After spending years building your business, the decisions you make from then on determine its future and whether it remains operational.
Getting those decisions right requires good instincts and specialist advisory from people who understand the full picture of business strategy, finance, and the regulatory environment you operate in.
BCR Advisory is a specialist corporate advisory and insolvency firm in Australia with over 100 years of combined experience working alongside business owners, directors, and their professional advisers. We focus on growth strategy, transactions, capital, and exit; providing advice that makes the difference between a good outcome and a great one.
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Corporate Advisory Explained
Corporate advisory is a specialist professional service that helps business owners and directors make high-stakes decisions about their company’s strategy, structure, transactions, and future. A corporate advisory firm provides independent, expert guidance across the full lifecycle of a business, from strategic planning and financial performance improvement through to mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, and exit strategy planning.
Corporate advisory is distinct from accounting and financial planning in a critical way: advisers are engaged not to record or report what has already happened, but to shape what happens next. A corporate adviser works alongside the leadership team to identify opportunities, assess risk, structure transactions, and execute plans that build and protect enterprise value. BCR Advisory’s corporate advisory practice serves founder-owned and family-owned businesses and mid-market companies with EBITDA typically between $1 million and $10 million.
Four Stages of Corporate Advisory with BCR Advisory
BCR Advisory provides expert guidance at every stage of a business’s lifecycle. Each stage carries its own risks, opportunities, and decisions. Understanding which stage you are in is the starting point for effective advisory.
Stage 1: Growing Your Business — Strategic Business Advisory & Financial Performance Improvement
Our starting point is a rigorous, honest assessment of where the business is today and what it will take to reach where the owner wants it to be.
At the growth stage, the advisory work that delivers the most value is:
- A strategic plan grounded in financial reality
- A financial performance review that identifies where value is being lost
- A working capital strategy that ensures the business can fund its own growth without relying on expensive external credit
BCR Advisory works with growing businesses on:
- Strategic business planning and business improvement plans
- Financial performance analysis and EBITDA improvement
- Working capital optimisation and cash flow forecasting
- Organisational design and scalability planning
- Operational restructuring to reduce overhead and improve margin
Stage 2: Buying or Selling a Business — Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory and Due Diligence
BCR Advisory manages due diligence processes for both buyers and sellers, ensuring that no material issue is missed and that the transaction proceeds with full information on both sides.
A comprehensive due diligence process covers:
- Financial performance (including quality of earnings and normalised EBITDA)
- Commercial and contractual risks
- Regulatory and compliance matters
- Employee and management arrangements
- Contingent liabilities that could affect the value or structure of the deal
BCR Advisory also provides M&A advisory for both buy-side and sell-side transactions.
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Stage 3: Raising Capital — Capital Raising Strategies for Growing and Transacting Businesses
Capital raising is often the moment when a business either unlocks its next stage of growth or stalls because the capital structure is misaligned, investor relationships are poorly managed, or the business is not yet positioned to attract the right capital on the right terms.
BCR Advisory advises SMEs and mid-market businesses on the full spectrum of capital raising strategies:
- Equity Financing: Preparation for equity investment, investor identification, term sheet review, and shareholder agreement structuring
- Debt Capital: Debt structuring for growth, bank and non-bank lender negotiation, covenant management, and refinancing advisory
- Capital Structure Review: Assessing the optimal mix of debt and equity for the business’s current stage and risk profile, including balance sheet restructuring where the existing structure is constraining growth
- Pre-raise Preparation: Financial model development, investor-ready information memorandum, and governance improvements that support a credible capital raise
The investors and lenders who provide capital to Australian SMEs are sophisticated, and they conduct rigorous due diligence.
BCR Advisory ensures that your business is positioned to withstand that scrutiny, and that you approach the capital raise with a clear understanding of what you are giving up and what you are getting in return.
Stage 4: Exiting Your Business — Exit Strategy Planning, Business Sale, and Management Buyout (MBO) Advisory
A business exit requires preparation that typically starts 12 to 36 months before the transaction takes place. The decisions made in that window have a direct and material impact on the price a buyer will pay and the terms on which they will pay it.
BCR Advisory provides exit strategy advisory across four primary pathways:
- Business Sale (Trade Sale): Full sale preparation, EBITDA normalisation and improvement, information memorandum, buyer identification (strategic and financial buyers), deal structuring, and transaction management.
- Management Buyout (MBO): Structuring and advisory for transactions where the existing management team acquires the business from the founder or current owner. BCR Advisory advises both vendors and management teams on MBO transactions, including funding structures, valuations, and post-completion governance arrangements.
