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Every SMSF must maintain a documented investment strategy. This is a core compliance requirement, not a formality.
The ATO has consistently reinforced that an investment strategy must be prepared and reviewed regularly, genuinely considered by trustees, and actually reflected in how the fund is managed.
The start of a new financial year is the right time to carry out that review.
The ATO has increased scrutiny on SMSF investment strategies that appear generic, outdated, or disconnected from the fund’s actual composition.
Common issues flagged include:
None of these issues will necessarily result in compliance action on their own. But they represent the kind of gaps that become visible under audit.
ATO guidance describes a compliant strategy as one that considers:
It should also reflect the fund’s current asset allocation, with realistic ranges for each asset class, not a blanket statement that all assets are permitted.
An investment strategy review is not time-consuming if the fund is in good shape. A couple of hours with your SMSF accountant or adviser will usually be sufficient.
The alternative, finding out at audit that documentation does not meet requirements, carries a much higher cost in time, money, and stress.
We work with SMSF trustees regularly on compliance and strategic reviews. If you have questions about what your fund’s investment strategy should cover, we are happy to talk through the general requirements. Call 1300 866 113 or book a time via our website.
This article contains general information only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Please seek professional advice for your specific situation, including from a licensed financial adviser.
When most business owners set up their structure, they chose what made sense at the time.
A sole trader arrangement because it was simple to start. A company because it offered liability protection. A trust because it was efficient for distributions.
Those decisions were probably right at the time.
The problem is that businesses change. Revenue grows. Teams expand. The owner’s personal situation shifts. And the structure that was fit for purpose in year one starts to carry costs, limitations, and complications it was never designed to handle.
There is no fixed trigger for a structure review. But these circumstances are worth noting:
If more than one of these applies, the start of a new financial year is a practical time to have the conversation.
The most visible cost is tax. A structure that does not allow effective income splitting, or forces all profits through a single entity at the highest marginal rate, will consistently produce a higher tax bill than one that is well-designed.
But there are other costs too. Complexity that should not exist. Liability exposure that a different structure would reduce. Limitations on bringing in new equity, or on exit strategies when the time comes.
In most cases, the cost of reviewing and updating a structure is modest. The cost of not doing it compounds over years.
A structure review is not a major undertaking. It starts with understanding where the business is now and where it is heading, then mapping that against what the current structure allows and what it limits.
The output is usually one of three things: confirmation that the structure is right and just needs to be managed well; a specific recommendation for change; or a note to revisit in twelve months when the picture is clearer.
The conversation works best when both your accountant and, where relevant, your legal adviser are involved. The structural and tax dimensions need to be considered together.
A structural review is easier to approach at the start of a financial year, before the year’s decisions are locked in. If a change is warranted, there is more time to implement it cleanly.
We work with business owners across industries to review, design, and optimise their structures. If you have not had this conversation in the last two years, it is worth having now.
Reach out through attuneadvisory.com.au or call 1300 866 113.
This article contains general information only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. Please seek professional advice for your specific situation.
A family trust does not manage itself.
For clients who hold assets, business income, or investments through a family trust, the start of a new financial year is one of the most useful moments to check whether the structure is still working as intended.
This is not about compliance panic. It is about making sure the decisions you made when you set up the trust, and the decisions you made during the year, are still aligned with where you are heading.
The end of financial year is when distribution decisions are made and documented. The start of the new year is the right time to reflect on whether those decisions produced the outcome you expected.
A few questions worth asking:
If the answers are unclear, that is useful information. It suggests the process may benefit from more structured planning through the year rather than a decision made under deadline.
Trust deeds are legal documents that govern who can benefit from the trust and how distributions can be made. They do not update themselves when your family situation or business changes.
It is worth checking whether:
A deed review is a conversation for a qualified adviser. But flagging it now is better than discovering a problem at the worst possible time.
If the trust holds investments, a documented investment strategy is not just good governance. In some structures it may be a requirement.
Even where it is not mandatory, a strategy written years ago may not reflect how the trust’s assets have evolved. The new financial year is a natural point to check whether it still fits.
