Having trained and qualified in London, Kamal has gained significant exposure to servicing a broad range of clients and industries in different jurisdictions.

Kamal is a Registered Company Auditor and is experienced in providing audit and assurance services to publicly listed entities, international groups and not-for profits in a variety of industries. With a diverse portfolio of clients, Kamal is passionate about providing audit, assurance and advisory solutions that deliver forward thinking commercial, innovative and value add outcomes to help his clients unlock their potential and achieve their ambitions. Kamal advocates the use of smart technologies in the assurance service delivery so as to achieve a higher quality of output and allowing the team to focus on the objectives of an engagement.

His clients are from a diverse cross-section of industries and therefore his significant industry experience includes mining, technology, financial services, manufacturing, retail, hospitality and entertainment & media sectors.

Kamal’s experience includes:

• External audit and assurance services
• International Accounting Standards, Corporations Act and ASX Listing Rules interpretation and advice
• Accounting for complex transactions
• Financial reporting and financial statement preparation
• Corporate governance
• Risk advisory, systems and technical reviews
• Real estate & solicitor’s trust audits
• Internal audit & SOX
• CFO and outsourcing solutions

Kamal is a Partner of SW Audit and a Director of SW Accountants & Advisors Pty Ltd.

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Our Assurance and Advisory team embraces technology, including cutting edge data analytics software and other bespoke IT tools to ensure a targeted and robust approach. With relationships at the centre of what we do, our team is committed to fully understand your business resulting in a tailored solution that best meets your needs.

• financial statement audits and reviews
• compliance audits
• controls assurance reports, including GS007
• corporate governance
• data analytics
• information technology risk and security
• internal audit
• review of financial reports
• risk management and Corporate Governance systems and controls reviews
• technical IFRS, accounting advice and training
• preparation of financial reports
• other assurance engagements.

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Hayley is a Partner and leader of the Assurance and Advisory Division. She was the previous Head of Audit Quality and Risk for the National practice. She has over 16 years’ experience and takes a proactive approach to working collaboratively with her clients to create solutions that deliver real value.

Hayley works with a diverse portfolio of clients from listed companies to large proprietary companies. Her expertise means that she has an understanding of the trends and regulatory changes affecting a range of different sectors. She leverages this knowledge on every engagement, assisting her clients to make strategic and commercial decisions with confidence.

She takes pride in keeping her clients informed at every step of an assurance process. A testament to her passion and expertise in the technical aspects of auditing and accounting is her appointment to the Education Board of Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand.

Hayley’s experience includes:

• Undertaking external audits that deliver real value and are focused on continuous improvement
• Providing technical accounting and auditing advice
• Expert witness engagements
• Member of the accounting firms’ forum group for AASB for the NFP sector – this is a working group set up by the AASB to get insight from accounting firms on the issues facing NFP entities when applying accounting standards
• Hayley has served as Board Director on the following NFP organisations: Spectrum Migrant Resource Centre, McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery, Brookville Kindergarten and the Education Board of CAANZ.

Hayley is a Partner of SW Audit and a Director of SW Accountants & Advisors Pty Ltd.

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Prior to joining SW, Bessie was appointed the Chief Financial Officer for an ASX listed mining company which equipped her with extensive corporate governance and risk management experience.

Bessie has a wealth of professional experience and an extensive background in accounting, audit and management.

Bessie’s experience includes:

• Understanding both Australian accounting standards (AIFRs) and PRC GAAPs. Bessie has been qualified for Australia and China’s CPA for more than 10 years and 16 years respectively. She is familiar with PRC GAAPs and international financial reporting standards (IFRS)
• Knowledge in managing international companies. Bessie has led auditing and advisory engagements involving national and international companies.
• Understanding the financial impact and risk management perspectives of sales and purchase agreements
• Liaising with ASIC and responding to ASIC’s financial reporting surveillance inspection requirements

Bessie is a Partner of SW Audit and a Director of SW Accountants & Advisors Pty Ltd.

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The Australian property and construction sector’s growth has softened due to rising borrowing costs and supply chain disruptions. Commercial developments have been impacted through decreased demand for office spaces and the digitalisation of the retail market.

Infrastructure and construction sectors can be volatile, so you can rest easy knowing in some of the most important areas of your business, such as taxes, structuring, cash flow and funding, SW have the expertise to assist you to add value and drive your strategy.

Our property & infrastructure experts offer a full suite of back office support, advisory, structuring, modelling and compliance services to the property and infrastructure sector.   

Whether you’re a developer, builder, investor, financier or manager, we’ll help you navigate the challenges.

Our Property & infrastructure services

Spotlight | Property Forum #back2thefuture

Property and economics are often cyclical in nature. For this reason, experts often use the past to predict a future outlook. However, with global disruption, the level of uncertainty has increased drastically, with many experts uncertain if we can look back to predict our future.

For this reason, we brought renowned property industry experts together to take a deep dive into the changing landscape in Australia, the impact this has on the future for property and what people and businesses should be considering in order to prepare.

