What is advisory & virtual cfo with CapEasy?
Advisory is only worth buying once the underlying numbers are trustworthy — which is why it sits after bookkeeping rather than instead of it. This is sized to the business in front of us, not enterprise-CFO language sold to a ten-person company.
Advisory, in our scope, means turning the ledger into a set of numbers a business owner or board can act on: cash flow forecasts tied to the actual timing of receipts and payments, a runway figure that gets recalculated every month rather than left stale from the last planning cycle, and margin analysis cut by product, client, or division — whichever split explains the movement in gross margin, not a generic dashboard split.
The financial year in Australia ends 30 June, and that shapes the advisory calendar as much as the month-end close does. Monthly reporting feeds a running view of the year; the run-up to 30 June is when forecasting work concentrates, because that's when a business needs to know its position before the year closes and before its BAS agent starts the annual work. Quarterly, the same reporting rolls up into a board pack for businesses with a board, or an owner-facing summary for those without one — either way, the point is a document someone can actually act on.
The services inside advisory
4 services, each with its own page — scope, process and the licence line stated before you buy anything.
| Cash flow forecasting | A rolling forecast built from your ledger, updated as the month moves. |
| Runway analysis | How long the money lasts on your own numbers, and what changes it. |
| Budgeting and forecasting | A budget that survives contact with the actuals. |
| Margin analysis | Where the money is actually made, by product, customer or channel. |
Why it matters
| Without a system | With CapEasy |
|---|---|
| Decisions made on last year’s numbers | A forecast that is updated from the actual close |
| Pricing set by feel | Knowing which work makes money and which does not |
| Cash surprises that were visible months earlier | Numbers you can defend in a funding conversation |
What we need from you
Foundation
- A clean, current set of books
- At least a few periods of history
- Budget or plan, if one exists
Context
- Pricing and cost structure
- Headcount plan
- Anything you are about to decide
How it runs, step by step
- Planning & forecasting
- Cash flow forecasting
- Budgeting and re-forecasting
- Scenario modelling
- Profitability
- Job, product or service profitability
- Margin analysis
- Cost optimisation review
- Financial modelling & valuation support
- Three-statement models
- Unit economics
- Valuation analysis and supporting workings
What lands with you, every cycle
- Rolling forecast
- Profitability analysis
- Financial model
- Valuation workings
- Investor or board reporting pack
Who does what
Modelling and materials only. Anything requiring a licensed adviser goes to one. Here is the licence line in Australia, stated before you buy anything — each of these is carried out by your registered BAS or tax agent:
- Work out what goes on your BAS, or advise you on it — under TASA 2009 that requires registration we do not hold.
- Lodge anything with the ATO, or deal with the ATO on your behalf.
- Determine your GST treatment, or calculate your superannuation guarantee.
- Report Single Touch Payroll as your agent.
- Give advice a registered tax agent is required to give.
Advisory & virtual CFO in Australia
Advisory is not a BAS service, and the line is a definition, not a title
Under TASA 2009 s.90-10, a BAS service is defined as ascertaining or advising on a liability, obligation, or entitlement under a BAS provision — not merely lodging the form. That means a cash flow line that shows an estimated GST outflow, or a forecast that includes a superannuation guarantee payment, has to be built and framed carefully: it reflects known due dates and historical amounts, not an independent calculation of what's owed. 'We prepare it, you lodge it' is not a safe framing under this test, and it's not one we use — ascertaining the figure is itself the restricted activity, regardless of who submits the form.
GST treatment and super guarantee calculations stay with the registered agent
A forecast can show that GST and superannuation guarantee are recurring cash outflows and schedule them by their known due dates. It cannot determine the GST treatment of a transaction, and it cannot calculate the super guarantee liability itself — both require registration that sits with the registered BAS or tax agent. Where a transaction's GST treatment is genuinely unclear (an export, a mixed-supply invoice), the advisory output flags it as a question for the registered BAS or tax agent rather than making a call.
STP data feeds the forecast; reporting it is the agent's job
Single Touch Payroll data — wages, PAYG withholding, super — is a direct input to cash flow forecasting, because payroll is usually the largest recurring outflow a business has. We use STP figures to build the forecast. Reporting STP to the ATO, and finalising STP data at year-end, are handled by the business's registered agent or payroll provider, acting under their own authorisation.
A board pack is not an audited or reviewed report
For incorporated businesses with a board, an advisory-built board pack presents management numbers — KPI trends, cash position, budget variance — and is not represented as an audited or reviewed financial statement. Australian Accounting Standards govern how the underlying financial statements are prepared; the board pack is a management layer on top of them, built for decision-making speed, not for the assurance level a formal review would carry.
What your registered BAS or tax agent receives from us
- A closed, reconciled general ledger for the period, dated and versioned so the BAS or tax agent knows exactly which close the numbers reflect.
- A rolling cash flow forecast (weekly or monthly, depending on the business's cash tightness) with GST and superannuation guarantee shown as scheduled outflows against their known due dates, not as calculated liabilities.
- A variance report against budget or prior forecast, with every material variance given a one-line stated cause rather than a bare percentage.