The most important question at the start of a new year is whether your trust structure is still the right fit for where your business and family finances are heading.
Businesses grow. Family dynamics change. Tax law evolves. What was the right structure five years ago may not be the most effective one today.
This is not about unnecessary complexity. It is about making sure that the structure you are maintaining is actually delivering value.
A trust review does not need to be complicated. A structured conversation with your accountant covering the four areas above will usually reveal quickly whether everything is on track or whether there is something worth addressing.
If you have not had a proper review in the last couple of years, the start of FY27 is a practical prompt.
We are here if you would like to have that conversation. Call 1300 866 113 or book a time via our website.
This article contains general information only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. Please seek professional advice for your specific situation.
Every 1 July brings a reset. New financial year, new contribution caps, new thresholds, and in FY27, some structural changes that are worth understanding before Q1 gets away from you.
This is not an exhaustive list of every legislative change. It is a practical summary of the changes most likely to affect how you plan and structure your finances this year.
The concessional contributions cap for FY27 has increased to $32,500 (up from $30,000). This is the cap that covers employer super guarantee payments, salary sacrifice contributions, and personal deductible contributions combined.
The non-concessional contributions cap has also increased, to $130,000, with the three-year bring-forward arrangement rising to $390,000.
For anyone who salary sacrifices or makes personal contributions, the new cap creates room to do more this year than last. The key is to set your contribution levels at the start of the year, not in May when time has run out.
The stage three tax cuts took effect from 1 July 2024, but FY27 brings further adjustments worth confirming with your accountant. Marginal rates and the thresholds at which they apply affect income splitting decisions, distribution planning, and the overall efficiency of your structure.
If you have not confirmed the current thresholds with your adviser, this is a good time to do it. The difference between planning at the right threshold and planning at last year’s can be meaningful when distributions are involved.
The start of a new financial year is the right moment to check two things for your business: whether your current structure is still efficient, and whether your contribution and distribution settings are calibrated for the year ahead.
A few questions worth raising with your accountant before Q1 builds:
These are not complicated conversations. But they are easier to have at the start of the year than six months in when decisions have already been made.
If you hold income or assets through a family trust, the changeover to FY27 is a practical prompt to confirm a few things:
Trust deeds and distribution strategies do not update themselves. The businesses that stay ahead of these questions are the ones who ask them at the start of the year, not under deadline.
The beginning of the financial year is the most useful time to have these conversations. Decisions made in July have eleven months to play out. Decisions made in June have to be right immediately.
If you have questions about how the FY27 changes affect your situation, we are here to help. The starting point is always a conversation. To start yours, call 1300 866 113 or book a time via our website.
The intent of the legislation is to strengthen protections against financial crime. As a result, we are required to undertake additional checks on designated services.
This is not a change we have chosen, it is a compliance obligation under the new regime.
As your accountants we are now required to undertake additional checks on certain designated services. Services most commonly affected include:
• Company incorporations
• Advice on business structures
• Changes to company details
• Acting as a registered office for your company
In practice this means we may ask for extra verification, forms or supporting documents when these services are required. In some cases small disbursement costs may also apply to complete the necessary checks.
Our approach
We will communicate clearly and early about what is needed for any engagement that falls under the new rules. Our goal is to make the process seamless while meeting our compliance obligations.
If you have questions about how this may affect upcoming work, please reach out.
We are happy to walk through the details with you.
The end of financial year is behind us, but your EOFY strategy should not be.
For many business owners, June 30 is a frantic scramble: receipts gathered, invoices pulled together, a rushed conversation with an accountant. But the businesses that consistently pay less tax and keep more of what they earn do not treat EOFY as a deadline. They treat it as a destination they have been navigating toward all year.
Here is what a smarter approach to tax year planning looks like in practice.
Is your current structure still the right one for where your business is today? Sole trader, company, trust, or a combination: the right structure depends on your revenue level, asset base, personal circumstances, and growth plans. A structure that made sense when you started may be costing you money now. EOFY is a natural moment to review this.
