its own rules. The right answer differs for a long-term rental and a development site, so we model it before the contract is signed.

When a developer sells new residential property, GST is normally one eleventh of the sale price. Under the margin scheme, if the conditions are met and the buyer agrees in writing, GST is one eleventh of the margin between the purchase price and the sale price instead, which can be a large saving on land bought from a seller who did not charge GST. Eligibility depends on how the land was acquired, so it is decided at purchase, not at sale.

A development carried out to sell is a business or profit-making undertaking: the profit is ordinary income, GST applies to the sales and the capital gains discount does not. A property held to rent and later sold is on capital account with the discount available after twelve months. The intention at purchase, the entity used and the records kept all affect which treatment the ATO accepts, which is why the structure is settled before settlement.

A consolidated position across every entity: rental income and expenses by property, loan balances and repayments, the development feasibility and its cost to complete, and the owners’ personal position. Lenders decline or delay more applications for messy reporting than for weak numbers. We produce the group reporting and the forecasts in the format the bank expects, from the same file that does the tax.

If you are in the building and construction industry and pay contractors for building and construction services, yes, through the taxable payments annual report lodged by 28 August each year. It needs the contractor’s ABN, name, address and the total paid including GST. The report is built from the bookkeeping, so coding subcontractor payments correctly all year is what makes August painless.

By tracking labour, materials and subcontractor costs against each job’s quote in your job management system and Xero, and reviewing the result when the job closes rather than at year end. Most trade businesses know their annual profit and have no idea which jobs produced it or lost it. Job profitability reporting is what turns that into better quoting and better choices about which work to take.

A sole trader structure is fine while you are on the tools alone with low risk. Once there are employees, apprentices, vehicles, a workshop and contracts, the personal exposure and the tax at the top marginal rate both argue for a company, often owned through a family trust, with the valuable assets held separately. The move itself has to be done carefully for QBCC licensing and for tax, so it is planned rather than rushed.

Financial statements and reports that show the licensee meets the minimum financial requirements for its licence category, including the net tangible asset and current ratio tests, prepared to the standard the QBCC accepts and lodged annually, with a decision well before the deadline about whether a category change is coming. Growing past your category without noticing is the common problem. See the building and construction page for the detail.

Either as an employee under the award, with super, leave and payroll tax where thresholds apply, or as a genuine contractor running their own business, invoicing the practice and able to work elsewhere. The percentage split model sits uncomfortably between the two and is where practices get caught. We work out which arrangement fits, document it properly and make sure the books and reporting treat it correctly.

Hours a room is booked and billed against the hours it is available, by room and by practitioner, with the rent and the admin cost allocated to each. A practice can be busy and still have rooms that do not pay for themselves. Once the figures are visible, decisions about adding a practitioner, changing hours or letting a room go follow. We build it into the monthly reporting from your practice software.

When the income is well above the owner’s living needs so retained profit at the company rate is worth having, when there are staff and contracts that create real risk, or when a second practitioner is coming in. Earlier than that, the extra cost and compliance of a company is rarely worth it. We model the change on your numbers and plan it for a sensible date rather than mid-year.

Each funder pays on its own timetable and sometimes at a different rate for the same service, so each is reconciled as a separate receivable to the practice software and to Xero, with short payments and rejections chased while they are fresh. The cash flow forecast is built around those payment cycles, because a practice can be busy and short of cash purely from the timing of third-party payments.

In several states, revenue offices have treated payments flowing from a practice to its doctors under service agreements as wages for payroll tax, with back-assessments and penalties. Whether your practice is caught depends on how the service entity is structured, how money flows between the practice and the practitioners, and the contracts. It is the first thing we review on a new practice file, and the structure is reviewed annually.

A service entity provides the rooms, staff, equipment and administration to the practitioners for a fee, while each practitioner bills patients in their own right. Set up and operated properly it separates the practice business from the clinical work, supports the independence of the practitioners and can be tax efficient. Set up loosely it creates payroll tax and GST problems. It is a design decision made with the structure and the contracts together.

