Pre-Insolvency, Restructuring, Corporate Structuring & Asset Protection

When the pressure mounts,
clarity is everything.

Specialist Melbourne advisory for directors and individuals facing unmanageable debt, liability and financial pressure — or those acting early to prevent it.

Early
The earlier you act, the more we can do
100%
Strictly confidential. No obligation. No referral chain.
$0
Unnecessary liability left on the table

The Ashborne Difference

By the time most directors get specialist advice, half their options are already gone.

The phone call you're putting off. The notice in the drawer. The meeting your accountant suggested but didn't take further. Every week of delay narrows what's possible — and the day the ATO files a statutory demand or a creditor lodges in court, the doors that were open last month begin to close.

Ashborne Advisory is Melbourne's specialist firm for pre-insolvency, restructuring, corporate structuring, and asset protection. We're the people directors and business owners call when accountants and lawyers have reached the limit of their domain. Legally trained, commercially focused, and built to work directly with the person carrying the weight — not through layers of process. Located in Melbourne. Servicing every state in Australia.

Our Practice

Four pillars. One firm. No referral chain.

Pre-insolvency, restructuring, corporate structuring, and asset protection — the four areas a director under pressure (or planning ahead of it) actually needs, handled by the same firm. No handoffs, no second appointment, no losing the thread.

Director Penalty Notice Defence

A DPN puts the ATO inside your personal balance sheet. We assess whether it's lockdown or non-lockdown, identify your statutory window, and act on the response options that actually protect you — not the ones that look good on paper.

DPN defence →

ATO Debt Negotiation

Once tax debt crosses six figures, the ATO's posture changes. Payment plans, interest remissions, and debt compromises remain on the table — but only if they're requested correctly, with the right structure and the right evidence. We handle the negotiation directly.

ATO negotiation →

Pre-Insolvency Planning

The window between financial pressure and formal insolvency is where outcomes are actually decided. We map every legitimate option — restructure, compromise, Small Business Restructuring, voluntary administration alternatives — before the door closes on any of them.

Pre-insolvency planning →

Corporate Structuring & Asset Protection

What isn't structured before the storm arrives is exposed when it does. Discretionary trusts, corporate trustees, holding-and-operating splits, properly separated personal and business assets — built early, documented thoroughly, defensible under scrutiny. Done right, the problem stops at the company door.

Structuring & protection →

Who We Help

If the pressure is real, you're in the right place.

You've spent years building something. A cash flow crisis, a tax dispute, or a single notice you didn't see coming shouldn't be allowed to take it all. The work is making sure it doesn't.

  • Directors with ATO debt over $100,000, unpaid superannuation, or PAYG/GST arrears
  • Business owners who have received a Director Penalty Notice
  • Directors trading at the edge of solvency, weighing safe harbour against restructure
  • Individuals facing personal liability from company obligations or guarantees
  • Successful business owners structuring assets ahead of risk, not after it
  • Those referred by accountants, lawyers, or brokers when the matter exceeds their remit
Common situations we resolve
Director Penalty Notices
Personal liability for the company's PAYG, GST, or super. The window can close in 21 days.
ATO debt & recovery action
Accumulated tax debt, garnishee notices, statutory demands, or active recovery proceedings.
Insolvent trading exposure
Continuing to trade where the company may not be able to meet its debts as they fall due.
Pre-crisis restructuring
Pressure building. Acting before the situation becomes irreversible — while options remain.
Asset protection ahead of risk
Structuring trusts, holdings, and personal assets while the window for legitimate planning is open.
"We didn't know we had options until Ashborne Advisory sat down with us. Within a week we had a clear plan — and for the first time in months, we could sleep."
Business Owner, Construction Industry

Frequently Asked

Answers to the questions directors ask first.

Timeless guidance on the situations we work in every day — Director Penalty Notices, ATO debt, pre-insolvency planning, corporate structuring, and asset protection.

