When you buy a business, buy it back from a parent or carve it out of a group, the finance team usually stays with the seller. The parent's bank mandates, payroll system, Xero file and supplier accounts were never yours. On day one you own the business, but not the systems that paid its staff and kept its books.
Published: November 2026
This guide sets out what to put in place in the first 30 days and in days 30 to 90, and how to decide between hiring and outsourcing. If you need someone to take over while you decide, our interim finance cover runs on a rolling monthly basis and starts with payroll and the compliance calendar.
Most buyers plan the deal carefully and the first month loosely. The gaps show up quickly, usually in this order.
What you keep depends on how the deal was done. If you bought the shares in a company, the company is still the same legal entity, so its ABN and registrations stay with it. If you bought the business assets, or a new entity took over part of a group, that entity is a different taxpayer. business.gov.au is clear that an ABN cannot be transferred and that a new owner will have their own. Every registration below then has to be set up in the new entity's name.
Our guide to finance due diligence covers the work before completion. This guide starts on the day after.
The first month is about four things: being able to pay people, being registered correctly, being able to collect cash, and knowing what you bought.
Check each of these against the new entity, not the old one.
If the sale was treated as a GST-free supply of a going concern, business.gov.au notes that this can affect the GST on the sale. Confirm the treatment with your tax agent before your first BAS.
Open the accounts, set up bank feeds to Xero and decide who approves payments. Two people approving every supplier payment run is a sensible rule in the first months, when supplier bank details are being re-entered and fraud risk is highest.
Employees who move across in an asset sale usually start new employment with the buyer. business.gov.au says the seller must give the new owner employee records, and that the new owner must recognise some entitlements but not others. Get the leave balances, pay rates, award classifications and super details for every person before the first pay run, and agree in the contract who funds the leave that carries over.
Your opening balance sheet is the completion statement turned into ledger balances. It should show:
Agree it with your tax agent before you post it. Every later month is measured from this point, so an error here repeats in every report you produce.
If the parent is handing over records, our guide on how to hand over your books when switching accountants has a checklist that works just as well for a carve-out.
Once people are being paid and the registrations are in, the job shifts from setting up to running.
Re-enter supplier bank details from a document the supplier sends you, and confirm each one by phone on a number you already hold. Set a weekly payment run and a cut-off for approvals. Keep a list of the contracts that need to be assigned to the new entity and chase the ones that are still in the seller's name.
Customers keep paying the account they know. Send every customer a letter on letterhead with the new bank details, and expect some payments to land in the seller's account for months. Agree with the seller in writing how those receipts are passed on and how often.
Write a close checklist in the first month and follow it every month after. At a minimum it covers bank reconciliation, payroll and super reconciled to the ledger, payables and debtors aged, accruals and prepayments, GST reconciled to the BAS, and a review of the balance sheet line by line.
By the third month you should have a pack the owner and lender can read in ten minutes:
If the business is moving to Xero from another system as part of the change, the Xero migration guide covers the cut-over steps and what history to bring across.
Most owners in this position need two kinds of help at once. In the first three months the work is set-up: registrations, systems, an opening balance sheet and handover capture. After that, it becomes a steady monthly function.
A finance manager hired in month one has to do the set-up alone, usually without the knowledge the parent's team had. Recruiting also takes time you may not have before the first payday.
Outsourcing tends to suit the first year when:
Hiring tends to suit you when:
Many owners do both in sequence: outsource the set-up and the first year, then hire once the systems are stable and the role is clear. We document processes as we build them, so the function can be handed to an internal team when you are ready. See our outsourced finance services for what is included.
Our pricing is fixed monthly and quoted ex GST. Packages start from $1,500 per month, and most clients invest $2,500 to $6,000 per month for a complete finance function. Fractional CFO work starts from $3,000 per month. Catch-up on a neglected file is quoted separately as a project.
The comparison is the full cost of an employee, not the salary. Our guide to the cost to hire a finance manager in Australia puts the true annual cost at $145,000 to $210,000 once super, leave, recruitment, software and overheads are counted. Run your own figures through the hire vs outsource calculator.
Does a new owner need a new ABN?
If you bought the business assets, yes. An ABN cannot be transferred, so the entity that now runs the business uses its own. If you bought the shares in the company, the company keeps its ABN.
How long do I have to register for GST?
The ATO says you must register within 21 days of being required to, which happens when GST turnover reaches $75,000 or you expect a new business to reach it in its first year.
When do I need to register for PAYG withholding?
Before you are first required to make a payment that is subject to withholding. For most buyers that means before the first pay run under the new entity.
Do I need to report payroll through STP straight away?
Yes. The ATO requires each pay run to be reported through STP-enabled software on or before payday, so the new payroll needs to be ready before the first pay run.
Can I keep using the seller's Xero file?
Usually not, if a new entity bought the assets. That file holds the seller's records, not the new entity's. Start a new file from your opening balance sheet and keep a read-only copy of the old history if the seller agrees.
Who pays the leave employees built up with the seller?
It depends on the sale contract. business.gov.au says the new owner must recognise some entitlements but not others, so agree who funds each balance before completion.
What should the first management pack include?
A profit and loss report, a balance sheet with working capital, a 13-week cash flow forecast, debtor and creditor ageing and any covenant tests your lender has set.
Should I hire a finance manager straight away?
Not always. The first three months are set-up work. Many owners outsource that stage and hire once the processes are documented and the role is clear.
Scale Suite is a Sydney-based provider of outsourced finance teams and fractional CFO services for Australian SMEs. We deliver weekly bookkeeping, payroll, BAS/IAS lodgement, cashflow reporting, management accounts, and strategic fractional CFO oversight, all as a fully embedded team that works inside your business.
CA-qualified, Xero Certified, and registered BAS Agents, we replace fragmented bookkeepers and once-a-year accountants with one responsive finance function at a fraction of the cost of full-time hires. We serve growing businesses across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide, with packages starting from $1,500 per month and no lock-in contracts.
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We review and check this guide periodically. At the time of writing (November 2026), all information was current. Scale Suite is a registered BAS Agent, not a licensed tax advisor or financial advisor. This content is general information only and does not constitute professional tax, financial, or legal advice. Some details may change over time.
Scale Suite is a Sydney-based provider of outsourced finance and HR services for Australian SMEs. We deliver bookkeeping, financial reporting, payroll processing, fractional CFO support, recruitment, employee onboarding, people and culture support, and fractional HR oversight, all as a fully embedded team that works inside your business.
Employment Hero Gold Partner, CA-qualified, and Xero Certified, we replace fragmented finance and HR processes with one responsive, senior-level function at a fraction of the cost of full-time hires. We serve growing businesses across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth, with packages starting from $1,500 per month and no lock-in contracts.
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