Is it time to change your business tax adviser?

There is a fundamental difference between filing returns and shaping outcomes.

A reactive tax adviser records what has already happened. A proactive tax adviser integrates tax strategy into commercial decision-making before those decisions are locked in. Decisions around the timing of revenue recognition, entity structuring, cross-border exposure, and the distinction between capital and revenue treatment are not matters to be revisited at year-end; they belong in the boardroom, where the rest of strategic direction is set.

Joseph Phan, Tax Partner in Melbourne, explains, “By the time you are reviewing transactions at year-end, most of the leverage is gone. Effective tax advisory happens before decisions are implemented. It means understanding the commercial drivers of the business, identifying structural efficiencies early, and ensuring tax outcomes are aligned with long-term strategy rather than simply reporting history.”

If your tax conversations begin when the financial year ends, you are operating in arrears.
 

There is a place for small, local accounting firms. For straightforward compliance, stable structures, and limited complexity, they can be entirely appropriate. Many business owners start there, and rightly so.

However, as operations expand, the scope of required expertise shifts. Cross-border transactions, R&D incentives, transfer pricing, international supply chains, multi-entity structuring, acquisitions, and succession planning require depth across disciplines. That depth is difficult for a small practice to maintain internally.

This is where scale matters.

A firm like PKF, operating across 15 offices in Australia and connected globally, brings not just more people, but broader capability. Corporate tax specialists. International tax advisers. Transfer pricing experts. Indirect tax specialists. Industry-focused advisory teams. When issues arise that sit outside standard compliance, there is immediate access to subject-matter expertise rather than external referral.

“As businesses grow, tax becomes multi-dimensional,” says Joseph. “It intersects with corporate structuring, international regulation, financing arrangements, and governance. Larger advisory groups can draw on specialists across markets and jurisdictions, which means advice is not limited to one practitioner’s experience. That breadth reduces blind spots and strengthens decision-making.”

If your business is entering unfamiliar territory, your tax strategy should not be experimental.

 

Tax planning cannot be isolated from business direction.

• Are you preparing for an acquisition?
• Considering offshore expansion?
• Planning an eventual exit?
• Managing generational succession?

Each objective carries different structuring implications. Without clarity on long-term goals, advice risks becoming tactical rather than strategic.

Joseph highlights the risk of short-term thinking: “Minimising tax in a single year without understanding future objectives can create structural constraints later. Effective planning requires a multi-year lens. The adviser must understand whether the priority is capital growth, liquidity events, wealth preservation, or intergenerational transfer. Only then can tax strategy genuinely support business strategy.”

If your adviser does not routinely ask about future direction, that is a signal worth paying attention to. Often the direction of your tax strategy is shaped by the level of expertise your accountant or tax adviser has; in a national or global firm this expertise spans a much larger industry pool. 
 

Growth attracts attention. Increased revenue, international activity, and complex structures raise audit risk and regulatory scrutiny.

Repeated errors, inconsistent advice, or overly aggressive tax positions create financial exposure and reputational risk.

“The most sustainable tax strategies are those that are technically defensible and commercially rational,” says Joseph as he talks about successful outcomes.

“Businesses should understand not just the potential upside of a position, but the probability of challenge, the documentation required, and the consequences if disputed. Good advisory quantifies risk rather than obscuring it.”

Sound advisory is not about pushing boundaries recklessly. It is about identifying legitimate opportunities, documenting positions properly, and ensuring decisions can withstand review.

Confidence in your adviser’s technical rigour is non-negotiable.
 

Another common reason businesses reconsider their tax adviser is the increasing likelihood of ATO audits and reviews. As businesses grow, their tax profile becomes more visible, and interactions with the ATO can become more frequent and far more complex. These processes can be stressful, time‑consuming and carry serious financial and reputational consequences if not managed properly.

Taxpayers need advisers who are not only technically strong, but also experienced in navigating the ATO, managing tax administration matters, preparing persuasive submissions, handling disputes and objections, and negotiating practical outcomes in the client’s best interests.

Joseph’s background provides a significant advantage here. Having spent time “on the other side”, he understands how the ATO approaches reviews, how decisions are formed, what evidence matters, and how to resolve issues efficiently and pragmatically. This experience is a genuine differentiator in the market, particularly for clients facing complex ATO scrutiny or potential disputes.