Foreign-owned business accountants

Accounting services to help you set up and run an Australian subsidiary company

Liston Newton Advisory
Liston Newton Advisory is rated 4.8 from 32 reviews
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Expert accountants for overseas companies

From advice on business structuring to ASIC requirements, tax obligations and minimisation strategies, Liston Newton Advisory can guide you through the intricacies of business registration and day-to-day running.

  • Business structures
  • ASIC compliance
  • Tax structuring
  • Tax compliance
  • GST advice
  • Financial compliance

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Expert accounting services for foreign-owned businesses

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A wealth of experience

We've been building successful businesses for the last 40 years. Let us help you grow yours.

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Full range of services

Along with advice to help you navigate ASIC, the ATO and your tax obligations, we offer a full range of financial services.

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Long-term partnerships

We nurture long-term relationships with our clients – that being the best way to help you realise your business goals.

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Leading innovation

Our industry-leading technology and software puts the latest business accounting innovations at your fingertips.

Learn more about your business with our comprehensive guides

At Liston Newton Advisory, we take pride in helping business owners get more out of their hard work. Our downloadable guides can give you an in-depth look at strategies and technologies that will help your business grow.

  • Discover tax strategies and business structures available to you
  • Understand and apply new business management technology
  • Get in touch with us for information tailored to your business

Meet our accountants

We're a specialist accounting and business advisory firm with years of proven experience working with overseas companies like yours.

We can guide you on all aspects of Australia's tax system, as well as your ASIC, ABN and TFN obligations.

Whether you’re looking for strategic set-up advice or day-to-day operational support, you can trust the team at Liston Newton Advisory to help you navigate your responsibilities.

Kieran Liston, Director | Consultant

Our offshore accountants team

We have worked with Liston Newton's Accountancy and Advisory Team for over a decade. During that time, our business has grown substantially both organically and through purchases. This wouldn’t have been possible without Liston Newton Advisory to assist with our business planning, providing proactive advice and ensuring our accounts were always compliant in a complex and volatile industry.
Karsten Horne
CEO, Reho Travel
Liston Newton's Accountants analysed our financial and business situation and helped us implement strategies to improve our position. Their strategies turned our business from making a loss, to recording a 6-month net profit of 36 per cent. And we are now on track to show a 240 per cent increase in turnover over the next financial year.
Lisa Clarke
SL Constructions
Liston Newton helped us move our accounting over to Xero. Their Accountant managed the set up and training so we felt comfortable with the software. We now have all our processes streamlined which gives us improved visibility of our business performance. This has allowed us to open 2 more stores without a significant increase in administration effort.
Peter Luskan
Pandora

Our method for offshore business accounting services

We carefully examine every detail of your business structure, your overall vision and your financial reporting requirements, ensuring nothing is missed.

We have a unique methodology for accounting services, designed to help you achieve your short and long-term objectives.

Once we've understood all your goals, we can deliver the best advice and services to position your Australian subsidiary for maximum success.

Learn more about our methodology
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Choose the experts in offshore accountants

Our foreign-owned business accounting services give you total peace of mind.

Our case studies

Talk to our offshore accountants today

Our expert accounting services help you to tick every box and meet all your obligations under Australian law.

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Frequently asked questions

What are the basics when doing business in Australia?

Firstly you will need to determine the appropriate structure for your Australian business. Most foreign-owned entities opt for a company structure – and when setting up a company in Australia, at least one director must be an Australian resident for tax purposes.

Once the structure is in place, you need to get your registrations in order. This means getting an Australian Business Number (ABN), investigating if you need to register for goods and services tax (GST) and also registering for a tax file number (TFN).

Read more details on setting up an Australian company here.

Is my business classed as a resident or non-resident for tax purposes?

This is an important question, as non-resident businesses will generally be taxed on income that has an Australian source, while Australian resident entities are taxed on their worldwide income.

Most non-resident businesses will operate in Australia through a company structure. A company only becomes a resident of Australia if it's incorporated in Australia, if it conducts its business in Australia and is controlled by Australian residents, or if it has Australia-based management.

For full details, visit the ATO website.

What are the rules around transfer pricing?

Being aware of transfer pricing rules is a very important issue for foreign-owned business operating in Australia.

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has strict rules around how an international entity can transact with its Australian entity.

Essentially, the pricing of goods and services between two related entities must be at market rates. A foreign-owned business can't be seen to be shifting its profits to another jurisdiction by setting unrealistic prices.

What are the rules around thin capitalisation?

A thinly capitalised entity is an entity funded by a large amount of debt and very little equity. Due to the large amount of debt, there can be potential to claim large tax deductions for interest payments on that debt.

Some foreign-owned entities will attempt to lower their taxes in Australia by creating loans to Australian business and using the interest payable as a deduction. The interest income is then recognised in another tax jurisdiction.

Like transfer pricing, thin capitalisation is closely watched by the ATO to ensure that profits are not shifted away from an Australian entity to another country with lower tax rates.

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