Next Zero Financial Services

In October 2026, the ATO finally told us how much tax it reckons Australia came up short in 2023/24. Its estimate was $72.7 billion with small business income tax accounting for around $36 billion. Add the income tax gap for individuals outside business and the national GST gap to that and those three account for…

With yesterday’s rate rise, the cash rate is back at a level we last saw in 2008. Of all the things we could have brought back, we chose expensive borrowing. Would have been nice to get the house prices from back then as well but we are only bringing back the part where you pay…

A familiar conversation begins every quarter. The activity statement is emailed and the PAYG instalment attracts immediate attention and someone always asks “Can we make that zero?” Just because we are called Next Zero does not mean we can miraculously change your next PAYG instalment to zero. GST is reluctantly accepted, wages have been paid…

Key employee dependency is one of those business risks that rarely gets the attention it deserves. We spend enormous amounts of time looking at sales, margins, wages, cash flow and profit, while some of the most valuable assets in the business are walking around carrying years of knowledge inside their heads. There is usually one…

As someone who always seems to have a due diligence or two happening at any one time, I have learnt that net profit has far more authority than it deserves. It sits proudly at the bottom of the financial statements looking like the final answer, while everything that happened above it is treated as unnecessary…

There is a breed of optimism that only exists among accountants. Every year we convince ourselves that this financial year will be different, despite having decades of evidence suggesting otherwise. Every year we crawl across the finish line of end of financial year. Most years we don’t even make it before the next one starts….

There is this strange myth that for foreigners, doing business or investing in Australia is something only big corporations can pull off. As if you need a head office in Melbourne, a tax team in Sydney and a few million in spare change before the country even looks your way. Not true. The rules are…

Let’s be honest. You don’t need me to explain finance as you’ve already got Google plus that one friend who read half a blog post and now hands out loan advice like it’s insider trading. However as an accountant who knows a bit of finance and a mortgage broker who knows a bit of business,…

If you have ever wondered how a functioning adult becomes slightly unhinged at the airport, you are not imagining it because the moment you walk through airport doors urgency, quietly replaces logic. You suddenly feel underprepared. You check your pockets for your passport while holding your passport and you assume your wallet has vanished even…

Nothing says “well done” in Australia quite like the moment the Australian Taxation Office suddenly takes an interest in your life. You make a profit, you finally get something right and before you can even enjoy the feeling, they appear politely to claim their participation trophy. You sell a property, offload some shares, maybe cash…