What is pre-insolvency advisory, and how is it different from what an accountant or lawyer does?
Pre-insolvency advisory is specialist work in the months between financial pressure arriving and formal insolvency becoming necessary. Accountants are tax-focused and usually do not specialise in distress; lawyers typically engage when matters are already in dispute or court; insolvency practitioners are appointed once a formal process begins. Pre-insolvency advisory occupies the gap — assessing every legitimate option (negotiation, restructure, Small Business Restructuring, voluntary administration alternatives, formal insolvency where appropriate) while the widest range of options is still available.
What is a Director Penalty Notice (DPN), and what happens when one is issued?
A Director Penalty Notice is issued by the Australian Taxation Office to make a director personally liable for the company's unpaid PAYG withholding, GST, or superannuation guarantee charge. There are two types. A non-lockdown DPN generally provides a statutory window (commonly 21 days) within which the director can avoid personal liability by paying the debt, entering an arrangement with the ATO, or appointing a small business restructuring practitioner, voluntary administrator, or liquidator. A lockdown DPN applies where the relevant amounts were not reported to the ATO within statutory timeframes, and personal liability is automatic — the only way to avoid it is to pay. Specialist advice should be obtained immediately on receipt of any DPN, because the response options narrow rapidly once the window starts running.
What happens if a Director Penalty Notice is ignored?
Ignoring a non-lockdown DPN means losing the response options the statutory window protects. Once the window closes, the director becomes personally liable for the underlying tax debt and the ATO can pursue recovery against personal assets — including issuing garnishee notices, registering judgments, and bankruptcy proceedings. Ignoring a lockdown DPN is even more serious, as personal liability is already in place. In practice, the cost of obtaining specialist advice on receipt of the notice is almost always a fraction of the cost of the consequences of inaction.
I have significant ATO debt — what are my options?
Once tax debt becomes material, the ATO's posture shifts from collection to recovery — including statutory demands, garnishee notices, director penalty notices, and wind-up or bankruptcy applications. Options remain available, including payment arrangements, interest remission requests, debt compromise arrangements, Small Business Restructuring, voluntary administration, and structured pre-insolvency planning. Each requires the right framing, the right evidence, and the right timing. Specialist negotiation generally produces materially better outcomes than direct director engagement once debt is at recovery levels.
What is Small Business Restructuring (SBR)?
Small Business Restructuring is a formal debt restructuring process under Part 5.3B of the Corporations Act 2001, available to eligible small companies. It allows directors to retain control of the company while a Small Business Restructuring Practitioner helps develop a plan to compromise debts with creditors, who then vote on the proposal. Compared to voluntary administration, SBR is generally cheaper, faster, and director-led. Eligibility, plan design, and creditor engagement all benefit from specialist advice — a poorly framed plan is rejected, and a director's options narrow significantly after rejection.
Can I protect my home and personal assets from business creditors?
In many cases, yes — but only through proper corporate structuring and asset protection planning implemented before creditor pressure arrives. Common structures include discretionary trusts, corporate trustees, holding-and-operating company splits, and properly separated personal and business holdings. After creditor pressure has commenced, options narrow significantly because Australian law allows clawback of transactions intended to defeat creditors (including under uncommercial transaction, unreasonable director-related transaction, and creditor-defeating disposition provisions of the Corporations Act). The earlier this is addressed, the more defensible the structure.
What is the difference between corporate structuring and asset protection?
Corporate structuring is the design of the entity framework a business operates through — companies, trusts, holding-and-operating splits — to suit the business's commercial activity, tax position, and risk profile. Asset protection is the deliberate separation of valuable assets from operational risk, so that creditor pressure on the business does not reach personal or non-operating holdings. The two work together: good corporate structure makes asset protection defensible, and asset protection without proper underlying structure is fragile. Both are most effective when designed early, well before any pressure arrives.
I'm in Sydney, Brisbane, or another state — can you still help?
Yes. Ashborne Advisory is based in Melbourne, Victoria, and works with directors, business owners, and individuals across every state and territory of Australia — including Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Canberra, and Darwin. Most engagements are conducted by phone, video, and secure document exchange, so location rarely affects the work or the timeline. Australian corporate, tax, and insolvency law is federal, which means the framework we work within is consistent across the country.
When should I get pre-insolvency advice?
As early as possible. The earlier specialist advice is obtained, the wider the range of legitimate options available — and the better the leverage in any negotiation with the ATO or creditors. Once formal action begins (DPN issued, statutory demand served, ATO recovery commenced, judgment registered), the available options narrow rapidly. For corporate structuring and asset protection specifically, the work is most effective when implemented before pressure arrives — Australian law provides creditor-defeating disposition provisions that allow clawback of transactions made when insolvency was foreseeable.
Are consultations confidential, and is there any obligation?
Every consultation is strictly confidential from the first interaction. There is no obligation, no automatic referral chain, and no engagement until both parties have agreed on the work, the scope, and the basis. Initial consultations exist precisely so that directors and business owners can understand what is and is not possible — without committing to anything.

Have a question that isn't here?

Take Action

The earlier we have the conversation, the more we can do.

Strictly confidential. No obligation. No referral chain. A direct call with a specialist adviser who deals with this every day — usually within one business day.