Most family operations benefit from a quarterly check-in. That's often enough to catch issues early but not so frequent that it becomes a burden on your schedule.

We typically sit down with families in January, April, July, and October—keeps things predictable and gives you time between reviews to actually implement changes. Some businesses with seasonal patterns prefer different timing, which is fine too.

The tax office wants five years of records for most documents. That includes invoices, receipts, bank statements, and payroll information. We tell families to keep everything digital when possible—easier to search and takes up less space.

For major purchases or property documents, keep those indefinitely. Same goes for anything related to superannuation or loans. Better to have it and not need it than the other way around.

Depends entirely on your situation. Some families do well with everyone on payroll—keeps things simple and clear. Others benefit from a trust structure or partnership arrangement, especially when you're thinking about succession planning.

The right answer comes down to how involved each family member is, what your long-term plans look like, and honestly, how well everyone gets along. We've seen it work both ways, and we've definitely seen it go sideways when the structure doesn't match the family dynamics.

This comes up more than you'd think. Having a decision-making framework in place before disagreements arise helps enormously. We often recommend establishing spending thresholds—amounts that one person can approve versus amounts that need full family consensus.

For bigger disagreements, sometimes having a third party (like us) present the numbers without emotional attachment helps everyone see the situation more clearly. Numbers don't take sides, which can be useful when family dynamics get complicated.

Start earlier than you think you need to. Most succession plans take three to five years to implement properly, and that's assuming everyone's on board from the beginning.

Begin with honest conversations about who actually wants to take over—sometimes the answer surprises people. Then look at the financial structure, tax implications, and training requirements. We work with families to map out realistic timelines that don't rush anyone but also don't leave things uncertain.

Yes, absolutely. Mixing business and personal finances is the fastest way to create headaches at tax time. It also makes it nearly impossible to get a clear picture of how the business is actually performing.

Set up distinct accounts and use them consistently. If you need to transfer money between business and personal, make it a formal transaction. Your future self (and your accountant) will thank you.

Profit is what's left after you subtract expenses from income on paper. Cash flow is the actual money moving in and out of your accounts. You can be profitable but still run out of cash if customers pay slowly or you've invested heavily in inventory.

We focus heavily on cash flow with family businesses because that's what pays the bills. A business can survive without profit for a while, but it can't survive without cash.

Sooner than most families do. There's a tendency to keep everything internal, which works fine until it doesn't. If you're spending more time arguing about bookkeeping than running the business, that's a sign.

Similarly, if you're facing major decisions—buying property, taking on debt, restructuring—having someone who's seen it before can save you considerable time and money. The cost of good advice is almost always less than the cost of fixing mistakes.