It’s a tough year to run an Australian SME.
Payday Super started on 1 July. Award wages rose 4.75% and the national minimum wage rose almost 6%. The ATO is collecting debt harder than it has in years.
Alan Spicer is a fractional CFO and tax agent who works with business owners from startup through to exit. In episode 3 of The Practical CFO he joined Budgetly CFO Lisa Callaghan to talk through a tough year. His advice was practical and consistent. Get the basics right, and keep talking.
People and cash are still the top two issues
Alan’s clients were ready for Payday Super because they planned for it early. But the bigger pressure hasn’t changed. Finding the right people, and paying for them.
He sees it often with finance roles. An owner decides they need a CFO. Alan asks whether they have $150,000 in the budget, or whether a fractional arrangement at a fraction of that cost gives them what they need while they build their systems.
The answer depends on the stage of the business, and on getting the best value for the time and money spent.
Conserve cash like it’s gold
For the past two years, Alan’s advice has been the same. Conserve cash like it’s precious gold.
Cash either creates an opportunity or stops a bleed. In a year of rising wages, fuel and input costs, that matters more than ever.
Many of his clients have also built in a price increase of at least 5%. They simply can’t absorb more cost until their people, systems and processes are working well.
He also warned about the opposite problem. Money in the bank is not the same as security. He described a scale-up that raised $7 million, hired aggressively, and didn’t check whether the sales pipeline could sustain the wages bill. It couldn’t.
Know your numbers. Know what’s going out the door.
ATO debt is no longer a cheap overdraft
For years, many Australian SMEs treated ATO debt like an overdraft. That has changed.
Since July 2025, interest on tax debt is no longer deductible. Alan says the number of Director Penalty Notices has risen sharply over the same period.
You can’t ignore it. You have to engage.
Some owners are refinancing ATO debt over a longer term. But Alan’s view is that the more important step comes first: understanding how the debt built up, and how it will be repaid. That forces a better conversation than simply rolling the debt forward.
This is general information only, not tax or financial advice. Speak to a qualified adviser about your situation.
You need a process for everything
Alan sees a wide range of control maturity. Some owners want to share their internet banking password with their adviser. Others run tight, well-defined approval processes.
The risk of getting it wrong is higher than it used to be. If someone enters the wrong bank details and sends a $50,000 payment, the chance of recovering it is very low.
His advice is to keep processes simple, but have one for every way money moves. Review them at least once a year as part of business planning. Review them again when someone joins, leaves, takes on a new role or goes on holiday.
In small teams, the risk often sits with one critical person. A written process is what keeps the business running when they’re away.
Call before you pay
Alan shared a story from his brother’s business in the Hunter Valley.
An invoice was sent from Xero. The customer said they paid it on the spot. Three days later, nothing had arrived.
The customer’s email had been compromised. Someone had intercepted the invoice and changed the bank details. Because Alan’s brother followed up quickly, and had worked in banking, the payment was recovered. Many businesses aren’t that lucky.
Your own systems can be secure, and you can still be caught out by someone else’s.
The fix is basic. Before paying a new bank account, or one that has changed, pick up the phone and confirm the details. Then check the payment actually landed. For the wider set of checks worth putting around supplier payments, see our guide to fraud prevention for SME finance teams.
Report in a way people will use
Alan reports to owners and boards, and he starts every relationship the same way. He asks what information matters to them and how they like to receive it.
Some people want the detail behind a $500 increase in printing costs. Others want to know what you’re doing about a sales opportunity that could double revenue.
Numbers tell a story. The job is to tell it clearly, in a way the reader can act on.
Look after yourself
Finance leadership is demanding, and the pressure isn’t easing.
Alan ends each day with two questions. What did I do today that I didn’t need to do? Did I do what I needed to do to make an impact?
He also keeps interests outside work. Travel, sport and wine help him switch off, and booking a trip months ahead gives him something to plan around.
The practical takeaway
None of Alan’s advice is complicated. It doesn’t need to be.
Conserve cash. Price for the costs you can’t absorb. Engage with the ATO early. Put a simple process around every way money moves. And before you pay someone new, pick up the phone.
Watch the full episode of The Practical CFO with Alan Spicer.
