Halletts's Business Services include:

Business Planning & Strategic Advice

While many accountants can tell you in precise detail what you did last year and make the debits equal the credits, at Halletts our Mindshop Accredited Facilitators can help you work out what you want to do next year and beyond.

It is estimated that 90% of businesses fail within the first five years. It is also estimated that 90% of businesses don't have a business plan and spend little time working on their businesses. We've all heard the cliché, "businesses don't plan to fail, they fail to plan" and time spent working on your business direction and the path to get there is critical. Remember 90% of your competitors aren't bothering - what sort of competitive advantage could you gain from being in that other 10%??

25% Plus Profit Improvement Program is a statement of our commitment to work with business owners who are seeking to improve and succeed. We will work closely with you to develop & implement practical steps to improve the bottom line, after tax, (ie take it home and spend it!) profit, with real, measurable results and pre-agreed guaranteed minimum outcomes.

Both ACT & NSW Governments offer financial assistance to businesses seeking to improve and grow via developing a business plan. Talk to us about how we can help.

Contacts: Ian Hallett - Profile

Business Structuring

Should I form a company? What about a trust? Should I employ my spouse? What about the children? Why am I paying so much tax? How do I protect my house from my business? How can I earn $1 million tax-free? What about super? How do I share profits with my employees? How can I hand the business over to my children?

There are a myriad of issues involved in deciding what structure to use to carry on your business and/or investment activities. At Halletts we can help you balance all of the competing issues involved and set up the right structure for you to move forward. We guarantee to deliver a structure that works for you, that can be explained in "Plain English", that is simple to operate and can cope with changes in government legislation.

Contacts: Ian Hallett - Profile, Rob Gordon - Profile, Dana Whitty - Profile,

Budgeting & Cash Flow Projections

I made $100,000 profit but I don't have any money in the bank? You can certainly have a profitable business but where is the cash?. The key is to manage both profitability and cash flow. You (and your bankers) need to know where your profits are tied up, what your future cash commitments are likely to be and when.

I made $100,000 profit - is this good? Well, it is certainly better than $100,000 loss, but the real issue is "compared to what"?

If you set out to achieve a $50,000 profit and actually made $100,000, congratulations! If you only made $60,000 last year and $40,000 the year before, you are getting somewhere.

On the other hand, if you set out to make $200,000, or you made $120,00 last year in a booming market, you need to consider why and how you can improve.

Our experience is clearly that business owners who set realistic and ambitious targets that cause them to think about the numbers on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, and then monitor those targets, inevitably reach or outreach them. The process is pain-free, enlightening and definitely worthwhile. The journey and the challenge is life (and wealth) changing.

Contacts: Ian Hallett - Profile

Benchmarking

If you made $100,000 profit and the industry norm for your type and size of business is $150,000, what is going on? What is it about the leading businesses in your industry that makes them more profitable than you? What is their cost of sales compared to yours? What is their average hourly rate? How much gross income do they generate per full-time equivalent employee? What are their costs, such as rent, insurance, telephone, etc as a percentage of sales.

We have access to and regularly use benchmarking data and statistics to compare our client's financial performance with industry norms. These can highlight areas for improvement and action.

Contacts: Ian Hallett - Profile

How Much is Enough?

A challenge for any business owner is to generate at least a level of profit that provides them with:

  • a proper return on your labour, having regard to the hours worked;
  • a proper return and your capital, having regard to the dollars tied up in the business that could otherwise be used elsewhere and including a risk premium for the associated risks of running a business versus other forms of passive investment such as bank deposits, shares, property, etc..

While many businesses think of break even as the amount you need to keep the doors open, we consider your "true" break-even point is the point at which the above "must haves" are factored in.

If you know your true break-even you can reach for it (and more) on a daily weekly, monthly and yearly basis. Remember, your alternative to running your own business is to work those same hours somewhere else and invest the money in something else.

Halletts can help you determine your true break-even and develop strategies with you to make it happen.

Contacts: Ian Hallett - Profile, Rob Gordon - Profile, Dana Whitty - Profile,

Management Accounting & Financial Management Support to Business

Many SME businesses do not need or cannot afford the luxury of a full-time CFO or financial controller reporting to the stakeholders on the progress and performance of the business from a financial perspective. They are left to muddle through themselves.

Let Halletts take a hands-on role in providing financial management support to your business by taking on the role of CFO, including:

  • adopting the role of CFO reporting to the "Board";
  • schedule formal regular meetings to discuss monthly or quarterly financial performance and other business issues;
  • setting and monitoring financial & business goals in accordance with the business strategic plan;

Contacts: Rob Gordon - Profile, Dana Whitty - Profile,

Financial Statement Preparation

As a minimum, businesses really must prepare financial statements quarterly to comply with the quarterly BAS requirements. Halletts can assist in all your financial statement preparation requirements.

Contacts: Peter Radford, Rob Gordon - Profile, Dana Whitty - Profile,

Compliance with Statutory Requirements

Tax returns, Business names; ASIC Annual Returns, forms for change of directors, share issues, change of address; stamp duties, etc. We can help!

Contacts: Rob Gordon - Profile, Dana Whitty - Profile,