ABRT Chair Eddie Griffith has a message for small business owners under pressure: if someone is offering you a single product as the fix to your financial stress, that is not advice, it is a sales pitch.
Running a small business has never been a single-problem exercise, but the current environment is testing that reality in ways that feel genuinely different. Fuel costs have surged.
Interest rates remain elevated after two RBA rises in February and March. Payday Super arrives on 1 July, changing how and when superannuation must be paid. Surcharging rules are changing in October. And for businesses in logistics, retail, hospitality, or trades, all of these pressures are arriving at the same time, each one feeding into the others.
Six of Australia’s peak small business and finance bodies have come together to deliver a single, unified message: now is the time to call your adviser, before the pressure forces a reactive decision rather than a considered one.
The alliance includes the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia, the Affiliation for Business Resilience and Turnaround, the Commercial and Asset Finance Brokers Association of Australia, CPA Australia, the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers, and the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia. Together they represent the breadth of professional advisers most small businesses rely on, and together they are saying the same thing.
“Small businesses are not just dealing with one issue at a time, they are managing multiple pressures simultaneously,” says Skye Cappuccio, CEO of COSBOA. “In this environment, the difference between a sound decision and a costly one often comes down to having access to the right advice at the right time and acting on it early.”
The pressures hitting simultaneously
The alliance identifies several specific pressure points that are converging on small businesses right now, each of which has a compliance or financial planning dimension that is easy to underestimate when you are focused on day-to-day operations.
Fuel and input cost volatility is already eroding margins in ways that many businesses have not yet fully measured. Rising interest rates are increasing the cost of existing debt and constraining new borrowing. Payday Super, which requires employers to pay superannuation at the same time as wages from 1 July, will change cashflow timing for every business that employs staff. And changes to payment surcharging rules arriving in October will require businesses to review their merchant fee structures and pricing strategies.
CPA Australia CEO Chris Freeland describes the combination as unusually demanding. “Small businesses are operating in an environment where rising costs, cashflow pressures and regulatory change are all hitting at the same time,” he says. “We’re strongly encouraging business owners to strengthen their resilience by leaning on trusted advisers who know their business, understand how best to respond and can help them plan ahead. Engaging a professional adviser, like your accountant, isn’t just about compliance, it’s about protecting your business and having a trusted partner when it matters most.”
What advisers can do right now
The alliance is specific about the practical ways each type of adviser can help right now, rather than offering general encouragement to seek professional guidance.
Accountants and bookkeepers can assess margins, identify where cost increases are impacting profitability, and support pricing decisions including when and how to pass on costs or adjust contracts. They can help businesses prepare for the Payday Super transition by implementing payroll system changes and mapping cashflow impacts. And they can streamline compliance reporting to free up time that is currently being absorbed by administrative burden.
Amanda Linton, CEO of the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers, emphasises the role of real-time financial visibility in preventing reactive decisions. “In periods of economic uncertainty, decisions made on incomplete or outdated information can have significant consequences for a business,” she says. “Your professional bookkeeper ensures that financial data is accurate, current, and meaningful, giving you, the business owner, clarity on cashflow, obligations, and performance in real time. That clarity is critical. It allows businesses to move from reactive decision-making to informed, proactive strategy.”
Finance and mortgage brokers can help businesses assess their borrowing capacity, restructure existing facilities, refinance high-cost debt, and access a broader range of lenders including non-bank options that may not be on a business owner’s radar. MFAA CEO Anja Pannek says early engagement makes a material difference. “In a more complex economic environment, such as the one we find ourselves right now, early engagement with a broker as one of your trusted advisers can make a meaningful difference, helping businesses access the right funding options, avoid costly decisions and build resilience.”
CAFBA Chair of Advocacy David Gandolfo OAM is direct about the timing risk. “Our suggestion to borrowers is to plan ahead and forecast where their cashflow may be in the next three to six months if the current conditions continue,” he says. “It’s important to contact their broker with a view to being proactive now rather than reactive when the pressure is far greater, and there are fewer solutions available.”
Real business examples
The alliance has shared four real-world examples of how adviser engagement has made a practical difference for businesses facing the current pressures. A trades business identified that rising fuel and materials costs had eroded margins by more than 10%, leading to the introduction of a fuel adjustment clause in customer quotes. A hospitality business adjusted its cashflow planning ahead of Payday Super to account for superannuation being paid at the same time as wages. A small business reviewed its high-interest lending and refinanced to reduce repayments, improving short-term cashflow during a period of rising costs. And a retailer reviewed its merchant fees, identified more cost-effective payment options, and adjusted pricing to maintain profitability as surcharging rules change.
Each of these outcomes required a conversation with an adviser before the problem became critical. None of them required a complex or expensive intervention once identified early.
How to find the right adviser
ABRT Chair Eddie Griffith offers a pointed warning for business owners under pressure who may be tempted by quick-fix solutions. “For small business owners, pressure creates urgency. Urgency can lead to poor decisions,” he says. “If you’re approached with a single product or service as the fix to your financial stress, take a step back. That is not advice, it is a sales pitch.”
Griffith’s guidance for finding a genuine trusted adviser is straightforward. A credible professional will be a member of a recognised professional body, bound by a code of conduct, and will slow the conversation down rather than rush it. They will present options, explain trade-offs, and recommend what is in the business owner’s best interest. “Search engines and finfluencers are not your advisers,” he says. “In a constrained economy, the wrong call at the wrong moment can have serious consequences. Start with one of the professional associations in this alliance. That is the right first step.”
For SME owners navigating the next six months, the alliance’s message is consistent across all six organisations: the time to engage is now, not when the pressure has already forced a decision. “By leaning into their trusted advisers and asking the right questions now, particularly around costs, cashflow, lending and upcoming changes, business owners can better understand their position, make more informed decisions and build resilience for the months ahead,” says Cappuccio.
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