Ultra-High Net Worth Individual Flies High

The client had recently sold a significant business interest and was investing in numerous additional, newly incorporated companies and trusts. We were contacted by a representative of this client to assist in bookkeeping and accounting for those entities, as there was no in-house accounting team at the time.

We were asked to be responsible for approximately a dozen entities in Xero covering general investment, residential and commercial property development and investment, labour hire and income-producing luxury assets, as well as private and domestic transactions. There was also a growing team of staff, both domestic and international. The client was already several months behind in their accounts when our services were engaged.

Improvements

There were significant changes from a legal structure and transaction perspective, with many new variables and unknowns. We engaged directly with the client’s representatives to develop an overall understanding of the different entities, relevant circumstances and possible tax implications. Over a period of several months, we spoke to the client’s accounting firm on a weekly basis to work through tax queries and obtain documents for larger, more complex transactions. On many occasions advice was required from partners and tax specialists within the accounting firm. We also travelled interstate for meetings with this client’s representatives and their accounting firm.

There were considerable hurdles to overcome with respect to obtaining the large volumes of documents needed to complete the bookkeeping and accounting. This client was also purchasing additional plant and equipment, as well as offshore businesses that were being integrated into existing domestic entities. This expanded the client’s offshore operations.

There were also a lot of foreign exchange transactions occurring on a monthly basis, in terms of both numbers and dollar value. We made enquiries regarding the rates of exchange and found a foreign exchange supplier with better rates that would equate to savings larger than our bookkeeping costs, effectively making our bookkeeping and accounting services completely cost neutral.

This client had obligations for both monthly and quarterly activity statements with high volumes of complex data processing and large numbers of loan account transactions, which complicated the processing and reconciliation of all entities.

Summary

Over time the client developed their own in-house finance team and the work was gradually handed over as they found their feet.