Many business owners are entitled to deductions they simply do not claim. Not through dishonesty, but through not knowing what is available. Common areas worth reviewing:
Superannuation contributions are one of the most tax-effective tools available to business owners, yet many treat them as a compliance obligation rather than a planning opportunity. Maximising concessional contributions before and after 30 June, and exploring catch-up contributions if you have had lower-income years, can make a material difference to your tax position and long-term wealth.
Good record-keeping is not just about compliance. It is about being able to make good decisions quickly. Ensure your accounts are reconciled, your BAS obligations are up to date, and your financial statements accurately reflect the business as it is now. This is the foundation everything else is built on.
The most valuable thing your accountant can do is not minimise last year's tax. It is help you structure this year so next June looks better than this one. That means proactive planning conversations now, not in eleven months.
Want a proper EOFY debrief and a plan for FY27? Give the Attune Advisory team a call on 1300 866 113 or, book an appointment via our website here.
You cannot navigate somewhere you cannot see clearly.
It sounds obvious, but for many business owners the financial position of their own enterprise remains genuinely hard to read. Revenue comes in, expenses go out, and somewhere in between sits a picture of profit, cash, and risk that never quite comes into focus the way it should.
The problem is not usually effort or intelligence. It is perspective. When you are inside a business, managing people, serving clients, handling operations, it is almost impossible to hold the full strategic picture in your head at the same time. That is not a failing. It is just the nature of running something real.
Clarity is not just about knowing your current bank balance or whether last quarter was profitable. True financial clarity means understanding:
Without this kind of clarity, decision-making defaults to intuition and gut feel. Sometimes that works. Often, it leaves significant value on the table.
This is where the right advisory relationship changes everything. Not a compliance service that produces reports after the fact, but a genuine strategic partner who helps you build the frameworks to see your business clearly and act on what you see.
At Attune Advisory, we work with business owners to:
Most business owners we work with are not short on ambition. What they are looking for is a strategic framework that gives that ambition the best possible chance of becoming reality.
Clear vision. Expert guidance. A partnership built for the long term. That is what Attune Advisory is here to provide, because your strategy should be as clear as your ambition.
Let us build the financial strategy your business deserves. Give the Attune Advisory team a call on 1300 866 113 or, book an appointment via our website here.
Farming is one of Australia's most essential industries, and one of its most financially complex.
Unlike most businesses, agricultural enterprises operate inside a cycle of variables that no spreadsheet can fully anticipate: seasonal cash flow, commodity price swings, drought and flood, biosecurity events, and the long-term weight of succession planning across generations of family ownership.
These unique demands require more than a generalist accountant who ticks the compliance boxes once a year. They require a specialist who understands the rhythms of your land and can translate that understanding into strategy.
When we talk with farming families and agribusiness operators across regional Australia, a few themes come up time and again:
At Attune Advisory, our approach to agribusiness clients starts with understanding your operation at a practical level. Not just the numbers on a page, but how your enterprise actually works through the seasons.
That means:
The best advisory relationships in agriculture are not transactional. They are long-term partnerships built on trust and deep industry knowledge. We are here through the good seasons and the hard ones, providing the clarity and strategic insight that lets you make confident decisions for your enterprise.
Whether you are managing a cropping operation, a mixed farming enterprise, or a large-scale pastoral property, Attune Advisory brings the deep industry insight and strategic frameworks needed to help your business thrive through every season.
Ready to build a more resilient farming enterprise? Give the Attune Advisory team a call on 1300 866 113 or, book an appointment via our website here.
Last night's Federal Budget delivered some of the most significant proposed property tax reforms Australia has seen in decades.
For investors, developers and anyone building long-term wealth through property, the announcements around negative gearing and capital gains tax are likely to have major implications if legislated.
While many measures are still proposals at this stage, the direction is now much clearer. The Government is looking to reshape how property investment is taxed in Australia.
Here are the key property-related changes announced in the 2026-27 Federal Budget.
The headline announcement is the proposed reform to negative gearing rules from 1 July 2027.
Under the proposal:
Importantly, there is a grandfathering provision.
