Business Advisory Services for Small Businesses
Posted on:
Raffi Pailagian
MBA, BSc, DipFP
Financial Planner / Managing Partner
Business Advisory Services For Small Businesses: How Expert Financial Guidance Drives Growth & Success
Quick Summary
Between the challenges of satisfying clients, rising costs, ever changing regulations, and shifting customer expectations, many owners find themselves too busy working in the business to work on it. This article outlines how business advisory services help business owners go beyond day-to-day operational efficiency, to a strategic advantage over their competitors.
Table Of Contents
- What Are Business Advisory Services?
- Why Advisory Services Matter For Small Businesses
- Key Benefits Of Business Advisory Services
- How Advisory Services Support Long-Term Success
- The Manly Financial Services Approach
- Trends Shaping Business Advisory Into & Beyond 2026
- When Should You Consider Business Advisory Services?
- Final Thoughts
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Running a small business in Australia is both rewarding and challenging. Between the challenges of finding and retaining new clients, delivering an exceptional customer experience, managing cashflow, suppliers, staff etc., many owners find themselves too busy working in the business to work on it.
This is where business advisory services can make a significant difference. By leveraging the knowledge and experience available within a good business advisory, small business owners can gain the clarity, structure, and forward-looking insight needed to drive sustainable growth.
What Are Business Advisory Services?
Business advisory services go beyond traditional accounting. Instead of only reporting on what happened last year, business advisory services help you plan what comes next through strategic and tactical planning.
Advisory services target the following business outcomes:
- Improve profitability and cash flow
- Analyse key financial drivers
- Identify risks and opportunities
- Strengthen business structure and tax efficiency
- Support long-term growth and succession planning
Advisory services combine financial insight with strategic decision-making, helping business owners achieve clarity and control over their future.
Why Advisory Services Matter For Small Businesses
Small businesses form the backbone of the Australian economy. According to the Australian Small Businesses And Family Enterprise Ombudsman, there were over 2.5 million actively trading small businesses (those employing 0-19 employees) in 2024, which is around 97.2% of all Australian businesses.Yet, many operate with limited financial visibility and no formal strategic plan.
In a 2023 Xero Small Business Insights report, over 60% of small business owners in Australia said they had experienced cash-flow issues, indicating amongst other things, that they struggle with financial management or forecasting. Many rely on intuition rather than structured analysis, a risk in a volatile economic environment.
By utilising a well aligned business advisory, small business owners can turn financial data into actionable intelligence. Rather than reacting to problems, you can anticipate them, plan proactively, and make better-informed decisions.
Key Benefits Of Business Advisory Services
Strategic Financial Planning
A financial adviser helps align your business and personal goals. Whether you’re aiming for growth, stability, or succession, a strategic plan sets the roadmap.
This involves:
- Reviewing revenue streams and margins
- Setting measurable financial targets
- Implementing key performance indicators (KPIs)
- Modelling various business scenarios
For example, scenario modelling can show how changing interest rates or wage costs might affect your profitability, helping you plan ahead with confidence.
Cash Flow Management
Cash flow is often called the lifeblood of a business. Yet according to multiple ASIC media releases, including their latest corporate insolvency data, poor cash flow remains the leading cause of business failure in Australia.
Business advisory services can help with:
- Forecast inflows and outflows
- Identify seasonal trends
- Establish buffer reserves
- Streamline debtor management
- Build resilience against unexpected expenses
With better forecasting and planning, you can avoid the stress of sudden shortfalls and maintain a steady financial position throughout the year.
Structuring and Tax Planning
The right business structure can protect your assets, optimise tax outcomes, and simplify succession.
Your adviser can help you evaluate:
- Whether to operate as a sole trader, company, or trust
- The benefits of discretionary vs. unit trusts
- Tax efficiency across multiple income streams
- Superannuation and director remuneration strategies
At Manly Financial Services, we regularly review structures to ensure they remain efficient as your business evolves and compliant with ATO and ASIC requirements.
Profitability & Performance Improvement
Even profitable businesses can underperform if resources aren’t used efficiently. Through financial analysis, benchmarking, and margin management, your adviser can uncover hidden opportunities.
Common strategies include:
- Reducing overhead waste
- Reviewing supplier contracts
- Pricing and margin optimisation
- Identifying underperforming products or clients
- Improving working capital efficiency
These targeted improvements can lift profitability without increasing workload or risk.
Risk Management & Business Protection
Unexpected events, from economic downturns to illness or loss of a key person, can threaten business continuity. Business advisory services will help identify vulnerabilities and develop strategies to protect your enterprise.
This may include:
- Business insurance reviews
- Succession and buy/sell planning
- Contingency and emergency fund creation
- Compliance and governance risk assessments
Building resilience is a core part of sustainable success.
Succession & Exit Planning
Many small business owners have most of their wealth tied up in their business, yet few have a formal exit strategy.
