Background

David is a Director of the firm with over 20 years’ experience in tax and business consulting. Prior to joining the firm David worked with Ernst & Young, Deloitte, PwC and several boutique firms, specialising in Indirect Tax.

At Ecovis Clark Jacobs David enjoys the greater depth and personal involvement required in consulting and advising for high-net-worth family groups and SMEs across a diverse range of industries, and their varying structural, taxation and planning issues.

In addition, David is a member of the Ecovis International Accounting Task Force.

Prior to entering the accounting profession David was an architect with an international firm, where he gained significant experience in project management on large commercial projects.

David’s varied career has given him a unique perspective and an understanding that irrespective of one’s profession, the common factors of tailored, client-focussed and practical problem-solving, are the key to adding value and meeting clients’ needs.

Significant Matters

Subsidiaries of Foreign Parents - Advising subsidiaries of foreign parents on structuring for establishment in Australia, in the context of both Australian tax law and the critical issue of Transfer-Pricing/BEPS. Further, advising and assisting those subsidiaries in all aspects of local day-to-day operations including banking, bookkeeping, accounting, payroll etc.

Resident Directorships - Assisting the above subsidiaries in satisfying their Australian corporate law obligations and ASIC compliance, as well as facilitating local interface with banks and other service providers.

Substantial Family Groups - Advising high-net-worth family groups on all aspects of structuring for asset-protection, tax efficiency, inter-generational/succession planning.

Background

Heath is a Director of the firm and has over 20 years’ experience in practice, working in business services, taxation, audit and consulting.

He has developed a specialisation in the medical and dental industries but actively engages with clients in a broad range of industries including publishing, professional consulting, legal practices, building, construction, civil contracting and manufacturing.

Heath supervises the firms’ audit and assurance engagements, including litigation support and valuation, and sits on the Ecovis International Marketing Board.

He likes to work together with his clients tailoring our service to the client’s specific individual needs, which includes industry KPI comparison, forecasting, projections, financing and efficient tax structuring.

Significant Matters

Corporate Healthcare - Advising on a range of acquisitions and disposals, structure and benchmarking of performance. Advising on matters in relation to the startup, sale and an ongoing operation of a healthcare provider in Australia, expansion from 3 locations through to over 80.

Dental Industry - Advising on a range of acquisitions and disposals, structure and benchmarking of performance. Advising on matters in relation to the sale of a private dental aggregator to an international health fund.

Training and Presenting - Regular contributor and presenter at Medical and Dental seminars for practitioners in both Australia and New Zealand. Long term and regular contributor to Australian Dental Association magazine.

Background

Elissa is a Director of the firm and joined Ecovis Clark Jacobs in 2009. She has over 15 years’ experience in public practice providing specialist advice across a range of sectors in financial accounting, taxation, audit, corporate governance, corporate strategy and corporate secretarial services. Her clients range from start-up businesses, high net worth family groups, unlisted reporting entities, listed companies and government-owned corporations. Elissa enjoys working closely with her clients to build strong relationships and provide innovative and practical solutions to help them solve problems within their business and achieve their strategic goals

Significant Matters

Dental Industry - Advising on a range of acquisitions and disposals, structure and benchmarking of performance. Advising on matters in relation to the sale of a private dental aggregator to an international health fund. Regular contributor to Australian Dental Association magazine.

Property Development - Advising on a range of structural, income tax and GST issues within the property industry.

Financial Reporting - Provision of ongoing advisory surrounding financial reporting to a government owned corporation, ASX listed company and large public company, and preparation of Annual Reports for a listed start-up.

Outsourced CFO Function - Management reporting and outsourced CFO function to a range of private groups across the property development, technology, mining and investment sectors.

Background

Jakin is a Director at Ecovis Clark Jacobs with more than 15 years of public practice experience in the accounting and business services profession.

Primarily advising in the areas of taxation, business structuring, asset protection, financial systems and compliance, Jakin is committed to providing high quality and valued service to his clients who range from professionals, high net wealth families, SME’s and corporate groups. Jakin works closely with a client base across a broad selection of industries including advertising and media, investment, financial services, retail/wholesale, construction and healthcare.

Jakin also manages the external client audit and review engagements of the practice. Focusing mainly on statutory and regulatory audit requirements, Jakin assists clients to identify areas of non-compliance and gain confidence in the integrity of the information, systems and processes of their business.

Significant Matters

National Healthcare Provider - Advising on group operating structures across multiple state locations and corporate taxation compliance.

Australia and New Zealand wholesale distributor - Management of the business finance function for Australia and New Zealand upon the sudden loss of the group financial controller.

Multinational manufacturer - Conduct of the group company audit including subsidiaries in Australia and Asia.

Global Technology Company - Advising shareholders on the company sale to an ASX listed company.

Family Law - Forensic accounting and expert witness advice for financial settlement proceedings.

