Our Client
Joe owns a successful financial services business in the Sydney CBD. He came in to see us when his business was in start-up phase. At that time his business was set up by his previous accountant in a company structure.
Joe wanted to simplify his business tax, administration and payroll because it was taking too much of his time, and look at the most tax effective way to structure his business.
Achieving financial security for his family was equally as important as his business, and wanted to use some of his business profits to fund his lifestyle and grow his family wealth.
The problems before we got involved
- By having his business established through a company structure, Joe was unable to access all the small business tax concessions. As a result this would have cost him tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes if he sold the business in the future
- Through a company structure, Joe was unable to income split business profits with his wife or other family members on lower marginal tax rates, which was resulting in increased taxes and reduced net business profits
- His business had great growth potential, but Joe was so caught up in the day to day administration and couldn’t find the time needed to focus on growing his business
- Due to the nature of his business, Joe is more susceptible to lawsuits. As a result, his business and personal assets were at risk of being taken if he was successfully sued or filed for bankruptcy due to his business and personal ownership structures
- Joe didn’t have a marketing plan or strategies to attract new paying clients, and was relying on his clients to refer business his way to generate revenue
- His borrowing capacity was limited and was unable to fund the cost of investing whilst having sufficient funds readily available to invest in his business
How Tax Effective helped Joe and his business
- We conducted a detailed analysis to understand Joe’s business and personal goals and exactly what he wanted his business and personal assets to do for him and his family
- We established a licencing trust and transferred the ownership of all the business assets from his company, including goodwill to the trust
- We established a separate trading entity (another discretionary trust) to operate his business
- We established a licencing agreement that allows his operating entity to use the assets that are controlled by the licencing trust
- We fully automated his business accounting and administration through a cloud accounting software that allows Joe to keep an eye on his business cash flow, create and track invoices and pay employee wages and super – with the click of a button
- We put Joe in contact with a digital marketing agency who created a business website and online marketing plan that drives a significant number of leads to his business
- We created a business plan and personal financial roadmap, with interlinked tax, financial and investment strategies designed to simultaneously grow his business and family wealth
- We established a self-managed super fund and a number of asset buckets (investments trusts) for Joe to purchase and tax effectively grow his family assets
The results
Since adopting our recommendations, Joe has achieved the following results
- By automating his business administration and online marketing strategy, this freed up more time for Joe to focus on growing his business and converting leads to paying customers, enabling him to significantly increase profits and grow his business
- Joe’s business trust structures allow him to distribute profits to family members on lower marginal tax rates, and saves him approximately $123,000 in taxation per annum
- By establishing a separate operating entity and licencing trust, if his business was successfully sued, he could wind the operating entity down and establish a new one - keeping the business asset completely protected
- A substantial growth in business and profits has allowed Joe to accumulate a large portfolio of profitable investment assets for the benefit of his family
- With his business and personal assets all held in trusts, we created a firewall between his personal and business assets to ensure that his assets would be out of reach from business or personal creditors
- With trust structures, Joe’s businesses now have access to all the small business tax concessions that will ensure he pays little to no tax on the sale of his business - saving him hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes in the future
- With our guidance, Joe has successfully established an additional 4 highly profitable businesses that provide different financial service lines that seamlessly feed off each other
Post becoming a client
We meet with Joe before the end of each quarter to discuss his business cash flow and performance, identify potential business issues before they become problems, and opportunities his business can successfully take advantage of.
We also regularly review Joe’s personal financial and lifestyle goals and track the progress of each of his asset buckets, constantly keeping an eye open for additional tax and investment opportunities available to further grow his family wealth.
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