No matter how careful you are, there will be variables that arise that couldn’t possibly be anticipated at the time of putting your structure in place. Market, family and legislative changes can influence how effectively your structure can serve you now and into the future.
Your structure is one of the keys to the effective execution of your long term strategic (and personal) plan. Regular reviews are critical to evaluate whether your current structure still meets the desired outcomes and complies with or takes advantage of legislative changes.
Let’s look at some examples:
Risk management
Are the current directorships still the most appropriate way to mitigate and manage risk. Have any assets been acquired by the directors that need to be protected? Are the directors able to execute their roles effectively, and is there a known and manageable plan for any impediments to this?
Asset protection
Does your company have a build-up of assets or retained earnings? Don’t put your hard work at risk! There are strategies available to protect assets from creditors or claimants. Changes to CGT rollovers and other concessions may enable interposing or rolling over into another entity type that may not have been available in the past. For both old and new structures, interposing a company could achieve both a higher level of asset protection while maintaining the current trading structure and corporate tax rate.
Planning for a future sale of the business
A review of your structure may uncover any problems, for example, tidying up shareholding could be the difference between accessing small business CGT concessions, or not.
Succession planning
If you are looking to sell your business now or in the future, what steps do we need to take to ensure your personal assets stay with you – share the business data, not your personal data.
Estate planning
Can the business be managed and operated in the way you wish if you were to pass away?
Effective distributions of income and capital
A trust deed review will identify any areas where the trust deed hasn’t kept pace with current legislative and operational conditions and could identify variations required to achieve the desired outcomes. Our advice: don’t turn your back on your business structure!
If you would like to review your business structure reach out to a C&N advisor