Billings and margin by practitioner after service fees, room costs and support staff; Medicare, private and other funder income reconciled from the practice software; occupancy of the rooms; and cash across the practice entity, the service entity and the practitioners’ entities. Principals usually know billings and nothing else. The margin by practitioner is what decides whether to add a room, change a percentage or recruit.

With the clinical and service functions in entities that can take a new partner cleanly, the property and equipment held separately, and the owners’ interests held through family structures, so a new site or a new partner is an addition rather than a rebuild. Bringing a partner in without that preparation usually creates a tax bill for the existing owner. New Wave Law drafts the agreements and New Wave SMSF and Financial Planning advise on where the property sits.

An Australian company selling into the US through Amazon is taxed in Australia on its worldwide profit, and may also have US sales tax obligations handled through Amazon and in some cases US income tax exposure depending on how it operates there. Stock held in US fulfilment centres, marketplace facilitator rules and transfer pricing all come into it. We work with specialist US advisers where needed and keep the Australian side clean.

By planning in May with real numbers: the value of closing stock and how it is counted, the timing of large stock and equipment purchases against the instant asset write-off, prepayments of advertising and software, superannuation for the owners, and the right distribution of profit across the group. Most of these are decisions that must be made before 30 June, which is why tax planning is part of the monthly package.

Revenue and gross margin by channel and by product group after the true cost of goods, advertising spend as a percentage of revenue by channel, return rates, cash across the bank and every clearing account, and inventory on hand against the next purchase commitment. Owners who see those five lines monthly stop making decisions on the bank balance. We build the pack from Xero and your settlement and inventory tools.

Most product brands that reinvest profit into stock and growth are better held in a company, often owned by a family trust, because retained profit is taxed at the company rate and the structure can take an investor or a buyer. The brand and the trading operation are often separated so the valuable asset is protected. It is modelled on your plan rather than assumed, and the exit a few years out is part of the model.

Suite 5, 2481-2483 Gold Coast Highway, Mermaid Beach, on the highway between Nobby Beach and Broadbeach. We are open Monday to Thursday 8am to 5pm and Friday 8:30am to 2pm. Most of our Gold Coast clients meet us here for tax planning and year-end, and handle the rest by video or phone. If you would rather we came to you, we do that too for advisory and virtual CFO clients.

Yes. The office is on the Gold Coast, and we work with businesses across Brisbane, Northern NSW and the rest of Australia the same way: a designated team, Xero and our client portal, monthly or quarterly meetings by video. Location changes where the meeting happens, not who is on the file or what the work costs.

Mostly owner-led businesses turning over $1M and up, with an average client group revenue of around $2.5M and the largest well past $65M. Below $1M the monthly package is usually more than the business needs, and we will say so on the discovery call and point you to a firm that fits. Above that, the more entities, staff and moving parts you have, the more useful the designated team becomes.

Book a FREE discovery call, 30 minutes with a New Wave team member. If it is a fit, we send a proposal within the week with the monthly package set out. Once you accept, we write to your current accountant for the ethical clearance and the files, take over the ATO and ASIC links, and review the prior year and the Xero file as part of onboarding. Most switches are done inside a month and you do not need to wait for 30 June.

Yes, during office hours, and plenty of local clients do. For anything beyond a quick question or a signature it is better to book a time so the right person from your team is in the room: Monday to Thursday 8am to 5pm, Friday 8:30am to 2pm. The office is on the Gold Coast Highway at Mermaid Beach, a few minutes from Nobby Beach.

A lot of them. Hospitality is one of the industries we know best, from single cafes around Nobby Beach to groups with several venues. The work is usually daily takings reconciled to Xero, margin by venue, a structure that separates the venue, the lease and the brand, and tax planned around the seasonal curve rather than discovered after 30 June.

That is exactly what New Wave Group is set up for. The accounting team handles the business and the trust or company structures, New Wave SMSF administers the fund, New Wave Financial Planning covers the investment and insurance side, and New Wave Law handles the agreements and estates. All four are in the Mermaid Beach building, on one client file, so the advice agrees with itself.

