What a business adviser does that a tax agent does not
A tax agent tells you what happened and what you owe. A business adviser sits on the same side of the table as you, looks at the same numbers and helps you decide what to do next: whether the pricing is right, which part of the business is making the money, whether to hire or contract, how to fund the next stage and how to structure the group before a partner or a buyer turns up.
At New Wave, advisory is delivered by senior advisers who have the compliance file open in front of them. Nothing is re-explained, no numbers are re-keyed from a PDF, and the recommendation accounts for the tax consequence in the same conversation.
Advisory, coaching and virtual CFO: which one you need
The three overlap and people use the words loosely, so here is how we draw the lines.
| Business advisory | Business coaching | Virtual CFO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The question | What should we do about this decision? | How do I run the business so it stops depending on me? | What are the numbers telling us this month? |
| Format | Quarterly or monthly sessions on specific decisions, with a written action list | A standing rhythm: goals, operating cadence, accountability, leadership | Monthly reporting pack, rolling forecast and a standing numbers meeting |
| Best for | Owners facing a pricing, structure, funding, growth or exit decision | Owners who have the strategy and need the discipline and the team to execute it | Founders doing $2M to $20M with several entities, sites or channels |
| Who runs it | A senior adviser who knows your file | An adviser who has built and run businesses | A CFO-level adviser plus your designated team |
Many clients move between them: a coaching engagement surfaces a structure question that becomes an advisory project, or an advisory client grows into needing the monthly CFO rhythm. We will tell you on the discovery call which one fits.
What we work on
Pricing, margin and profit
Where the profit sits by product, service line, site or client type, what the true margin is after wages and overheads, and what a price change does to the bottom line before you make it.
Cash flow and funding
A forecast that has tax, super and the big purchases in it, and a clear view of how to fund growth: cash, debt, equity or slowing down. Our cash flow forecasting work often starts inside an advisory engagement.
Structure and asset protection
Whether the entities you have still fit the business you run, what the next partner, investor or acquisition needs the structure to do, and how to protect what the business has built. Detail on the business structuring page.
Buying, selling and bringing in partners
Valuation, due diligence, partner buy-ins and buy-outs, and the two or three year plan that gets a business ready to sell for what it is worth. See business valuations and due diligence.
How an engagement runs
- A free 30-minute discovery call with a New Wave team member to understand the business and the decisions in front of you.
- A proposal within the week: scope, cadence and fee, agreed up front. Some owners need one session on one decision; most run quarterly.
- Each session works from your actual numbers, ends with a written action list, and the next session starts by checking it.
Who it is for
Owner-led businesses turning over $1M and up, across construction, medical and allied health, ecommerce, hospitality, property and professional services. You do not need to be a New Wave compliance client to engage us for advisory, although most advisory clients become one because it is simpler when the same team holds the file.
The advisers who run these sessions build and back businesses of their own, across accounting, pharmacy, medical clinics, ecommerce, property development and technology. The advice is from people who have had to live with the same decisions.