Request a Free Consultation
Get a no-obligation review of your arborist business finances. Whether you need help with tax deductions, BAS lodgement, equipment finance, or business benchmarking, George Morice and the Arbour Advisory team are here to help.
What to Expect
Your free consultation covers a 30-minute review of your current financial position. We look at your business structure, tax situation, and identify areas where you may be overpaying tax or missing deductions specific to the arborist industry.
- Tax deduction review – identify claims you may be missing on equipment, vehicles, PPE, training, and subcontractors
- Business structure assessment – sole trader, company, or trust: which structure saves you the most tax
- BAS and compliance check – are your lodgements up to date and correctly calculated
- Equipment finance guidance – buy, lease, or chattel mortgage: what works best for your next chipper or crane
- Benchmarking snapshot – how your revenue, margins, and costs compare to other arborist businesses your size
Tell Us About Your Business
Fill in the form below and we will be in touch within one business day. All information is kept strictly confidential.
Why Arborists Choose Arbour Advisory
We work exclusively with arborists and tree care businesses. That means we understand your industry benchmarks, your equipment depreciation schedules, your seasonal cash flow patterns, and the ATO audit triggers specific to tree services.
- Specialist arborist knowledge – we know the difference between a repair and an improvement on a wood chipper, and why it matters to the ATO
- Proactive tax planning – we do not just lodge your return, we plan ahead to minimise your tax legally
- Industry benchmarking – compare your business performance against real data from other arborist operations
- Equipment finance expertise – we help you structure purchases for maximum tax benefit
- Chartered accountant and registered tax agent – George Morice CA holds a current registration with the Tax Practitioners Board
Common Questions About Our Free Consultation
Is the consultation really free?
Yes. The initial 30-minute consultation is completely free with no obligation. We use it to understand your business and identify whether we can add value. If we are not the right fit, we will tell you.
What should I bring to the consultation?
Ideally, your most recent tax return, a recent BAS, and a rough idea of your annual revenue and major expenses. If you do not have these handy, that is fine – we can still have a productive conversation about your business.
Do you work with sole traders and companies?
Yes. We work with arborists at every stage – from sole traders running a single truck to companies with 20+ employees and multiple crews. Our services scale to fit your business.
Can you help if I already have an accountant?
Absolutely. Many of our clients come to us because their general accountant does not understand the arborist industry. We offer a free second opinion and can handle the transition if you decide to switch. Read more about switching to a specialist arborist accountant.
Where are you located?
Our office is at 1 James Place, North Sydney NSW 2060. We work with arborists across Australia – most of our client communication happens over phone, video call, and our online portal. See our location pages for Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane.
What to expect in your 30-minute consultation
No slide decks, no sales pitch. Just 30 minutes on the phone with George Morice — a Chartered Accountant who actually understands arborist businesses. Here’s how we spend the time:
- Minute 0–5 — Your business snapshot. Turnover, structure (sole trader, company, trust), how many staff, how long you’ve been going, and what’s currently doing your head in.
- Minute 5–15 — Tax position review. We look at where you are right now and where the easy wins are. Most first-time callers have $5,000–$15,000 sitting in missed deductions they didn’t know they could claim.
- Minute 15–25 — Equipment finance or cash flow strategy. Whichever is your bigger headache. If you’re looking at a new chipper or crane truck, we’ll run the numbers on lease vs chattel mortgage vs cash. If cash flow is the problem, we’ll work out where the leak is.
- Minute 25–30 — Your action plan. You walk away with 3 things to do this week and 3 things to plan for this quarter. Written down, not just talked about.
Sample consultation agenda (de-identified real example)
Here’s what a typical call actually looks like. This is a composite of real conversations George has had in the last 12 months — details changed to protect the client.
A Brisbane-based arborist, 4 staff including one apprentice, around $780k turnover, operating as a sole trader with an ABN and using a shoebox bookkeeper.
What George picked up in 30 minutes:
- Structure was wrong for the size of the business — personal asset exposure was significant, and the top marginal tax rate was eating the profit.
- PPE, chainsaw sharpening, boots, and a chunk of ute running costs were not being claimed.
- A $68,000 chipper bought the year before hadn’t been written off under the instant asset write-off threshold because the bookkeeper didn’t know it qualified.
- Super for the apprentice was being calculated on the wrong base.
What got actioned:
- Restructured to a Pty Ltd company with a discretionary trust on top — asset protection fixed, income splitting available.
- Amended prior year return to claim the chipper write-off.
- Switched to a cloud bookkeeping setup so deductions stop falling through the cracks.
- Set up a quarterly tax planning meeting instead of an end-of-year panic.
Outcome: A tax saving in the five-figure range in year one, plus a handful of hours back each week that used to go into chasing receipts and wondering what the BAS was going to look like. Not every call produces this sort of result — but every call produces something you can act on.
Common questions George answers on first calls
If you’re sitting on any of these, you’re not alone. These come up most weeks:
- “Should I be a sole trader or a company?”
- “Can I actually claim my chainsaw, PPE, boots, and climbing gear?”
- “How do I finance a new chipper without killing my cash flow for six months?”
- “What should I be paying my apprentice — and what’s the super on top?”
- “Do I need a BAS agent, or is my bookkeeper enough?”
- “The ATO is asking about a debt — what do I do?”
- “I want to sell the business in 3–5 years. What do I need to start doing now?”
- “Is my ute 100% deductible or do I have to do a logbook?”
- “How do I pay myself properly out of the company?”
- “My turnover is up but my bank account is empty. Where is the money going?”
Who George Morice is
- Chartered Accountant, member of CA ANZ (Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand).
- Built Arbour Advisory specifically to serve arborists, tree loppers, and tree care operators — it’s not a generic accounting practice that happens to have a few tree guys on the books.
- Understands the seasonal cash flow reality of the industry: the storm work spikes, the quiet winter months, the cost of keeping a crew on when the phone stops ringing.
- Works with clients across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and regional Australia — most meetings happen over phone or video, so location doesn’t matter.
How to prepare (so you get maximum value out of the 30 minutes)
You don’t need to prepare anything to book the call. But if you want the conversation to count, five minutes of prep makes a big difference:
- Have your most recent BAS handy — or at least know roughly what your quarterly GST and PAYG looks like.
- Know your monthly revenue, even if it’s a rough figure.
- Think about your biggest pain point. Is it tax? Cash flow? A piece of gear you want to buy? Staff costs? Pick the thing that’s been in the back of your head.
- Bring one specific question you’ve been losing sleep over. Even if it feels silly. Especially if it feels silly — those are usually the ones that matter most.
That’s it. Book in, turn up, and 30 minutes from now you’ll have a clearer picture of where your business actually stands and what to do next. Call +61 2 8378 2421 or use the form on this page.