Company Restructuring in Australia: How to Plan and Execute
Most Australian business owners considering company restructuring face a choice between informal negotiation, the formal small business restructuring
September 30, 2026
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For business owners
We help practice owners and business leaders with full-service accounting, compliance and strategic advice, so you can spend more time running the business.
Who we work with
Personal tax and financial advice fees include GST; business and tax-planning fees exclude GST unless stated otherwise. Fees come from our fee schedule (version 3.0, effective 1 October 2026). See all fees
What owners ask us
These are the questions retailers, hospitality owners, practice owners and other business owners ask us most. Alongside each is the work we actually deliver.
Solutions we offer
Tax, accounting, advice and finance work best when they are planned together. Our team looks at your business and your personal wealth as one picture.
Structures, deductions and salary packaging, so your business pays the right amount of tax.
BAS, payroll, ASIC and year-end accounts, kept accurate and on time.
Budgets, forecasts and the numbers behind your next big decision.
Restructuring debt, managing working capital and smoothing cash flow.
We introduce you to a broker we have vetted, who compares business loan and equipment finance options.
Key person, business expenses and income protection cover for you and the business.
Making the most of super as part of your exit and retirement plans.
Planning a change of ownership, working alongside your lawyer.
Business support
Your accounts show us where the business is heading. When you also need hands on deck to get there, we coordinate it through one team, delivered in-house, with a named lead, a written scope and an agreed fee.
Our team and qualifications
Plain English
Most owners don't need more jargon. They need to know what the numbers mean for their cash, their tax and their decisions. These are the conversations we have most often.
Accounting profit, cash in the bank, EBITDA (often used to value a business) and taxable profit are four different numbers. We show you each one and why they differ.
A healthy balance can be borrowed money, supplier bills not yet paid, or customers who paid early. We show you what is really yours to spend.
PAYG instalments to the ATO, loan repayments and stock can soak up the cash behind a large profit. We explain where it went before it becomes a worry.
Asset protection and the right structure when you start a business, so business risks stay away from family assets where possible.
A tax forecast that shows what is due and when, so you can set money aside well ahead.
Why Everglow
Your accountant, tax agent and adviser work side by side, with a trusted broker when you need finance.
Not just compliance. We help you plan for growth, tax and your next move.
Many of our team speak both languages, so you can talk business the way you prefer.
Structure
A structure is cheap to set up at the start and expensive to fix later. We regularly meet owners whose business sits in the wrong place.
A family business was run directly through a family trust. When the owners found a buyer, there was nothing simple to sell: a discretionary family trust has no shares a buyer can take over. The deal had to become an asset sale, with every lease, contract, licence, supplier account and employee moved across one by one. That meant more cost, more delay and more room for the deal to fall over.
Our rule of thumb: trusts hold assets, companies hold risk.
Every structure has trade-offs, including set-up and running costs, Division 7A rules on money taken out of companies, and personal guarantees that can reach past any structure. The right answer depends on your circumstances, so we design it with you and work alongside your lawyer. This is general information, not legal or tax advice for your situation.
Avoid the common traps
Most of these problems stay invisible until they cost money. We have seen each one in real businesses, and we help you avoid them.
Run through a family trust or in the owner's own name, so a buyer has to buy the assets one by one.
The business, the property and the savings sit together, so one claim or debt can reach all of it.
Leases, supplier accounts and bank loans signed personally can reach past any structure. We keep a register and plan to release them.
More sales mean more stock, more debtors and bigger PAYG instalments. Profitable businesses still run out of cash.
From 1 July 2026, employers must pay super with each pay run, generally received by the fund within 7 business days. Late payments attract the super guarantee charge.
Small business CGT concessions and a strong sale price depend on years of preparation: clean records, the right structure, and a business that doesn't rely on the owner alone.
At every stage
We help at the start, through growth, at the peak and when things get hard. The same goes for you personally, from starting out to your peak earning years and retirement.
For you personally: planning from starting out to peak earning and retirement →
Inside the business
Most owners hear about tax once a year, after it’s too late to change anything. The big wins and the big risks sit in the structure, the loans between entities, how profits leave the business and how you’ll eventually sell. That’s where we start.
Taking money out of a private company without a complying Division 7A loan agreement, minimum yearly repayments at the benchmark interest rate, can turn it into an unfranked deemed dividend. Unpaid trust distributions owed to a company can raise the same issue.
