Entering the Australian market? We make the financial side simple.

Impulse Accountants helps foreign companies set up, run, and grow their Australian operations — from company registration to transfer pricing, payroll, and ongoing compliance. One firm. One partner. End-to-end.

Download the AU Market Entry Guide
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Specialist, not generalist

We work specifically with foreign companies entering Australia. We understand cross-border tax, transfer pricing, FIRB, and what an offshore Group CFO actually needs to see in a monthly report.

Fixed-fee, not surprise bills

Most setup and tax-foundation work is delivered as a fixed-fee package, agreed upfront. No hourly meter, no surprise invoices.

Bilingual support

Our team supports clients in English and Mandarin, with translated documents available on request. We’re comfortable on WeChat and across Asia-Pacific time zones.

Who we help

Impulse Accountants supports foreign-headquartered companies at every stage of their Australian journey:

  • Pre-entry — evaluating whether to set up an Australian entity, a branch, or sell through a distributor; understanding the tax cost of each path before you commit.
  • Launching — registering the Australian company, opening a bank account, getting tax registrations in place, and hiring your first employee.
  • Pre-entry — evaluating whether to set up an Australian entity, a branch, or sell through a distributor; understanding the tax cost of each path before you commit.
  • Launching — registering the Australian company, opening a bank account, getting tax registrations in place, and hiring your first employee.

Whether you are a Chinese ESS manufacturer launching your first Australian subsidiary, an Italian transformer maker considering a Pty Ltd, or a US software company scaling an existing AU office — we have done this work before.

Our typical client is a foreign manufacturer or technology company with global headcount of 50–500, planning to do A$5M–A$50M in Australian revenue within three years.

Services for international clients

End-to-end coverage of every financial, tax, and compliance need a foreign-headquartered business has in Australia.

1. Setup & Structuring

Get the foundation right the first time. Wrong entity choice or rushed registration creates tax problems that cost five-figure sums to fix later.

Australian Company Setup for Foreign Parents

Full Pty Ltd registration with ASIC, set up correctly for a foreign-parent structure. We handle the share structure, constitution, and resident-director arrangement — not just the registration form.

Australian Company Setup for Foreign Parents

Full Pty Ltd registration with ASIC, set up correctly for a foreign-parent structure. We handle the share structure, constitution, and resident-director arrangement — not just the registration form.

Australian Company Setup for Foreign Parents

Full Pty Ltd registration with ASIC, set up correctly for a foreign-parent structure. We handle the share structure, constitution, and resident-director arrangement — not just the registration form.

Australian Company Setup for Foreign Parents

Full Pty Ltd registration with ASIC, set up correctly for a foreign-parent structure. We handle the share structure, constitution, and resident-director arrangement — not just the registration form.

Australian Bank Account Introduction

We introduce you to business bankers who actually open accounts for foreign-owned subsidiaries (most don’t). We prepare the documentation and accompany you to the meeting where helpful.

Share Issue & Shareholder Documentation

Share issues, shareholder agreements, and parent-subsidiary loan documentation set up correctly from day one — these are the documents the ATO will ask for in any future audit.

2.Tax & Cross-Border

The areas where foreign subsidiaries get into the most trouble — and the areas most general accountants don’t handle well.

Transfer Pricing Documentation & Advisory

When your Australian subsidiary buys from, sells to, or pays the parent for anything, the ATO expects formal transfer pricing documentation. We prepare the documentation, set defensible margins, and brief your team on what records to keep. This is the #1 audit trigger for foreign-owned subsidiaries.

Cross-Border Tax & Double-Tax Treaty Analysis

Australia has tax treaties with more than 45 countries. Knowing how your home-country treaty interacts with Australian rules — on dividends, royalties, interest, and service fees — is the difference between paying 30% withholding and paying 0–10%.
Withholding Tax Advice

Royalties, interest, dividends, management fees, and technical-service fees paid offshore are all subject to Australian withholding. We get the rate right, lodge the returns, and document the basis.