Family office function - Working closely with trusted advisers as part of the family office team for wealthy families and high profile individuals.

Background

Scott is a Director of the firm and has over 16 years of public practice experience in boutique firms in both Perth and Sydney. A member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Scott has experience in business services, taxation and consulting with particular interests in due diligence, tax effective structuring and working with subsidiaries of multinational companies.

He actively engages with clients in a broad range of industries including high net worth individuals, media, online, dental and legal practices, and government agencies.

Along with extensive experience in Australian tax matters, Scott also has international experience through an exchange to a large consulting firm in San Francisco and spent part of his under-graduate degree studying in the United States. This has developed his skills in International Tax and Consulting, along with giving him invaluable experience in the international business environment.

Scott is committed to providing not only outstanding client service but also clear and concise advice to our clients to ensure they not only meet their statutory obligations in Australia, but also see us as a partner in their businesses growth and development.

Significant Matters

Online Retailer - Re-structured ownership of the Group for tax efficiency, asset protection and charitable giving.

Wholesaler - Implemented a Corporate re-structure to streamline the number of business operating entities and allow for improved visibility of business unit performance. 

Transfer Pricing - Facilitated and implement transfer pricing arrangements for clients in the distribution and wholesale industries to allow for compliance in multiple tax jurisdictions.

Dental Industry - Advised on numerous Practice Acquisitions including valuation of Practices, benchmarking and assisting with negotiations on price and conditions of sale.

Background

Alison is a Director with the firm and joined Ecovis Clark Jacobs in 2003, when the firm she led merged with Clark Jacobs. With over 25 years of experience in public practice, Alison provides business services and tax advice to a large number of small business clients particularly in the fields of medicine, dentistry and law. Alison also works with high net worth clients and has an interest in self-managed superannuation structuring and advice. Ecovis Clark Jacobs has more than 100 medical and dental practices as clients and Alison advises the majority of those practices on all matters related to their business and personal affairs.

Alison works extremely closely with her clients and places particular emphasis on cash flow planning and the integration of business and personal affairs in order to maximise a client’s wealth generating ability.

Significant Matters

Medical and Dental Industry - Advising on the set up, purchase or sale of practices, including structuring, use of service trusts and asset protection. Advice on management of practices and cash flow issues.

Debt Structuring - Advice on structures to use for asset protection, tax deductibility and flexibility in relation to business and property purchases.

Superannuation Advice - Advice in relation to superannuation planning and pension structures, particularly for self-managed super funds.

Background

Kallie is an Associate Director at Ecovis Clark Jacobs with more than 16 years of public practice experience in the accounting and business services profession. Over that time Kallie has forged extremely strong and loyal relationships with clients, enabling her to provide hands-on assistance in their accounting and tax needs, whether on a day-to-day basis or just at year end. Kallie values her clients and provide quality service on a technical and personal level. Kallie advices in a variety of industries including professional services, restaurants, primary production as well as high net wealth individuals.  Kallie also specialises in developing practical asset-protection and tax-effective structures for clients and their family and business interests.

Significant Matters

Multi-entity structures - Taxation and business service advice in relation to multi-entity structures in particular with the flow of funds, asset protection and tax effective distributions to group members. 

Structuring - Advising on structures for start-ups or existing businesses to cater for the clients circumstances.

Debt Structuring - Advice on structures to use for asset protection, tax deductibility and flexibility in relation to business and property purchases to maximise deductible borrowing capacity and return equity.

Asset disposals - Advice in relation to the tax consequences of disposal of investments such as real property and business assets and access to small business concessions.

Background

Adrian Burns is an Associate Director at Ecovis Clark Jacobs with over 13 years’ experience in public practice, primarily in the areas of business services and taxation. Adrian advises clients from a wide range of industries and backgrounds while specialising in the medical and dental industries.

In addition to managing compliance matters, Adrian places significant importance on advisory matters including industry benchmarking, tax planning and identifying optimal legal structures to streamline business processes, ensure asset protection and maximise tax efficiency.

Adrian has a deep respect for business owners, the risks they take and their role in providing the livelihood for millions of Australians, and he enjoys working closely with clients to help them achieve their goals. No business is ever the same and this diversity of the business environment underpins Adrian’s philosophy that client service should be value-adding, future-oriented and, above all, tailored to suit each client’s unique wants and needs.

Background

Mark is a highly regarded accountant with over 12 years’ experience in public practice, providing diverse business consulting advice across a variety of professional service disciplines including taxation, financial accounting, business structuring and superannuation. He is a member of both the Institution of the Chartered Accountants Australia and the Tax Institute, holds a degree in Business (Accounting) and a diploma of Financial Planning.

Mark has extensive experience in providing advisory services to business owners and senior executives of listed and non-listed reporting entities across a variety of industries, specialising in high net worth individuals and family groups, property, finance, medical and retirement planning.

Significant Matters

Financial Reporting - Advisory and statutory financial reporting for an ASX listed start-up, large government-owned corporations and large private groups.