- Succession Planning: For family-owned businesses transitioning ownership to the next generation or to key employees, BCR Advisory provides a structured succession advisory process that addresses valuation, tax implications, governance, and the personal financial planning considerations that accompany a business exit.
- IPO Readiness: For businesses considering a public market listing, we advise on the preparation required including governance, financial reporting standards, board composition, and the regulatory obligations that come with listing on the ASX or other exchanges.
The value of your business is not fixed; it is a function of how well-prepared you are, how strongly the business is performing at the point of sale, and how skilled your advisers are at running a competitive process.
BCR Advisory’s role is to maximise all three of those variables on your behalf, and on your timeline.
Speak to a Senior AdviserBoard Advisory, Corporate Governance, and Commercial Risk
Board Advisory and Corporate Governance
Businesses that operate with clear board structures, well-defined director responsibilities, and robust governance frameworks attract better capital, close transactions faster, and are more resilient to operational and financial shocks.
We provide board advisory and governance services to SMEs and mid-market businesses that are scaling, preparing for a capital raise, planning a transaction, or seeking to formalise their governance ahead of a significant ownership change.
BCR Advisory advises on:
- Optimal board composition
- Balance between executive and non-executive directors
- Role of independent directors
- Governance structures that support effective decision-making at scale
Directors of Australian companies have significant legal obligations under the Corporations Act 2001, including duties of care and diligence, duties to act in good faith in the best interest of the company.
BCR Advisory provides directors with plain-English guidance on their duties and how to fulfil them, particularly in complex situations involving related-party transactions, financial distress, or major governance changes.
Investors and acquirers conduct governance due diligence as part of every capital raise or M&A transaction.
BCR Advisory works with clients over the 12–24 months leading up to a planned capital raise or business sale to ensure governance is transaction-ready.
Risk Management and Commercial Advisory
Every significant business decision carries risk. The question is whether risk has been properly identified, quantified, and managed. BCR Advisory’s commercial advisory practice helps clients navigate risk at every stage: during growth, through a transaction, in a capital raise, and in the lead-up to an exit.
BCR Advisory conducts structured risk assessments for businesses facing a significant decision or transition.
This covers:
- Commercial risks (customer concentration, contract terms, competitive position)
- Financial risks (leverage, covenant exposure, currency, and interest rate risk)
- Operational risks (key person dependency, supply chain fragility, systems and process gaps)
- Regulatory risks (licensing, compliance, and ASIC or ATO exposure)
For each risk identified, BCR Advisory develops a set of specific actions the business can take to reduce its exposure before the risk crystallises.
Before committing capital to a new market, product line, acquisition, or major operational investment, a rigorous feasibility study provides the evidence base for a sound decision.
BCR Advisory prepares independent feasibility analyses that covers:
- Market sizing
- Financial modelling
- Capital requirements
- Regulatory considerations
- Risk-adjusted return projections
These studies are structured to withstand scrutiny from boards, investors, and lenders.
Joint ventures offer significant strategic advantages, but they are also one of the most common sources of commercial disputes when they are not properly structured from the outset.
BCR Advisory advises on:
- Joint venture formation and structuring
- Covering governance arrangements
- Contribution and profit-sharing terms
- Exit mechanisms
- Dispute resolution processes
- The regulatory and tax considerations that apply to joint venture entities in Australia
BCR Advisory supports clients engaged in commercial disputes that require financial analysis or expert advisory services.
Our practitioners can provide:
- Expert analysis
- Financial modelling in support of litigation
- Advisory on commercial settlement negotiations
Knowing When to Pivot — When Corporate Advisory Meets Financial Distress
Not every corporate advisory engagement follows a growth or transaction trajectory. Sometimes, the review process reveals something the client did not expect.
And when that happens, the quality of the advisory relationship depends entirely on whether the adviser can tell the client the truth, and whether they have the expertise to manage what comes next.
BCR Advisory is a specialist corporate advisory firm in Australia and a team of registered insolvency practitioners.
When a corporate advisory engagement reveals signs of financial distress, we do not refer you elsewhere and wish you well; we can manage the transition from advisory to Business Turnaround, or from Business Turnaround to a formal insolvency process if that is what the situation ultimately requires.
No disruptions, no cost duplication, and no starting again with a new firm that does not know your business.
The services that bridge advisory and insolvency at BCR Advisory include:
- Business Turnaround — Early intervention for viable businesses under financial pressure.
- Small Business Restructuring — Formal debt restructuring for eligible companies with liabilities under $1 million, while directors remain in control.
