Small Business Restructuring
Small Business Restructuring: cut the debt and keep trading.
An SBR lets an eligible company put a plan to its creditors to pay back part of what it owes, while you stay in control of the business. We've done more of them than almost anyone in the country, and we know what gets a plan accepted.
Photo: The restructuring team in a working session at the office: three people around a table with the numbers in front of them. Owner-facing, calm, capable.
Is this you?
When an SBR might fit.
An SBR is built for small companies with a viable business underneath the debt. These are the basics. We'll check the detail with you in the first conversation.
Your company owes less than $1 million
Including the ATO, suppliers and lenders.
Your staff have been paid what they're owed
Wages, super and entitlements that are due need to be up to date.
Your tax lodgements are up to date
Or can be brought up to date quickly. We can help with this.
The business can keep trading
There's a business worth saving once the debt is dealt with.
How it works
From first call to a plan your creditors can vote on.
Assess
We look at the debt, the cash flow and what you can realistically offer. If an SBR isn't the right fit, we'll tell you now, not after you've paid for it.
Appoint
The company's directors appoint us as restructuring practitioner. You keep running the business day to day, and most enforcement action against the company is put on hold.
Build the plan
Within 20 business days we prepare a restructuring plan with you: what will be paid, over what time, and why it's a better result for creditors than the alternative.
Creditors vote
Creditors have 15 business days to vote. We make the case, answer their questions and work through objections, including with the ATO.
The plan runs
Once accepted, you make the agreed payments and the rest of the eligible debt is released when the plan is complete.
What it means for you
Where you stand personally during an SBR.
We'll go through your own position in the first conversation. These are the questions directors ask us most.
You stay in control
Unlike administration or liquidation, you keep running the business while the plan is prepared and voted on.
Director Penalty Notices
An SBR deals with the company's debt. If you've received a DPN, the timing matters, so tell us about it on the first call.
Personal guarantees
Guarantees you've signed sit outside the plan. We'll show you where you stand with each one and what can be negotiated.
Your credit and your future
We'll explain how an SBR is recorded, and what it means for future borrowing and directorships.
From a recent matter
Headed for liquidation. Restructured instead.
An accountant brought us a client who'd been told liquidation was the only way out. The ATO debt was large, and the company had made decisions that made an SBR harder to get through.
Our restructuring team moved fast. A director led the strategy, a senior manager rebuilt the numbers, and together they negotiated more time and showed the ATO it would be better off under a plan. When the first answer was no, the team went back with a stronger case. The plan was accepted, roughly 70% of the debt was written off, and the business is still trading.
Photo: A director and a senior manager working through a restructuring plan together: papers, a laptop, mid-discussion. Two people, not one.
Who you'll work with
The team on your restructure.
A director leads every matter and stays in it, from the first call to the creditors' vote, with a specialist team doing the detailed work alongside.
Contact
When it isn't the answer
An SBR won't suit everyone. We'll tell you if it won't suit you.
The criteria are strict, and an SBR is harder to get accepted than it used to be. If it doesn't fit, we'll look at what else is possible: a voluntary administration, an informal arrangement with creditors, or closing the company properly and protecting what we can.
Questions owners ask
Cost, time and what if it doesn't work.
We give you a fixed fee in writing before you commit, once we've seen the numbers. The first conversation costs nothing.
About seven weeks from appointment to the creditors' vote. The plan itself usually runs for up to three years.
The company returns to where it was, or moves to another option we've already talked through with you. You won't be caught by surprise.
The appointment is recorded publicly, but you keep trading under your own name. We'll help you work out what to tell people and when.
Yes. And if you have an accountant, we'll work with them, not around them.
What happens after you get in touch
You'll know what's happening from the first call.
01 · Same business day
A senior member of the team calls you back.
02 · A confidential first conversation
About an hour, at no cost. No judgement, no obligation.
03 · We look at the numbers
Bring recent financials, ATO statements and any notices. We'll tell you what else we need.
04 · A clear view, in writing
Your options, the fee, the risks and what they mean for you personally.
Find out if an SBR could work for your business.
Confidential, no cost and no obligation. We'll call you back the same business day.