One monthly package covers the compliance work: BAS, financial statements, tax returns, ASIC and tax planning. It is priced on the number of entities, transaction volume and complexity, and agreed up front before anything starts. Advisory, structuring and one-off projects are quoted separately before the work. Nothing is billed by the hour.

Yes. Burleigh has produced a lot of surf, apparel and lifestyle brands that started on James Street or at a market and now sell nationally online. The accounting work is inventory and cost of goods, Shopify and marketplace reconciliation to Xero, GST on mixed sales channels, and a structure that protects the brand as it becomes valuable. Our ecommerce industry page covers it in more depth.

Yes. We prepare the financial statements and reports the QBCC requires at each licence category, work out well before the deadline whether the business meets the net tangible asset test, and advise on the structure if a category change is coming. We also handle the job costing, progress claim and subcontractor reporting that building businesses in Burleigh and the southern Gold Coast need every month.

With a structure review. We map what exists today, where the risk and the tax sit, and what the business will look like in three years, then recommend the changes worth making and the ones that are not. Restructuring has tax consequences of its own, so it is planned and quoted up front as a project rather than done piecemeal. New Wave Law drafts the agreements in the same building.

Either. The office is ten minutes up the highway and most Burleigh clients come to us for tax planning and year-end. For virtual CFO and advisory clients we are happy to run the quarterly session at your premises with your managers in the room. Everything in between happens on a video call with the same designated team.

Yes. Construction and trades are one of the main industries we work in, and Burleigh Waters has one of the Gold Coast’s largest trade and light industrial bases. We handle QBCC reporting, job costing, progress claims and retentions, subcontractor payment reporting to the ATO and the structures that keep the family home separate from the business. The building and construction industry page goes into the detail.

No. New Wave does not run pay runs, pay superannuation or lodge Single Touch Payroll on your behalf. We set payroll up correctly in Xero, make sure the awards and super are treated properly in the books, reconcile the wages and super accounts every month and handle the end-of-year reconciliation. Running the pay cycle stays with you or your office manager.

Yes. Physios, chiros, psychologists and other allied health practices in Burleigh Waters usually face the same questions: a service entity versus a single company, how to bring in a second practitioner, how contractors are treated, and reporting by room or practitioner. We set the structure up properly and report on the numbers that matter to a practice owner.

In May, with real numbers. Our designated teams review every client’s position in the last quarter of the financial year, model the options and put the plan in writing before 30 June. Planning after year-end is just a tax return. If you are joining us mid-year we start with the current year rather than waiting for the next one.

Yes. The Robina Hospital precinct has pulled in specialists, GPs, dental and allied health practices, and medical and health is one of the main industries we work in. We set up service entities and practitioner structures, handle payroll tax and contractor questions, and report revenue and margin by practitioner so the principal can see what the practice actually earns.

Yes. Robina is home to several franchise head offices and multi-site franchisees. For a franchisee we report by site, build the forecast a franchisor or a bank expects and plan the next territory. For a franchisor we handle the group structure, intercompany arrangements and consolidated reporting. Our franchises industry page covers both sides.

Three things, usually in this order: a valuation of the practice or business, a structure that lets the new partner buy in cleanly without a tax bill for the existing owner, and a shareholder or partnership agreement that covers exit as well as entry. The accounting team does the first two, New Wave Law does the third, and it is quoted as a project up front.

Mermaid Beach is about fifteen minutes up the motorway and that is where most tax planning and year-end meetings happen. Monthly numbers meetings and quick questions are by video. For advisory and virtual CFO clients around Robina Town Centre we will run the quarterly session at your office if you prefer the managers in the room.

Yes. Southport’s hospital precinct is one of the densest concentrations of medical, dental and allied health practices on the Gold Coast, and medical and health is one of the main industries we work in: service entity structures, practitioner reporting, payroll tax and contractor treatment, and tax planning done before 30 June. See the medical and allied health industry pages for how we approach each.