How we help: We map every loan between you and your entities, put compliant agreements in place and plan repayments through salary or dividends.
Trustee resolutions made by 30 June, section 100A “reimbursement agreements”, family trust elections, distributions to adult children and bucket companies. The ATO’s current guidance has made paper-only distributions, where someone else ends up with the cash, much riskier.
How we help: We plan distributions before 30 June so the resolutions, the tax returns and the cash all match.
The 15-year exemption, the 50% active asset reduction, the retirement exemption and rollover can save more tax on a sale than years of deductions. But the $6 million net asset value test, the active asset test and connected entities are easy to fail by accident.
How we help: We test eligibility years ahead so the structure is ready when a buyer appears.
From 1 July 2026, super guarantee must reach each employee’s fund within 7 days of payday, the ATO’s Small Business Superannuation Clearing House has closed, and late payments attract the reformed SG charge. Cash flow that used to have a quarter to catch up now has a week.
How we help: We check your payroll, clearing house and cash flow can handle super every pay run.
GST, PAYG instalments, super, payroll tax and income tax all fall due on different cycles. A profitable, growing business can still run short, usually right when it’s hiring or buying stock.
How we help: We forecast tax payments 12 months ahead and set up a tax account so nothing comes as a surprise.
Add-backs, director loans, related-party rent and ATO payment plans all affect how a bank sees you. The way your accounts are prepared can be the difference between approval and a decline.
How we help: We prepare financials with lending in mind and work with lenders who understand business owners.
Who buys their share, at what price and with what money? A buy-sell agreement funded by insurance, key person cover and the right policy ownership can avoid a forced sale, a family dispute or an unexpected CGT bill.
How we help: We design the cover with your lawyer and accountant so the agreement and the policies line up.
Many owners plan to retire on the sale price. Carry-forward concessional contributions, the CGT cap for small business sale proceeds and holding business property in super can turn a single sale into a lasting retirement income.
How we help: We plan your super alongside the business, not after it.
A business answers to several regulators at once, and each uses its own definitions. The same worker, transaction or structure can be treated differently by each.
Australian Taxation Office
Income tax, GST, PAYG, Division 7A, trusts and super guarantee, including the extended definition of employee for super.
State and territory revenue offices
Payroll tax with its contractor and grouping rules, land tax and stamp duty. Grouping can add your related businesses together and remove the threshold.
Fair Work and ASIC
Awards, employee versus contractor tests, director duties, Director IDs and insolvent trading.
General information only, current as at October 2026. Tax and super rules change and depend on your circumstances. Consider your own situation, and get advice before acting.
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Most Australian business owners considering company restructuring face a choice between informal negotiation, the formal small business restructuring
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Quick self-check
We can review your structure, deductions and salary packaging to make sure your business is paying the right amount of tax, and no more.
We can help restructure debt, review refinancing options and set up cash flow management that fits how your business runs.
We can help you plan business succession, including how buy-sell arrangements and insurance can work together. We work alongside your lawyer on the legal documents.
We can introduce you to a broker we have vetted to compare business loan and equipment finance options that support your plans.
FAQs
Not without consequences. Payments or loans to shareholders need to be wages, dividends or a complying Division 7A loan, or they can be taxed as an unfranked dividend.
Generally by 30 June each year. Make sure the cash actually follows the resolution, because the ATO is focused on reimbursement agreements under section 100A.
Possibly. The small business CGT concessions can reduce or remove tax on a sale if you meet tests such as the $6 million net asset value test. Plan years ahead.
Payday Super: super guarantee must reach each employee’s fund within 7 days of payday, and the ATO’s free clearing house has closed.
Base rate entities (aggregated turnover under $50 million and no more than 80% passive income) pay 25%; other companies pay 30%.
General information only, not personal advice. Rules change; speak with us about your situation before acting.
Every service follows a defined process, with a named contact and a senior review before anything reaches you. Pick a service to see the steps and the people involved.
Book a time to talk through your tax, accounts, finance and plans with our team.
General information only. This page is general information only and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Consider whether it is appropriate for you and speak with us before acting. Tax services are provided by Everglow Accounting Pty Ltd and Kam & Beadman Pty Ltd. Financial advice is provided by Everglow Wealth Pty Ltd, a Corporate Authorised Representative (No. 1254987) of PGW Financial Services Pty Ltd (AFSL 384713). Everglow does not arrange loans. Where you need one, we introduce you to a broker we have vetted, who provides the credit assistance.
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