What services do you offer?

At Proactive Business Services we specialise in providing accounting and taxation services for small to medium enterprises, better known as SMEs; with a turnover between $50,000 and $10,000,000.

We provide a full suite of accounting, taxation and business advisory services in house, and in collaboration with associated professionals. Our core services include Business Advisory, Bookkeeping, Accounting, Taxation and ASIC corporate secretarial services. We provide consultations to assist clients to identify and choose the right structure and services for their business; such as establishing a new entity, choosing an appropriate cloud accounting package, determining bookkeeping requirements, processing payroll, advising on payables & debtors management, BAS and IAS preparation and lodgements, cash flow forecasts, budgeting, monthly and quarterly management reporting, virtual CFO, Tax planning, Financials and Tax lodgements for individuals, startups, sole traders, partnerships, trusts, companies, and Self-Managed Super Funds SMSF.

Our Financial Services offering is provided in association with Beaches Financial Planners. We assist our clients with their financial needs, including insurance, financing, investing, and helping them to grow their wealth. We assist them to focus on their short term and long-term goals.

Over the past twenty three years we have amassed a vast amount of knowledge and experience while assisting SMEs across a wide range of industries; such as construction, hospitality, hair & beauty, health and allied health services, medical, property investing, tradies, engineering, education, tourism, accommodation, agricultural, charities, non for profits, clubs, restaurants, professional services, legal, architecture, technology services, to name just a few.

We offer fixed and variable fee services, tailored to our clients’ needs.
Our Fixed Fee bookkeeping/compliance and advisory packages are designed to spread the cost out evenly over a specified period, usually twelve months.

Our fees are very competitive and commensurate with the high level of training and professionalism of our team.

Yes, we pride ourselves on what we do, and this is reflected in the many testimonials we have received over the years, we have included a few of the recent testimonials on our website.

Each client is allocated a dedicated client manager. If for some reason your client manager is not available, you will be put in touch a team member who will manage your query and respond immediately where possible.

We work very closely with all our clients to assist them to legally minimise their tax and stay on top of their ever-increasing compliance obligations. Our mission is to be the clients go to person for all things financial. We provide annual tax planning consultations and are available for ad hoc consultations throughout the year.

Tax planning starts with “how your business is structured”. We work with our clients to review and restructure their business enterprises, helping them to achieve better business and tax outcomes. We have systems in place to cater for all your business compliance needs including: award pay rates, ASIC annual reviews, BAS, IAS, Payroll Tax, Workers’ comp, tax lodgement, etc.

We work closely with our clients to ensure that their financial data is up-to-date and that they are fully aware of their key business drivers. Our fixed fee packages include cash flow forecast, budgeting and monthly/quarterly reporting.

When planning, it is essential to match your growth expectations with your KPIs. We have found that most businesses don’t necessarily need complex financial forecasting, often a simple module focusing on the key performance indicators and core cost drivers will ensure that resources are being utilised in the correct areas.

I don’t think many would disagree when I say that SMEs are heavily regulated in Australia, and it doesn’t look like abating anytime soon.

However, regulation is not necessarily bad for business, it can help to create a level playing field. We find that most regulatory bodies are very keen to educate and provide as much assistance as they can to help SMEs maintain compliance.

We often act on behalf of our clients to assist them to navigate challenging compliance issues such as worker compensation, superannuation, award rates, ATO payment plans etc.

We work with the most up-to-date online accounting software solutions available. Our current preferred provider for bookkeeping and accounting software is XERO, however we also work with many other providers such as, MYOB, Quick Books, SAASU etc.

All our staff are engaged in continued professional development and education (CPD). Our senior Partners and Staff regularly attend seminars and part take in discussion groups which enable us to improve our technical skills and enhance our practical and soft skills. CPA Australia and the Tax Practitioners Board also have compulsory annual education requirements. At Proactive Business Services we are a learning organisation.

More often the solution lies in recognising that “you don’t know what you don’t know” and that there is no “One size fits all” solution to growing a business. It is important to identify and understand what stage your business is currently at in its business life cycle. Sometimes we need to take a step back and assess our growth expectations so that we can create a sustainable growth environment. One wants to avoid the seesaw effect whereby you grow your business only to find that you keep slipping back to where you started.

One common problem we see very often with SME’s is that their owners spend most of their time working in the business and not enough time working on their business.

We work with our clients to get to know and understand the challenges they are facing and then we work together to develop a way forward, removing or minimising the growth inhibitors from their business.

Surprisingly many tax disputes can be resolved by providing the ATO with the additional information they have requested and communicating the clients’ position in a manner that is acceptable to the ATO and within the parameters of the relevant legislation.

For example: a client had run up a large tax bill while suffering from a medical condition that caused irrational behaviour. The client came to us for assistance as they wanted to dispute the tax debt. Having established the facts, we requested that the client provide a letter from their doctor confirming their illness. An application for release was submitted to the ATO along with and the supporting documentation. The result in this instance was that the ATO released the client from payment of the significant tax debt.

At Proactive Business Services we understand the importance of protecting our client’s data. The security of our digital ecosystem against cyberattacks and the procedures aimed at safeguarding personal data stored are paramount. Our data protection fire walls are constantly monitored by experts in data protection and upgraded regularly. We have been early adopters of security measures which address these issues. We are guided by industry and Government regulatory bodies: ATO, TPB and CPA Australia in relation to education, processes and technology.

Our long-term partnership approach with our clients and business associates involves establishing a clear foundation for these relationships; by communicating effectively, managing expectations, flexibility and adapting to changing circumstances. We spend the time to get to know you and your business. The success of our client partnerships is based on expertise, good communication, on trust, integrity and commerciality.