Business Structure & Advice

Making A Difference

Business Structuring and Advice - MJC Partners

There are three distinct stages of any business:

Setup
Growth
Succession.

Each stage needs careful planning to make sure you get the best outcomes for yourselves and for the business.

The MJC Partners team have the technical skills and knowledge to help you with each stage of your business. Whether it be structure advice, business valuations, Small Business CGT Concession Analysis and implementation or advice on vendor’s terms or progressive buy ins, MJC Partners will ensure you get the most from your business.

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Setup

By setting up your business structure correctly in the first place you can avoid major headaches in the future. The appropriate structure can save you tax, enable more favourable lending terms from the banks and protect your assets.

Some accountants will advise you to set up the structure that has the smallest outlay (usually a sole trader or partnership). Whilst these structures undoubtedly have their place, at MJC Partners we look at the goals and objectives of the business, as well as the risk to your personal assets to assist you with choosing the right structure.

We also go a step further, and begin a conversation about how the business will operate, and how decisions will be made. How do you deal with disagreements between business partners? Will you be putting in the same amount of work, or will one partner contribute money and the other work? What level of work is expected? Your business structure will dictate whether you need a shareholder’s agreement, a partnership agreement, a partner’s agreement or some other arrangement.

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Growth

Business owners see an immediate return when they focus on growth, and as a result growth is often prioritised above looking at the business structure as a whole. By taking a step back and analysing where you are and where you want to be, you may be surprised that you have outgrown your original business structure.

Maybe you started as a sole trader but now have significant personal assets and need a structure that will protect your assets. Maybe you were renting a business premises but are now looking at purchasing one.

There may be some restructuring opportunities (for example the Small Business Tax Concession) that will save you tax by restructuring.

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Succession

Many people fail to capitalise on the value they have built in their business by not thinking to the future. They simply wait until they are ready to retire and close up shop – destroying the value they have built up over many years.

You need to look at your exit strategy years before you are ready to exit the business. Maybe there is someone in the business that can be trained up to take over from you. Maybe you need to look at attracting new talent. What will that transfer look like? Will it be vendor’s terms or a progressive buy in? What is the value of the business that they are buying into?

How can you maximise the value of the business before the transition to ensure you are adequately rewarded for your hard work?

By the time you are ready to retire it is already too late. MJC Partners will work with you to develop a strategy, and help you work towards that outcome.

MJC Partners - Accountants in Dandenong, Melbourne

Our Clients Say

“Before we started working with Andrew from MJC Partners we had a large ATO debt, had just written off $600,000 from a bad debtor and our financial results fluctuated from small profits to big losses. Our expenses were too high, our creditor days were too long, and we had an underperforming CFO. The worst part was, our accounting systems were not sophisticated enough to give us the information we needed to make important decisions.

MJC Partners’ External CFO Service has been instrumental in turning everything around. They overhauled our accounting systems to streamline and increase our reporting capabilities, and then showed us how we could improve.

We have gone from small profits and big losses to a consistently profitable business. We have diversified our business and are now the go to provider for services in relation to civil construction, power and traffic signalling.

Whilst we were transitioning, MJC helped manage our relationships with the ATO, our lenders, and suppliers, and our creditor days are now on terms.

We are now looking to expand and this will need careful management to ensure we are successful into the future, and we look forward to growing in conjunction with our partners in business, MJC Partners."

Peter Healey,
Healey Infrastructure

Our Clients Say

"It seems that the government change the rules around superannuation every second year. We know we can rely on Daniel to keep us compliant with the law changes and to give us great advice that gets us the best outcome possible. He also keeps us up to date with what’s going on politically on the horizon so we can plan for the future. He guided us through the super changes in 2017 and made sure we were eligible for tax relief that saved us over a hundred thousand dollars.

Being a financial adviser and an accountant, he has the ability to give us strategy advice as well as structural advice and tax advice. Whenever we want to do anything out of the ordinary, all we need to do is call Daniel or one of the super team, and they can give us detailed information on what we can and can’t do and how to make sure we do it properly. They explain the laws in ways that we understand and the team always attend to our queries straight away.

Daniel has a very high attention to detail and his insistence on everything being perfect is reassuring. He understands how important it is to look after our retirement savings and he looks after our fund as if it were his own.”

Dave Warrior

Our Clients Say

“For a long time now, I have relied on MJC Partners as an invaluable asset for my small businesses, with the team providing strategic accounting and bookkeeping solutions.

