Corporate Insolvency
Corporate insolvency advice that starts before the options run out
Unpaid ATO liabilities, creditor pressure and ongoing losses are the usual triggers. We set out what a company can still do about them: restructure and keep trading, trade under protection, or wind up in an orderly way.
Financial distress shows up long before a company is wound up
A company is insolvent when it is unable to pay its debts as and when they fall due. Solvency is a cash-flow test, not a balance-sheet one; a business with assets on paper can still be insolvent.
A company director who suspects the company may be insolvent and continues to incur debts risks personal liability for insolvent trading. Getting advice early is what keeps safe harbour and restructuring available; both close once a company is too far gone.
Sometimes the answer is to restructure and continue operating. Sometimes it's an orderly wind-down that limits ongoing losses. We'll tell you which.
What you still control when you move early
Acting before a crisis is terminal changes what's on the table. These four things are usually still protectable.
Protect value in the business
Assets, contracts, key staff and goodwill erode quickly once a company is in distress. Moving early preserves what a buyer or a restructure can still use.
Limit personal liability
Personal guarantees, Director Penalty Notice exposure and insolvent trading can often be managed while options remain. Insolvent trading can lead to compensation orders and civil penalties, and criminal charges where dishonesty is involved.
Protect employees and creditors
Entitlements and creditor obligations are dealt with properly and in statutory order, rather than by whoever applies the most pressure.
A defined process
A formal appointment replaces open-ended uncertainty with statutory timeframes and an independent practitioner dealing with creditors and other parties.
Common corporate insolvency procedures
There's no single answer. The right path depends on whether the business is viable, how much time you have, and who has already taken action.
Small Business Restructuring
Stay in control while you restructure debt.
For eligible small companies, small business restructuring allows directors to continue operating the business and managing its affairs while a restructuring practitioner helps put a plan in place with creditors to repay a portion of debts over time. Directors remain in control throughout.
Small business restructuring →Voluntary Administration
Breathing space to find the best outcome for creditors.
A voluntary administrator takes control of the company and manages its affairs while the business is assessed. Creditor action is suspended during the appointment. Creditors then vote on the company's future - commonly a Deed of Company Arrangement, a binding company arrangement that returns more to creditors than an immediate liquidation would.
Voluntary administration →Liquidation
An orderly, properly handled wind-down.
A Creditors' Voluntary Liquidation brings a controlled end to a company with no viable future. A liquidator realises assets, investigates the company's affairs, deals with creditors and distributes funds in the order set by the Corporations Act. Directors provide a statement of the company's affairs and step out of the day-to-day. A company can also be wound up by the court on a creditor's application.
Liquidation →Turnaround & Restructuring
Restructure the debt and keep trading.
Not every company in financial difficulty needs a formal external administration. Where there's a viable business underneath, we work directly on funding, the cost base and creditor negotiations - including safe harbour advice, which can protect directors from insolvent trading liability while a genuine restructuring course of action is pursued in good faith.
Turnaround & restructuring →Receivership
What it means when a secured creditor appoints.
A receiver is usually appointed by a secured creditor to take control of specific assets and recover what it's owed. A receivership can run alongside another external administration, and the company's directors don't choose it. There are still decisions worth getting right, and the window to influence them is short.
Receivership →What happens when you get in touch
Three steps, with no obligation at any of them.
- STEP 1
A free call with a Registered Liquidator
Tell us what's happening with the company in your own words. We'll ask about the ATO position, secured and unsecured debts, employees, and how much time you have.
- STEP 2
We assess solvency and set out the options
We review the company's financial position and explain which corporate insolvency procedures are genuinely available in your context, what each costs, and what each means for you personally.
- STEP 3
We take the appointment and run it
If you proceed, we handle the process end to end - creditors, employees, statutory reporting and ASIC obligations - so you can deal with what comes next.
What people ask us first
Straight answers to the questions we hear most.
When is a company actually insolvent?+
What's the difference between voluntary administration and liquidation?+
Can I be personally liable for the company's debts?+
Does a director stay in control during small business restructuring?+
What happens to employees and their entitlements?+
Real people, on your side, when it matters most
At Rapsey Griffiths, you'll deal with the people whose name is on the door - Mitch Griffiths and Chad Rapsey, Founders. Mitch and Chad have spent decades on corporate insolvency matters and turnaround work across NSW and nationally. You'll get a direct view of where the company stands and what we'd do about it. If a business can be saved, we'll say so, and if it can't, we'll say that too.
Explore how else we can help
Turnaround & restructuring
Restructure the debt and keep trading, before anyone is appointed.
What turnaround involves →Personal insolvency solutions
Where a director's own position needs dealing with alongside the company's.
Compare all personal options →For accountants & advisors
Confidential support and clear options papers when your clients face financial stress.
How we work with advisors →