Emerging Developers series (EDS)

Taking the lead to support tomorrow’s leaders, our Emerging Property Developers series is now delivered virtually. This series has been tried and trusted by the industry for over 8 years and is designed to walk you through the property development process from start to finish.

An interactive four-part program facilitated by our property specialists is delivered to a limited group of emerging property professionals. Each session features guest industry experts who provide strategic insight into property development and key developer issues, from tax structuring to design and construction.

Industry Associations & Memberships

Our significant involvement in the property industry mandates an active involvement in current tax and accounting issues that impact your sector. We are also involved in consultative processes, making submissions to Treasury and/or the ATO. Other key involvement includes:

• Various Property Council of Australia and Victoria tax committees and forums
• The National Tax Liaison Group Trust Sub-Group, which until recently was the peak consulting
  body on which tax matters concerning trusts were discussed with senior officials at the ATO.

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On 1 July 2021 wage theft became a crime in Victoria and it is expected that other states will follow. 

The Wage Theft Bill 2020 creates new employee entitlement offences, comprising wage theft offences and new record keeping offences. It is designed to capture employers who falsify or fail to keep records for the purposes of concealing wage theft.

The key objective of the Bill is to ensure that employers who withhold employee entitlements dishonestly are held to account and protect vulnerable employees from exploitation.

The new law states that employers who dishonestly withhold wages, superannuation or other employee entitlements could be fined up to $198,264 for individuals, $991,320 for companies and be sentenced to up to 10 years’ jail.

Directors of companies / Council members have a legal responsibility to ensure the company meets its Pay As You Go (PAYG) withholding and Superannuation Guarantee Charge (SGC) obligations. If the company does not meet these obligations, Directors / Council members may become personally liable for a penalty equal to these amounts.

Payroll health check

In light of these new laws and given the number of organisations that have been publicly identified to have underpaid employees we urge all businesses to undertake a payroll health check. The health check will ensure that all entitlements, including superannuation, are accurately determined and paid in compliance with the current ATO requirements to avoid any penalties.

• Underpayments to casual and permanent staff for ordinary pay, overtime and leave loading
• Inconsistencies and incorrect interpretation and payment of payroll entitlements under various Awards
• Underpayment of Superannuation entitlements.

What is the impact?

Financial risks

• Underpayment to employees
• Payroll tax underpayment
• Superannuation underpayment
• WorkCover underpayment
• Annual leave loading underpayment
• Penalties arising from underpayments

Reputation risks

• Staff morale
• Community expectations
• Adverse media attention
• Criminal prosecution

Opportunity

• Self report to avoid potential financial and/or criminal actions
• Meet your social and legal obligations to act in the best interests of your employees
• Be able to potentially claim a corporate tax deduction for the payment of underpaid superannuation
• Receive a reduction of potential penalties that can be up to 200% of the total underpaid superannuation.

Action required – how we can help

1. Review current payroll processes to ascertain compliance with the relevant awards, enterprise agreements and identify if there are any underpayments.
2. Through the use of data analytics, quantify the underpayment in addition to the superannuation, annual leave, WorkCover and leave loading liabilities within the required timeframes.
3. Review historical superannuation guarantee payments to ensure that any shortfalls are rectified.
4. Check that payroll codes are correctly categorised as ordinary times earnings and any awards applied correctly to ensure that employers are meeting their payroll obligations going forward to avoid penalties.
5. Maintain auditable records for any external review.
6. Liaise with legal advisors re ramifications of underpayments on tax and superannuation liabilities and any provisions required.
7. Work with you to identify root causes of the issues, implement required process changes and identification of all costs requiring quantification.
8. Work with you to disclose any underreporting of payroll costs to the ATO.

Changes to treatment of casualised workforce

Employers are required to review and reassess their contracts for all casual employees.

Following the landmark decision handed down by the High Court of Australia in the Workpac Pty Ltd v Rossato case and statutory changes to the Fair Work Act 2009 (FWA) in March 2021 with retrospective effect, employers are required to review and reassess their casual labour contracts. Particularly where there is regular and systematic work provided and the employee’s contract has a commitment to future work.

Leave entitlements can be a minefield for employers, especially when relating to casual employees. To help you understand the potential risks and obligations, please read our alert and FAQs.

Get in touch

Through the use of sophisticated data analytics and a review of your current awards, enterprise agreements and payroll processes, SW can assist you to manage your organisation’s payroll and superannuation risks efficiently, as well as identifying potential savings opportunities.

We use our customised data analytics tool to review your payroll records to identify any shortfalls or disclosure concerns.

Rest assured that whilst the Government’s social distancing guidelines are in force, we are able to assist you remotely during this period and are able to provide the full benefits of these services.

Reach out to one of our SW experts below to discuss how we can support you.

 Contacts

Stephen O’Flynn

E soflynn@sw-au.com

Laura Toscano

E ltoscano@sw-au.com

Justin Batticciotto

E jbatticciotto@sw-au.com

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