A well designed succession plan considers:
- How and when you’ll step back
- The business’s market valuation
- Family or employee buyout structures
- Tax-effective sale strategies
As the ATO highlights, early succession planning helps reduce tax liability and preserve family wealth, ensuring a smooth transition when the time comes.
How Advisory Services Support Long-Term Success
The most successful small businesses in Australia share one thing in common, they seek professional guidance. According to the CPA Australia Small Business Survey, companies that engage advisers are more likely to grow revenue, hire new staff, and export products or services compared to those that go it alone.
Advisory services provide:
- Clarity – Turning numbers into insight
- Confidence – Making informed, data-backed decisions
- Consistency – Creating repeatable, measurable processes
By partnering with a professional adviser, you’re not just hiring someone to “do your books”, you’re gaining a trusted partner invested in your success.
The Manly Financial Services Approach
As a practical example of what business advisory services look like, at Manly Financial Services, our small business advisory services are designed for the real-world challenges of Australian small business owners.
We work with clients across sectors including retail, trades, professional services, and manufacturing, providing a blend of financial expertise and commercial understanding.
Our process includes:
- Business Strategy Planning – Including business set-up, funding options, structuring to take advantage of market opportunities & alignment with personal goals
- Tax Structuring Advice – Reviewing performance, cash flow, and tax structures (in collaboration with tax specialists)
- Risk & Liability Protection – Reducing avoidable risks & implementing mitigation for the others
- Employee Benefits Planning – Salary packaging and financial advice to help retain key staff while adding value to staff salaries
- Family Business Structuring – Optimising business and financial structures to maximise family value
- Succession & Exit Planning – Business exit value maximisation & legacy planning
- Small Business Owner Investment Strategies – Aligning wealth maximisation with business growth & personal financial goals
Whether you’re looking to grow, prepare for sale, or simply gain more control over your business finances, our advisers can help you achieve clarity and confidence.
We help business owners look beyond the day-to-day, turning numbers into strategy, and goals into achievable results.
Trends Shaping Business Advisory Into & Beyond 2026
Business advisory services are evolving rapidly, with new technology and data insights offering even greater value to small businesses.
Key trends include:
- Cloud Accounting Platforms like Xero and MYOB are providing real-time insights
- AI-driven Forecasting Tools improving accuracy and speed
- Integrated Financial Dashboards linking cash flow, payroll, and tax data
- Virtual Advisory Meetings offering flexibility for time-poor business owners
Businesses that embrace these innovations have access to deeper insights, faster reporting, enabling them to adapt their strategies to environmental changes and opportunities more effectively, providing them with a competitive advantage.
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When Should You Consider Business Advisory Services?
The best time to seek advice is before you face a crisis, not after. Common trigger points include:
- Rapid business growth or new ventures
- Cash flow stress or declining margins
- Upcoming expansion, investment, or acquisition
- Retirement or business sale planning
- Desire to improve long-term financial performance
Even if things are running smoothly, advisory services can help ensure your structure, tax position, and growth strategies remain optimal as circumstances change.
Final Thoughts
In a competitive and fast-changing environment, small business success depends on more than hard work, it requires strategy, structure, and insight.
By combining data-driven analysis with practical financial experience, business advisory services can help you make confident decisions, improve performance and secure your long-term success.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
A: Business advisory services provide tailored financial, strategic, and operational guidance to help small business owners make informed decisions.
A: Accounting services typically look backwards, focusing on historical financial data, offering services such as processing tax returns, bookkeeping and maintaining compliance. Business advisory services provide proactive, forward-focused strategic services, to deliver business growth, using this data.
A: Not at all. Many successful and growing small businesses use advisory services to accelerate performance, prepare for expansion, or reduce financial risk. Advisory support helps establish clear goals, build strong systems, and maintain consistent financial discipline.
A: Business advisory is used by a wide range of industries, trades, professional services, construction, retail, healthcare, hospitality, and family-owned businesses. Whether you’re a sole trader or running a multi-staff operation, the principles of strong financial management apply.
A: If you want more control over cash flow, clearer financial direction, better decision-making, or a strategy for long-term success, business advisory will add significant value. Many business owners say they wish they had engaged an advisor years earlier, once they see the clarity and structure it provides.
A: Yes. The ATO generally allows you to claim business advisory fees as a deductible business expense, provided the advice relates directly to operating or managing your business.
A: Costs vary depending on complexity and engagement level. Many advisers, including Manly Financial Services, offer flexible advisory packages tailored to your business size and goals. The return on investment typically outweighs the cost through improved efficiency, tax savings, and profit growth.
A: Most small business owners benefit from quarterly or bi-annual meetings. Regular sessions ensure your strategy remains on track and allow for timely adjustments based on current financial data.
Important Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is general in nature and does not constitute financial advice. Please consult with a qualified financial advisor to discuss your individual circumstances before making any decisions.
References:
- Australian Small Businesses & Family Enterprise Ombudsman
- June 2023 Xero Report On Small Business Cash Flow Issues
- ASIC Insolvency Statistics