Established residential properties acquired before 7:30pm AEST on 12 May 2026 would remain under the current rules.
That means many current investors may not be directly affected, but future investment decisions could look very different.
The Government says the reforms are designed to improve housing affordability and increase investment into new housing supply. Critics argue it may reduce investor participation and place pressure on rental markets.
Either way, this is a major structural shift for Australian property investment.
The Budget also proposes substantial changes to capital gains tax from 1 July 2027.
Currently, eligible individuals and trusts can access a 50% CGT discount on assets held longer than 12 months.
Under the proposed reforms:
The changes are proposed to apply broadly across CGT assets held by individuals, trusts and partnerships.
For property investors, this could materially alter long-term after-tax returns and may influence holding periods, asset structures and exit strategies.
Interestingly, investors in eligible new residential builds may still be able to choose between the existing 50% discount and the new indexed approach.
The Government also announced an extension of the temporary ban on foreign purchases of established residential dwellings until 30 June 2029.
The stated goal is to improve housing availability for Australians while still encouraging investment into new housing supply.
While this may not directly affect most local investors, it could have flow-on effects in certain markets and development sectors.
At this stage, these are proposed measures and will still need to pass through Parliament.
However, the announcements alone are already shaping conversations around:
Property has long been a core wealth-building strategy for Australians. These reforms could change how investors approach that strategy moving forward.
This Budget signals a clear shift toward encouraging investment into new housing supply while reducing some of the tax advantages historically associated with established investment properties.
For some investors, the impacts may be limited due to grandfathering provisions. For others, especially those planning future acquisitions, the changes could materially affect investment strategy and returns.
Now is a good time to review your current structures, future plans and overall strategy before these proposed reforms potentially come into effect.
If you would like to discuss how these announcements may affect your position, the Attune Advisory team is here to help.
Call 1300 866 113 or visit attuneadvisory.com.au
Construction and building businesses operate in a high‑movement environment. Projects overlap. Cash moves in stages. Subcontractor obligations sit alongside supplier payments and retention clauses.
On paper, revenue can look substantial. In practice, liquidity can tighten quickly.
For growing construction businesses, financial complexity rarely increases in a straight line.
Progress payments create timing gaps between invoicing and receipt. Retentions may sit unpaid for months. Variations alter margin assumptions mid‑project. Meanwhile, wages, materials and subcontractor payments must be met consistently.
One of the most common tensions in construction is the gap between reported profit and available cash. Revenue recognition does not always align with project stage costs. Without deliberate cash flow modelling, businesses can appear profitable while operating under pressure.
Tax adds another layer of coordination.
GST timing, PAYG withholding, subcontractor reporting and superannuation obligations increase alongside workforce growth. As turnover expands, instalment obligations often rise sharply. Without forward provisioning, this can create unnecessary strain during already capital‑intensive phases.
Many building businesses begin with relatively simple structures. As contract sizes increase and risk exposure expands, asset protection and liability management require greater attention. Separating trading risk from accumulated assets can become commercially prudent as balance sheets strengthen.
Subcontractor compliance is another area that demands oversight. Payroll systems, contractor classifications and superannuation obligations must remain aligned with evolving workforce models. Errors in this space are rarely minor and can escalate quickly under regulatory scrutiny.
Purchasing plant and equipment, securing new sites, expanding teams or taking on larger contracts all influence working capital and borrowing capacity. When reinvestment is not coordinated with tax planning and funding strategy, financial pressure can emerge despite strong forward pipelines.
For many builders, personal financial positioning is closely tied to project performance. Property acquisitions, guarantees, director loans and asset ownership arrangements often intersect with business exposure.
Handled deliberately, these layers support growth. Handled independently, they create friction.
As projects become larger and operations more complex, financial oversight needs to evolve at the same pace. Structured review ensures that cash flow management, tax positioning, entity arrangements and personal exposure remain coordinated rather than reactive.
If your construction or building business is increasing in size or contract value, it may be time to review whether your current financial structure still supports your growth objectives – we’re here to help. Give the Attune Advisory team a call on 1300 866 113 or, book an appointment via our website here.