We prepare the financial statements, tax returns and management reporting for firms and agencies that hold trust accounts, and work alongside the trust account auditor. We report by fee earner or property manager so the partners know where the margin is. The lawyers and real estate industry pages have more detail on each.

Yes. Business valuation is one of our standing services, prepared by our valuations team for sales, partner buy-ins and buy-outs, restructures and disputes. It is quoted as a project up front. If a transaction follows, the accounting, legal and financial planning work can all happen inside New Wave Group.

No. Book a FREE discovery call, and if it is a fit we send a proposal within the week. On acceptance we request the ethical clearance and files from your current accountant, take over the ATO and ASIC links and review the prior year as part of onboarding. You do not need to wait for 30 June and the office is fifteen minutes down the highway when you want to meet.

By planning around the curve instead of a flat year. We build a rolling cash flow forecast that shows the quiet months and the BAS due dates against them, set aside tax and GST in the peak so the June quarter does not land in the slowest month, and report margin by venue so you know which site is carrying the off-season. Tax planning happens in May with the real numbers.

Yes. Our bookkeeping team reconciles daily takings from EFTPOS, cash, online bookings and delivery platforms to Xero, keeps tips and surcharges treated correctly and has the ledger clean every week rather than reconstructed every quarter. Clean inputs are what make the margin-by-venue reporting mean anything.

Usually yes, and in Surfers Paradise it matters more than most places. One bad season or one claim should not be able to reach the property or the licence. We review the group, recommend the structure that fits the risk and the tax position, and quote any restructure up front as a project. New Wave Law drafts the leases and agreements in the same building.

Yes. Letting managers and owners of holiday apartments in Surfers Paradise deal with GST on mixed supplies, body corporate and management fees, multiple owning entities and seasonal income. We handle the compliance across the entities, report by building or portfolio and plan tax on the group as a whole. The property and real estate industry pages cover more.

Yes, and it is the typical Main Beach client. The accounting team looks after the trading entity, the holding and investment entities and the family trust together, with consolidated reporting across the group and one tax plan. New Wave Financial Planning, New Wave SMSF and New Wave Law sit in the same building for the parts that go beyond accounting.

Yes. Restaurants and bars on Tedder Avenue and marine services around the Spit have the same needs as hospitality anywhere on the Gold Coast: daily takings reconciled to Xero, margin by venue, a structure that protects the lease and the licence, and cash flow planned around the season. Marine businesses add inventory, boats as assets and sometimes charter income to the mix.

Now. A sale that is planned two or three years out can be structured for the capital gains tax concessions, cleaned up so the numbers a buyer sees are trustworthy, and run so the business does not depend on the owner. We start with a valuation and a plan, quoted up front, and bring in New Wave Law and Financial Planning for the agreements and what happens to the proceeds.

About fifteen minutes down the Gold Coast Highway. Most Main Beach clients come to us for tax planning and the annual review and handle the monthly meetings by video. For advisory and virtual CFO clients we will come to you when it suits.

Yes. Varsity Lakes has a growing cluster of software, consulting and technology businesses around Varsity Central and Bond University. The accounting questions are specific: R&D and software development spend, deferred revenue on subscriptions, contractor versus employee treatment, and the structure that an investor or a partner will want to see before they come in.

It depends on the work and the ATO’s tests, not on what is convenient. Getting it wrong means back-paid super, payroll tax and penalties. We review how each role actually operates, advise on the treatment and make sure contractor payments are reported correctly. We do not run payroll, but we set it up properly in Xero and reconcile wages and super every month.

Yes. Investors want clean financials, a structure that can take new shareholders without a tax problem for the founders, a forecast that stands up to questions and a shareholder agreement that covers the hard cases. Our virtual CFO and structuring teams handle the first three, New Wave Law the fourth, all quoted up front.

Monthly for virtual CFO clients, quarterly for advisory, and at least once a year in May for tax planning on every file. The office is about fifteen minutes away in Mermaid Beach, and most Varsity Lakes clients mix a couple of in-person sessions a year with video for the rest. Your designated team is the same either way.