Throughout the seven-plus years of our partnership, MJC has adeptly and holistically managed the financial complexities of my recruitment firm, Hope & Glory, including all related personal finances. Their responsiveness, knowledge, and amiable approach make collaboration a genuine pleasure. Matt Salmon, Michael Hutchins, and their team have consistently exhibited remarkable expertise, continuity and dedication.

MJC Partners transcends being mere service providers; they are integral to our business's success. I went to market for efficient and reliable financial management and absolutely found it with MJC Partners."

- Matt Harrison,
Founder & Director, Hope & Glory

Our Clients Say

“Succession planning is a potentially stressful and costly process. We were faced with the potential dilemma of transitioning our business to the next generation in a tax effective way. Our previous accountant believed that the succession process would trigger hundreds of thousands of dollars of Capital Gains Tax.

Through MJC’s knowledge of the intricacies of the tax system, along with their network of valuers, tax lawyers and advisors, they were able to ensure we paid no CGT at all! Not only this, but the structure we now have is better for asset protection, is more tax effective, and is a better structure for future succession.

Throughout the process, Matt explained the issues and the solutions, and made us comfortable and informed, in what would normally be a stressful situation.

Once the restructure was complete, MJC set about redrafting our financial accounts to give us more detailed and relevant management accounts. They assisted us with setting relevant KPIs that are tailored to our situation and our quarterly management meetings with MJC now help us focus on the areas that are important to manage our business efficiently and effectively.

Whether it’s through compliance, one offs like implementing Superstream or Single Touch Payroll, liaising with the bank about our covenants, deferred GST in relation to our imports or strategic forecasting, we know MJC have the expertise to grow with us.”

Joey Addamo,
Eastern Distributors

Our Clients Say

“I had a feeling that we weren’t getting value for money with our old accountant, but it wasn’t until we started working with Dave that I realised what a good accountant can actually add.

He has fixed up all the issues that our previous accountant caused and has helped us restructure our affairs to save tax and increase our asset protection.

We also felt that we were getting bill after bill with our old accountant. Knowing that we can call Dave whenever we have a query and it is included in our fixed fee is great. As a result we are in constant communication and this results in better outcomes.

Our relationship with our accountant has gone from one where we would meet once a year to one where we meet with Dave quarterly for management meetings and he is always available by phone to answer any queries we have.

Whether it be partitioning for stamp duty, payroll queries, property development or the management of our restaurant, we know we can call Dave and he will make sure we get the best advice and outcome possible.”

Roshan Perera

Our Clients Say

“We call Chris our External CEO. Chris helped us redevelop our business plan, which has helped us to really focus on our strategic direction. This focus has in turn brought renewed motivation and inspiration to senior management and the firm as a whole.

Following the maxim ‘You can’t manage what you don’t measure’, Chris has helped us develop results orientated financial KPIs. By marrying this with a monitoring system for tracking progress towards these KPIs, we have seen an increase in the financial figures, but financial KPIs are just the start. MJC have helped with our corporate governance and strategic oversight across the board.

Chris has helped us take a strategic look at the way we monitor performance and conformance in all areas of the business. This is not a set and forget service. Each management meeting is tailored to our specific circumstances, goals and issues.

MJC are constantly assessing our systems and processes and evaluating where in our workflow we can increase efficiencies and effectiveness. They are constantly trying to identify non value adding activities that can be eliminated.

Chris has helped us with team building and increasing our communication channels, setting realistic goals and staying motivated to reach those goals. I can’t recommend the service highly enough.”

John Buckley,
Buckley’s Financial Protection

Our Clients Say

I started working with Chris soon after setting up my business. In a little over a year we have introduced a new CRM, revised our quoting system, improved our cost tracking system and trained our staff in the new quoting system and the critical interactions between quotes, budgets and project management.

We’ve put in place better processes around when suppliers are paid, have improved our debtor terms and now have more meaningful and accurate monthly reports so we know exactly how we’re tracking.

We have introduced an improved workflow management system to reduce the variance between feast and famine and enable us to manage our time and resources more effectively.

MJC have helped us analyse the cost benefit of employees versus sub-contractors and identify the right mix for our business.

Of course they do standard accounting and I appreciate that, but my time with Chris is invaluable and what sets MJC apart from other accountants.”

Nicholas De La Roche Souvestre,
Thermolec