Permanent Establishment (PE) Risk Assessment

If you operate in Australia without an entity, you may already have a ‘permanent establishment’ — exposing the parent to Australian tax. We assess the risk and structure the activity to keep you on the right side of the line.

Corporate Tax Planning & Lodgement

If you operate in Australia without an entity, you may already have a ‘permanent establishment’ — exposing the parent to Australian tax. We assess the risk and structure the activity to keep you on the right side of the line.

GST on Imported Goods & Services

GST registration, treatment of imports, input-tax credits on customs-cleared goods, GST-free vs. taxable supplies — the complete picture for hardware importers and service providers.

Customs & Duty Coordination

We work with established customs broker partners to ensure tariff classifications, free-trade-agreement claims (China-Australia FTA, Korea-Australia FTA, Japan-Australia EPA, etc.), and import GST flow correctly between your accounting and customs records.
Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) Setup & Compliance

Cars, phones, entertainment, expat allowances — Australia taxes employee benefits separately from income tax. We set up FBT correctly the first time and lodge the annual return.

 

R&D Tax Incentive Registration & Claims

Up to 43.5% refundable tax offset for eligible R&D activities. We register your activities with AusIndustry, prepare the technical and expenditure claims, and defend them if reviewed.

Tax Residency & Source-of-Income Advice

For directors, expat employees, and the parent entity itself — clear advice on who is taxed where, and what documentation supports the position.

ATO Audit & Review Support

If the ATO comes asking — and for foreign subsidiaries, sooner or later they will — we prepare the responses, manage the correspondence, and represent you through to resolution.

3. Payroll & People

Hiring your first Australian employee triggers more compliance than most companies expect. We make the payroll-and-people side as straightforward as the tax side.

Payroll Setup for Foreign Subsidiaries

Single Touch Payroll (STP), PAYG withholding, superannuation guarantee (currently 12%), payslips, leave accruals, and end-of-year reporting — all set up in your accounting software so payroll runs cleanly from your first hire onward.

First-Hire Onboarding & Employment Compliance

Modern Award classification, Fair Work compliance, employment contracts that meet Australian standards, and the National Employment Standards (NES) embedded into how you run payroll.

 

Expat & Inbound Employee Tax

Living-Away-From-Home Allowance (LAFHA), residency-based taxation, foreign-share-scheme tax events, super for non-residents — the specific issues that come with sending head-office staff to Australia.

Migration-Agent Coordination

We work alongside registered migration agents to coordinate the financial and tax side of work-visa applications (482 / Subclass 186 / Employer Sponsored Nominations). We don’t provide migration advice ourselves — we make sure the financials line up with what the migration agent needs.

Salary Packaging & Director Remuneration Advice

Tax-effective remuneration for directors and senior staff, including the FBT consequences of every option — so head office sees a salary cost that matches what was budgeted.

4. Ongoing Finance & Reporting

Once the entity is running, we keep it running cleanly — and we report back to head office in the format and currency your Group CFO actually wants to see.

Outsourced CFO for Australian Subsidiaries

A partner-level finance lead embedded in your business — without the cost of a full-time hire. We attend board meetings, review pricing decisions, manage banking relationships, and own the finance function until you’re ready to bring it in-house.

Bookkeeping & Cloud Accounting

Daily bookkeeping in Xero, MYOB, or QuickBooks — whichever your group uses. We can also work alongside parent-company ERPs (SAP, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics) where that’s the requirement.

BAS & IAS Preparation and Lodgement

Quarterly Business Activity Statements and monthly Instalment Activity Statements, prepared and lodged on time. We reconcile every BAS to your accounting records before lodging — no surprises.

Monthly Management Accounts in Parent Reporting Format

P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow delivered in your group’s format and currency (USD, CNY, EUR, JPY, KRW), aligned to your group close timetable. Your Group CFO sees the Australian entity in the same shape as every other subsidiary.

Salary Packaging & Director Remuneration Advice

Tax-effective remuneration for directors and senior staff, including the FBT consequences of every option — so head office sees a salary cost that matches what was budgeted.