Business Advisory and
Commercial Finance in Canberra
Most business owners don't need another report. They need someone who can look at the numbers and tell them, in plain terms, what it means for their business and what to do next.
That's what our business advisory team does for small and medium businesses across Canberra and the ACT. We work inside your Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks file, so we're looking at the same figures you are, and we explain them in plain English. Some clients come to us before they've opened the doors. Others have been trading for years and want a clearer picture of where the money is going.
Commercial Accounting and Finance
Good fit if
your books are behind, you’ve outgrown your current setup, or a lender has asked for numbers you can’t easily pull together.
This is the everyday side of keeping a business healthy: books kept up to date, financial statements at year end, and someone who picks up the phone when you have a question.
We look after the accounting for companies, trusts, partnerships and sole traders, and we keep your figures ready for the moments that matter, like when your tax return is due or a lender wants your last two years of financials.
☑️ Books kept current in XERO, MYOB or QuickBooks
☑️ Year-end financial statements for every business type
☑️ Financial information prepared for banks and lenders
Business Structuring Advice
Good fit if
you’re starting out, bringing in a partner, outgrowing a sole trader setup, or have never been sure your structure is right.
Sole trader, company, trust or partnership? The honest answer is that it depends on your income, your risk, who else is involved and where you want the business to be in five years.
We sit down with you, walk through the options and explain what each one means for your tax, your personal liability and your paperwork. If your current structure doesn’t fit anymore, we’ll tell you, and we’ll explain what changing it involves before you commit.
☑️ A clear comparison of your options
☑️ What each structure means for tax, liability and admin
☑️ A plan for changing structure, if you need to
Business Start-Up Advice
Good fit if
you’re about to start, or started recently and aren’t sure you’ve set things up the right way.
Starting a business comes with a list of first-time jobs: getting an ABN, deciding whether to register for GST, choosing a structure, setting up your accounting software and working out what to set aside for tax.
We help you do these in the right order, so you’re not sorting out the basics after your first Business Activity Statement (BAS) is already due. We’ll also set up Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks properly from day one, which saves a lot of cleaning up later.
☑️ ABN and GST registration
☑️ Accounting software set up the right way
☑️ A simple plan for BAS and tax from the start
Cash Flow Forecasting
Good fit if
your income is seasonal, you’re waiting on slow-paying customers, or you’re planning to hire, buy equipment or ask a bank for money.
A business can be profitable and still run out of cash. It happens more often than people expect, usually when a big invoice is paid late or a tax bill lands at the wrong time.
A cash flow forecast shows you, month by month, what’s likely to come in and go out, so you can see a tight patch coming and do something about it. We build it from your actual figures, check the assumptions with you, and show you how to keep it up to date.
☑️ A month-by-month forecast built from your real numbers
☑️ Early warning on tight patches
☑️ A forecast you can keep updated yourself, or with us
Budgeting and Financial Modelling
Good fit if
you’re planning growth, a big purchase, a new hire or a funding application.
A budget gives you something to measure against. A financial model lets you ask “what if” before you spend the money. What if we hire someone? Open a second site? Lose our biggest client? Put prices up by 5%?
We build budgets and models that are simple enough to use and honest enough to trust. If a bank or investor needs financial projections from you, we can prepare those as well.
☑️ A budget you can measure the year against
☑️ “What If” scenarios before you commit the money
☑️ Financial projections for banks and investors
Business Performance Reporting
Good fit if
you only look at your numbers at tax time and want to know sooner when something’s drifting.
Reports are only worth having if you read them. We prepare monthly or quarterly management reports that show the handful of numbers that matter for your business, like sales, margins, wages as a share of income and cash in the bank.
Then we sit down with you and talk through what changed and why. No 40-page pack. Just a clear view of how you’re tracking against last year and against your budget.
☑️ Monthly or Quarterly management reports
☑️ A catch-up to talk through what changed
☑️ Comparison with last year and with your budget
How It Works
We Talk
We look at your numbers
We Tell You What We'd Do
A first conversation about your business and what you're trying to do.
We go through your Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks file and work out where you stand.
Plain advice, a clear next step, and a quote before any work starts.
Questions We Hear A Lot
What's the difference between an accountant and a business advisor?
An accountant records what has already happened and lodges what the ATO needs. A business advisor uses those same figures to help you decide what to do next. At Freewater it's the same team doing both, so you don't have to explain your business twice.
When should I talk to an accountant about starting a business?
Before you register anything, if you can. Structure and GST decisions are easier to make at the start than to undo later. If you've already started, it's still worth a conversation, and it's rarely too late to tidy things up.
How much does business advice cost?
It depends on what you need, so we talk first and quote before we start. No surprises on the invoice.
Let's talk about your numbers
Tell us what's going on in your business and we'll tell you honestly how we can help.