- Corporate Recovery and Insolvency — Voluntary administration, DOCA, receivership, and liquidation for companies that have reached a formal insolvency threshold.
- Creditors Voluntary Liquidation — Director-initiated wind-up for companies that cannot continue and need to close properly.
Why Mid-Market and Founder-Owned Businesses Choose BCR Advisory
We are Specialists, Not Generalists
BCR Advisory is a specialist firm, and that specialism shows in the quality of the advice we provide at the most complex and consequential moments of a business’s life. Our principals have held senior leadership roles at national and international firms, including BDO, PKF, and Ferrier Hodgson.
100+ Years of Combined Experience
BCR Advisory’s team brings over a century of combined experience in corporate advisory, insolvency, restructuring, and business recovery. We bring a genuine, deep expertise across the full spectrum of situations a business owner faces.
Face-to-Face and Senior-Led
Every BCR Advisory engagement is led by a named senior practitioner. You deal directly with that person in our office in Australia from the first conversation to the final outcome. There are no junior handoffs, no account managers, and no situations where the person who sold you the engagement disappears once the work starts.
Full-Spectrum Capabilities
BCR Advisory is a specialist advisory firm in Australia where the same team that provides strategic growth advisory is also qualified and authorised to manage formal insolvency appointments. If the path changes from growth to distress or from advisory to formal process, you do not need to find a new adviser. BCR Advisory manages the full spectrum, on your side, throughout.
Frequently Asked Questions About Corporate Advisory
A corporate advisory firm provides independent, expert guidance to business owners and directors on the decisions that determine the future of their business. This includes strategic planning and financial performance improvement, mergers and acquisitions (both buying and selling), capital raising (equity and debt), exit strategy planning, board governance, and risk management.
Accounting focuses on recording and reporting financial history, and financial planning focuses on managing personal wealth such as investment portfolios, superannuation, and personal risk.
Corporate advisory is neither of these things. Instead, it focuses on the strategic and financial decisions that determine a business’s value and future: how to grow it, how to structure a transaction, how to raise the right capital, and how to exit on the best possible terms.
A corporate adviser works at the intersection of strategy, finance, and commercial law, and the value they provide is in the quality of the decisions they help their clients make.
A management buyout (MBO) is a transaction in which the existing management team of a business acquires ownership of it, typically from the founder, a private equity owner, or a corporate parent.
MBOs are a common exit pathway for founder-owned businesses where the owner wants to transition out while ensuring the business continues under leadership that knows it well.
In a typical Australian MBO, the management team will fund the acquisition through a combination of their own equity contribution, vendor financing (where the seller accepts a portion of the purchase price over time), and external debt (from a bank or non-bank lender).
The short answer is: earlier than you think. The decisions that have the greatest impact on the value of a business sale (e.g. EBITDA improvement, contract structuring, key staff retention arrangements, customer concentration reduction, and governance formalisation) typically take 12–36 months to implement fully.
A business owner who engages an exit strategy adviser three months before they want to sell is, in most cases, leaving significant value on the table.
BCR Advisory recommends that business owners with a realistic exit horizon of 3–5 years begin exit strategy conversations now. The preparation required for a successful transaction takes time, and a well-run exit process is planned.
EBITDA stands for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation. It is the most widely used measure of a business’s operating profitability for valuation purposes because it removes the effects of financing decisions (interest), tax structure (taxes), and accounting conventions (depreciation and amortisation).
Capital readiness is a function of three things: the quality of the business’s financial performance and trajectory, the strength of its governance and management team, and the clarity of its use of funds and return proposition for investors or lenders.
Investors and lenders conduct rigorous due diligence, and businesses that approach a capital raise without being genuinely prepared waste time, damage relationships, and often end up with worse terms or no capital at all.
BCR Advisory conducts capital readiness assessments that give business owners an honest picture of where they stand relative to investor expectations, and a clear roadmap of what needs to be addressed before the raise begins.
Corporate advisory is forward-looking: it helps businesses grow, transact, raise capital, and exit on the best possible terms.
Corporate recovery is focused on businesses that are in, or approaching, financial distress. It involves managing creditor pressure, stabilising cashflow, negotiating with the ATO, and if necessary, managing a formal insolvency process such as voluntary administration or liquidation.
You’ve spent years building this business, so the next stage deserves the same quality of thinking that got you here.
BCR Advisory offers a free, confidential initial consultation for business owners and directors across Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Cairns — across Australia.
Get an honest assessment of your situation, a clear picture of your options, and a direct answer to the question that matters most: what should your next move be?