- Debtor and creditor aging summaries in standard buckets, with anything aged past the business's normal terms flagged explicitly.
- A runway or cash-position statement expressed as a date and a dollar figure, with the underlying burn or surplus rate shown alongside it.
- A quarterly or as-needed board pack: KPI trends, cash position, budget-versus-actual narrative, formatted for the business owner or board to review, with any open item flagged by the registered agent stated plainly rather than smoothed over.
Questions worth asking before you start
Will you deal with the Australian Taxation Office on my behalf?
No. We are a consulting firm — lodgments and agent work run through registered BAS and tax agents. Anything that means dealing directly with ATO — filing, correspondence, representation — stays with your registered BAS or tax agent. What changes is how much work it is for them: they open a file that is already reconciled and coded, not one they have to rebuild first.
Exactly what lands with your registered BAS or tax agent at the end of a cycle?
Rolling forecast, Profitability analysis, Financial model, Valuation workings, Investor or board reporting pack. All of it goes to your registered BAS or tax agent — or straight to you, if you are the one reviewing before it moves on.
Who actually does the work — a person or an AI tool?
A named person on our team owns your file and reviews everything that leaves it. Software does a real share of the grinding underneath it — coding, matching, flagging the obvious gaps — but nothing regulated happens without a person’s judgement, and nothing here is signed or filed by an algorithm.
Is this the same as hiring a CFO?
It is CFO-shaped work — forecasting, modelling, profitability — sized to a business that does not need a full-time hire for it yet. It sits on top of clean books, which is also why we ask for those first.
Can you help us prepare for a funding round?
We build the model, the unit economics and the data-room materials. We do not approach investors on your behalf, and nothing here is investment advice — that stays with you and your advisers.
Do you get involved in pricing decisions?
We give you the cost and margin numbers behind a pricing decision. The decision itself, and the market judgement behind it, stays yours.
Will you tell me what my BAS liability is going to be?
No. Under TASA 2009 s.90-10, ascertaining or advising on a BAS liability is a BAS service that requires registration held by your registered BAS or tax agent. We'll show GST and super as scheduled outflows in your cash forecast based on historical amounts and known due dates, but the liability itself is calculated and advised on by your registered BAS or tax agent.
Isn't "we prepare it, you lodge it" enough to stay on the right side of TASA?
No, and that's a common misunderstanding. TASA 2009 s.90-10 defines a BAS service by the act of ascertaining or advising on the liability, not by who submits the form. So the line isn't about lodgment at all — it's about who works out the number. That work stays with your registered BAS agent.
Can you calculate my superannuation guarantee obligation?
No. We track the quarterly due dates and build super as a scheduled cash outflow based on your actual wage and headcount data, so it doesn't surprise your cash position. The calculation of what you actually owe is your registered agent's job.
How does the financial year affect your reporting cadence?
Reporting runs monthly year-round, but the work concentrates in the lead-up to 30 June, when businesses need a clear year-end cash and margin position before their BAS or tax agent starts annual work. Board packs and forecasts around that period get built with the year-end deadline explicitly in view.
Do you use my Single Touch Payroll data?
Yes, as an input. STP figures — wages, PAYG withholding, super — feed directly into the payroll line of your cash flow forecast, since payroll is usually the biggest recurring outflow a business has. We don't report STP to the ATO and we don't finalise it; that stays with your registered agent or payroll provider.
What's the difference between your board pack and an audited financial report?
A board pack is management reporting — cash position, KPI trends, budget variance — built for speed and decision-making, prepared to Australian Accounting Standards as the underlying framework but not represented as an audited or reviewed statement. If your business needs that level of assurance, that's a separate engagement with a qualified provider.
Will you flag GST issues even if you can't resolve them?
Yes. If a transaction has an unclear GST treatment — an export, a mixed-supply invoice — we flag it as a specific question for your registered BAS or tax agent rather than guessing or leaving it unaddressed. Flagging the fact pattern is fine; ascertaining the answer is what TASA reserves.
Does the ASIC annual review date show up in my cash forecast?
Yes, as a scheduled outflow on its known due date, the same way GST and super appear. We track the date and the fee for cash planning purposes; we don't advise on your ASIC compliance obligations themselves.
Who signs off on the numbers before I see them?
A named advisor reviews every figure before it reaches you. AI does the mechanical work — pulling transactions, flagging variances, drafting the narrative — but it doesn't decide or sign off on anything. Accountability sits with the person, not the model.
Can advisory replace my registered BAS agent?
No. We build the cash flow, variance, and margin reporting your business runs on. Ascertaining or advising on BAS liabilities, lodging with the ATO, and reporting STP as your agent all require registration held by your registered BAS or tax agent, and stay with them.
What do you need from us to start building a forecast?
Access to your closed general ledger, debtor and creditor detail, and your STP payroll data. The forecast is only as reliable as the close it's built from, so a clean, current monthly close matters more than any other single input.
If my forecast's GST or super estimate turns out to be wrong, who's responsible?
We're responsible for the forecast being built on accurate historical data and clearly labelled as a planning figure, not a lodged liability. The actual liability calculation and lodgment sit with your registered agent, and we say so on the forecast itself so there's no ambiguity about what number is authoritative.
