When selling your business, you will probably negotiate hard on things like the price, the plant and equipment being sold, and the settlement and handover period. What you may not have thought about is what will happen to the employees of the business, and what this...

This article examines what happens when a corporate trustee "dies" and deals with two scenarios: When a corporate trustee is deregistered; and When a corporate trustee is wound up in insolvency. Trusts 101 First a quick refresher lesson on how trusts are commonly...

Business owners who have a current or future intention to sell their business should consider some key actions now, to maximise the attractiveness and value of their business. Quality financial information Inadequate and inappropriate internal financial reporting and...

Sexual harassment can cost a business dearly in terms of lost productivity, staff turnover, recruitment costs, legal fees and court awarded damages. In particular, two recent court cases have shown us that courts are now prepared to make increasingly large awards to...

It is not uncommon for a disgruntled spouse to render him or herself bankrupt in order to avoid a claim by their spouse for a property settlement. The Bankruptcy and Family Law Legislation Amendment Act 2005 gave the Family Court and Federal Circuit Court jurisdiction...

One of the biggest challenges facing business owners and managers is how to improve productivity within their organisation (i.e. how to get more out of the same resources). There are numerous benefits to improving workplace productivity. The most obvious are increased...

Introduction Trusts have long been an attractive option for persons wishing to segregate any business or professional risk away from their own personal assets. In particular, there has been a rise in establishing a trust to protect one’s own family home. Whilst asset...

Last month, we discussed “market research” as the first stage of the budget process for directors of companies. In this issue, we examine other components of the budget process. These comments apply to virtually all types of businesses. Labour Budget The labour budget...

Each year the ATO updates the amounts that are considered to be “reasonable” and don’t require employees to keep receipts in relation to claims made for: Overtime meal allowance expenses – for food and drink in connection with overtime worked and where a meal...