Outsourced CFO Function - Outsourced CFO function and management reporting across technology, mining and investment industries.

Financial Modelling and Forecasting - Preparation of 3-way financial models within the FMCG, mining, beauty and wholesale industries allowing for the assessment of an organisation’s sensitivities and subsequent impacts on cash flow, bank covenants, and other key performance measures. Subsequent identification of areas to improve business and to also consider the impact of various growth opportunities.

Structuring and Asset Protection - Assistance with start-up business structures and restructuring of existing businesses within the dental, FMCG, property and construction industries, ensuring maximum tax efficiency whilst also incorporating essential asset protection.

Background

Thu is a Manager at Ecovis Clark Jacobs and joined the firm in 2013. She has diverse business consulting experience across a variety of professional service disciplines including tax, business structuring, R&D advice and public relations. Thu has extensive experience in providing specialist advisory services to business owners and senior executives of listed entities across a variety of industries ranging from high-tech, property, finance and medical industries.

Prior to joining Ecovis Clark Jacobs, Thu spent three years at Hill+Knowlton Strategies, the leading global public relations company, where she helped ASX100 finance and technology companies on their strategic investor and public communications imperatives. She started her accounting career at a Sydney based chartered firm in 2011, advising clients across a diverse industry set including mining, media research, hospitality and import and distribution

Significant Matters

Outsourced CFO Function - Outsourced CFO function and management reporting to clients across the property development, technology and investment sectors. Acting as their in-house finance function.

Property Development - Advising on business setup and structuring, tax optimisation, GST and margin scheme management within the large scale property development projects. Expertise also includes monthly management & budget performance reporting, cash flow planning and bank relationship management.

Government R&D Scheme Advisory - Extensive expertise in helping clients optimise their annual AusIndustry R&D lodgement to maximise their tax savings from innovations in technology, processes, products and services.

Medical Industry - Provide start-up and structuring advice for new medical practices and benchmarking of ongoing practice performance. Lead the provision of the full spectrum of financial and strategic business advice, including tax planning, tax preparation services, as well as outsourced CFO and controller services.

Background

Sharn is a manager at Ecovis Clark Jacobs with 10 years of experience in public practice, primarily in taxation, business services and consulting. He has practical experience in his field across a diverse range of professional disciplines, including business structuring and development, international business operations and taxation advisory.

Throughout his career Sharn has worked with clients across many different industries, from farming and agricultural, to medical professionals, logistics services, forestry, and building and construction companies.

Sharn enjoys working closely with business owners to achieve the common goal of business growth and profit. With experience advising both small business owners and large corporates, he understands that the journey of every business is different, requiring a unique approach each time.

Significant Matters

Medical Industry - Engaging with start-up medical professionals, providing key structural advice to foster their growth within a competitive industry as they transition to business owners. Also working alongside well established doctors and specialists, providing ongoing structural advice, tax planning serviceInternational Transactions - Virtual CFO function.

International Transactions - Understanding the vision of clients looking to expand overseas and working with those already based in multiple  international jurisdictions. Liaising with all jurisdictions in the business group to advise the best taxation and strategic outcome. Consolidated reporting in Australia for the group.

Background

Cindy is a manager of the firm and has 10 years’ experience in public practice, primarily in the areas of business services and taxation. Prior to joining Ecovis Clark Jacobs, Cindy worked in a number of Sydneybased chartered firms as well as a large mid-tier accounting firm.

Throughout her career, Cindy has built extensive experience in advising small to large businesses and multinational organisations across a variety of professional disciplines including structuring, cash flow management, forward planning, financial reporting and tax consulting. She has worked with a wide range of business clients, high net worth individuals and self-managed superannuation funds across a diverse range of industries, including medical and dental, legal, property development, building and construction, media, investment and education.

Cindy works closely with business owners and proactively seeks solutions to maximise tax efficiency and to ensure that capital extraction and the eventual exit are carried out in the most taxefficient way. She has built enduring relationships with her clients and is committed to developing practical and tailored strategies to enhance the value of the business and assist clients in achieving their financial goals.

Significant Matters

Significant Global Entities - Statutory reporting and advising on the various cross border reporting obligations for Australian entities that are part of a global group, with turnover of more than one billion Australian dollars, including preparation of international dealings schedules.

Business Entry to Australia - Advising on structure, taxation and statutory requirements for multinational organisations intending to do business in Australia, including setting up the right structure tailored to clients’ specific needs and the relevant industry, and ensuring ongoing compliance with those requirements.

Financial Reporting - Statutory financial reporting for large private groups and foreign-owned Australian subsidiaries.

Business Structuring - Advising on structuring strategies for start-up businesses and a number of existing private groups in the building and construction, commercial equipment leasing and investment sectors to ensure asset protection, maximise tax efficiency and facilitate access to small business capital gains tax concessions.