The right startup accountant shapes your options long before your first funding round. Decisions made in the first months, including how you record costs and when you issue shares, determine which concessions remain available and how investors will assess the business. At Mizael Partners, we advise founders across Australia on entity structure, available tax incentives, and the financial reporting that investors expect.
Whether your business is pre-revenue, preparing for a seed round, or hiring its first employees, we manage compliance, reporting, and tax planning so you can focus on developing your product. Our cloud-based service operates consistently in every state and territory, with our team located across Australia.
A startup does not need to be located near one of our offices to engage us. Our cloud-based systems let us support founders in every state and territory to the same standard, using Xero, MYOB, or QuickBooks so you and your accountant work from the same figures.
If you prefer an in-person meeting, our offices are in Melbourne CBD, Ringwood, North Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth.
Support That Fits Your Stage
Your startup may be building its first product, growing through revenue or raising capital. The accounting work should reflect what comes next.
01 · ESTABLISHING
Review your structure, separate business transactions and record founder funding correctly before the accounts become harder to untangle.
02 · TRADING & HIRING
Bring reporting, payroll and tax commitments into your spending decisions. Assess the cash effect of taking on staff or expanding operations.
03 · FUNDING & EXPANSION
Reconcile the accounts, document forecast assumptions and organise supporting schedules before investors or lenders request them.
What We Can Help With
Startups differ from conventional small businesses. Tax position, equity arrangements, and reporting requirements change materially as a company raises capital, recruits, and scales. The areas below are where we work most closely with founders, and each connects to the compliance services we already provide.
Entity structure determines who may invest, how founders hold their shares, and which incentives remain available, including R&D, ESIC, and ESS concessions. We review your fundraising, equity, and hiring plans before you incorporate or restructure, then manage the set-up and your ongoing company annual returns.
The R&D tax incentive can fund a meaningful portion of a startup's development work, with a refundable offset of 43.5% for most early-stage companies. We assess eligible expenditure, prepare the R&D schedule with your income tax return, and code costs to R&D activities from the first month.
Investors in an early-stage innovation company may receive a tax offset, making ESIC status a key consideration in a seed round. We assess your position against the early-stage and innovation tests before issuing shares, so eligibility is established before investors ask.
Equity can assist recruitment when cash is limited, and the ESS start-up concession can remove the up-front tax on the discount employees receive when the conditions are met. We determine market value, document the conditions before making offers, and manage the related payroll and ATO reporting.
Investors compare your reported figures against your lodgements, and gaps between them delay due diligence. Our CFO advisory team prepares monthly management reports and KPI dashboards, and assembles a diligence file of reconciled financials, BAS and payroll records, and R&D and ESS documentation before you raise.
Runway planning requires more than dividing cash by monthly spend, because tax and payroll obligations arrive on fixed dates. We prepare 13-week cash flow forecasts and scenario models for hiring, marketing, and funding rounds, and we model any R&D refund as a dated inflow.
Core compliance must remain current without taking founder time. We prepare and lodge your BAS monthly, quarterly, or annually, file your payroll tax, and set up bookkeeping in Xero, MYOB, or QuickBooks with automated bank feeds, with migration and clean-up available before a raise or an R&D claim.
Founders face decisions on pricing, hiring, and expansion before the business has the data to settle them. Our advisory team works through those decisions with you using your current financials, and our mentoring service supports founders building their first leadership team and setting company priorities.
We focus on structure, setup, bookkeeping, and R&D record-keeping so nothing needs unwinding later.
We add monthly accounting, quarterly BAS, and advisory sessions, so that your reporting keeps pace with investor expectations.
We add payroll, forecasting, and strategy support, with business structuring and virtual CFO services available as required.
All services are quoted as a fixed-fee accounting package based on your business size and the services you need, so you know the cost before you commit.
A profitable forecast can still leave your startup short of cash. Payment timing, payroll, taxes, and new spending all affect how much cash you have available.
We help you test those assumptions before you commit to a hire, a supplier contract or a growth plan.
Talk through your forecastWorking With Mizael Partners
Start with the decisions and obligations in front of you. Then agree on the accounting support your startup needs.
Tell us about your startup, current accounting arrangements and immediate questions. Bring any relevant reporting or upcoming deadlines.
We outline the proposed services, information needed, responsibilities and fees. One-off advisory work and ongoing support can be scoped separately.
Confirm access to the relevant records, set the reporting schedule, and agree on how information will be shared and reviewed.
We have assisted more than 2,000 clients to become compliant, self-sustaining, and ready for growth.
Our team operates across Australia, with cloud-based support available to founders in every state and territory.
The same people provide accounting, tax, CFO advisory, and business structuring.
We confirm the cost before the work begins.
Our 95% client retention rate reflects clients who remain with us as their business grows.
Tell us where your startup is today and what you need to resolve. We’ll discuss how Mizael Partners can help with your accounting, tax and financial reporting.
Call 1300 444 004. Free 30-minute initial consultation for new business clients.
Yes, provided the company is eligible. A loss-making company may receive the offset as a cash payment, but activities must be registered by the required deadline, and the company makes the claim through its tax return. We prepare the return and R&D schedule.
A company must meet an early-stage test and an innovation test. We review your accounts against both, assess where you stand, and advise whether an ATO ruling should be sought before shares are issued.
For most startups planning to raise capital, a company is the practical choice. Investors acquire shares in a company, and the R&D tax incentive, ESIC, and ESS start-up concession all depend on that structure. The appropriate answer still depends on the founders, the funding plans, and how the business will be held before a raise. We assess the options and manage the setup and ongoing annual company returns.
Ideally before trading commences, and no later than the first BAS lodgement, the first hire, or the first conversation with an investor. Setting up structure, bookkeeping, and R&D record-keeping correctly at the outset is far less costly than fixing it later. Our free 30-minute consultation is a straightforward place to begin.
Investors expect reconciled financial statements, a cap table that matches share issue records, and management accounts that tie back to BAS, payroll, and superannuation lodgements. Investors will also request details of R&D claims, ESS documentation, and the cash flow forecast. We prepare the diligence file and monthly reporting with you so the documents are ready before you receive the term sheet.
Yes. Founders in every state and territory work with us through our cloud-based systems, and the service is consistent wherever you are located. Where an in-person meeting is preferred, our offices across Australia are available.
Mizael Partners is led by founding director Ryan Mizael, an accountant serving Melbourne, Sydney and beyond with decades of industry experience. Ryan’s approach combines technical expertise with genuine care for each client’s success. His guidance continues to shape a firm culture built on trust, accountability, and measurable outcomes.
Mizael Partners are proud Chartered Accountants and registered auditors. We offer you the best service and expertise through partnership with these trusted providers.
Don’t just take our word for it. Hear from some of the clients we have had the pleasure of working with.
We provide a range of accounting, auditing, bookkeeping and forensic accounting services to help make businesses efficient and compliant for growth. View some of our client case studies.