The Holistic Accountant
A holistic accountant goes beyond tax returns, aiming to offer proactive advice to maximise clients' wealth after all taxes. Stuart Wemyss and Mena Abraham explore multifaceted considerations weekly, highlighting the need for a holistic approach. Each episode is succinct and to the point with no fluff or sales pitches. For further details, check out www.prosolution.com.au.
Episodes
Most business owners focus on hiring costs while completely missing what their own time costs the business.
In this episode, Stuart and Mena unpack “The Delegation Tax,” the hidden cost of founders staying too involved in low-value work. It’s not salaries that hold businesses back; it’s bottlenecks. When decision-making, approvals, and execution all run through one person, growth slows, opportunities are missed, and ...
In this episode, Stuart and Mena challenge one of the most common assumptions in business: that underperformance is a people problem. Instead, he makes the case that most issues inside a team stem from a lack of clarity, unclear expectations, mixed signals, and poorly defined standards.
They explain why most employees genuinely want to do good work, and how vague instructions like “do a great job” fail unless they ar...
Random distributions create random wealth outcomes.
In this episode, Stuart and Mena introduce the concept most business owners don’t have, but desperately need: a written capital allocation policy.
They break down how surplus cash should be intentionally directed across six competing uses: owner wage, tax, buffers, reinvestment, external investing, and lifestyle. Because if it’s not decided in advance, it gets decide...
You think you’re making 40%. In reality, you might be making 15%.
In this episode, Stuart and Mena expose the “mark-up illusion”, the common mistake of calculating margin on materials alone while ignoring direct labour, superannuation, payroll tax, leave entitlements, contractor equivalents, and production-related costs.
When gross margin is miscalculated, everything downstream breaks: pricing, hiring, scaling, and ca...
You cannot scramble your way to a premium exit in 90 days.
In this episode, Stuart and Mena explain why serious exit preparation begins at least two years before you plan to sell, and why buyers immediately discount businesses that look messy, unclear, or founder-dependent.
They walk through what buyers are actually purchasing: predictable cashflow, transferable systems, and low risk. Not personality. Not a heroic eff...
At some point, every growing business owner faces the same dilemma: how do you get owner-level thinking from key staff without handing over real equity?
In this episode, Stuart and Mena unpack the concept of shadow equity incentive structures designed to drive performance and long-term thinking without introducing governance risk. Because real equity isn’t just upside participation. It comes with voting rights, decis...
Here’s a confronting question: If you disappeared for 30 days, what actually breaks?
In this episode, Stuart and Mena unpack the Key Person Discount, the invisible valuation penalty applied when a business is overly dependent on its founder. Buyers, banks, and investors assume the worst when continuity relies on one individual, and they price that risk in quietly but aggressively.
They walk through the real failure po...
Many business owners feel stuck in the uncomfortable middle: too big for basic bookkeeping, but not ready or willing to pay for a full-time CFO. The result? Numbers that exist, but don’t drive decisions.
In this episode, Stuart and Mena break down the three distinct layers of the finance function and why skipping or compressing them causes so many businesses to stall. They explain what bookkeeping is meant to do (and...
Philanthropy changes when wealth reaches a certain scale. It stops being about one-off generosity and starts becoming a question of structure, intent, and legacy.
In this episode, Stuart and Mena explore Private Ancillary Funds (PAFs) and why they are increasingly used by high-net-worth families who want to give back in a deliberate, governed, and sustainable way. They unpack what a PAF actually is, how it works, and...
Most business owners believe accounting is a commodity. The tax return gets lodged, the ATO is paid, and everything looks fine, so why pay more?
In this episode, Stuart and Mena unpack why choosing an accountant purely on price can quietly cost you far more over time, even when nothing appears “wrong”. They explain why tax and accounting stop being mechanical once a business grows, and why judgment, not compliance, i...
In the early years of running a business, most financial mistakes aren’t dramatic; they’re subtle, common, and quietly destructive. And by the time many entrepreneurs realise something is wrong, the damage is already done.
In this episode, Stuart and Mena break down the most common financial mistakes entrepreneurs make in their first three years and, more importantly, how a CFO would approach them differently.
We cove...
Most business owners glance at their financial statements and move on. CFOs do the opposite; they use them as a decision-making tool to spot risks early, improve performance, and protect cash flow.
In this episode, Stuart and Mena break down how CFOs actually read financial statements, in plain English, without jargon or accounting theory. They walk through the three core questions every set of numbers should answer...
In this episode, Stuart and Mena explore one of the most common and misunderstood questions business owners face: how to tax-effectively get money into and out of a company. Whether you’re starting a business, investing in one, or managing retained profits, understanding the right structure from the outset can save you from costly mistakes later on.
They walk through the key ways to fund a company, either by loaning ...
In this episode, Mena and Stuart unpack the ins and outs of Australia’s often misunderstood 6-year CGT exemption rule for main residences. They explore how this powerful tax concession can help homeowners maximise profits when selling a property they no longer live in, particularly those who rent it out after moving. Listeners will learn the exact eligibility criteria, including how to ensure a property still qualif...
In this episode, Stuart and Mena take a deep dive into one of the biggest and often most misunderstood taxes investors face, Capital Gains Tax (CGT). Whether you're dealing with property, shares, or business assets, they explain why the smartest CGT strategies begin not at the point of sale, but before you even buy the asset.
They start by breaking down how CGT works, who gets the 50% discount, and why holding s...
In this episode, Mena and Stuart unpack the latest tax updates for the 2025–26 financial year, helping listeners navigate changes that could impact their personal finances and business planning. They kick off with the Super Guarantee (SG) increase to 12%, highlighting what this means for employers and employees alike. Next, they discuss the end of deductions for ATO interest charges, a significant shift that removes...
In this episode, Stuart and Mena unpack the five lessons that kept surfacing across 500+ founder interviews from The School of Hard Knocks, and translate them into actions for ambitious owners. First: persistence beats genius. Treat growth like a “game of doubles,” stacking small wins and showing up long after motivation fades. Second: reframe failure and take calculated risks; each “no” is a step closer to “yes,” p...
In this episode, Stuart and Mena unveil a strategic shortcut for time-poor founders: five questions that cut through noise and pinpoint the few moves that truly move the needle. They start with “Why frameworks matter,” showing how focusing on choosing one or two high-value projects beats juggling 27 “priorities.” Then they work the 5-Question framework: (1) Where will we play? Define tight boundaries (industry, geog...
In this episode, Stuart and Mena unpack ten punchy lessons from Verne Harnish’s Scaling Up, plus a sharp LinkedIn distillation by Jennifer Berkowitz, and translate them for Australian SMEs. They start with the big two: why speed wins (compress decision-to-execution with short cycles, guardrails, and rapid prototypes) and why simplicity scales (a one-page strategy everyone can explain). Then it’s “you can’t grow what...
In this candid episode, Stuart and Mena unpack the red flags that signal it’s time to rethink your accountant or business advisor, and what “great” should look like instead. They start with the biggest warning sign: a reactive advisor who only appears at tax time. From there, they cover a checklist of concerns, including advisors who don’t understand your industry or goals, cling to outdated systems, hide behind vag...
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