Business Health Checklist (Australia)
The areas CMB Core examines in an operational review of an Australian business — people, process, finance, compliance and technology.
About this report
This is the checklist CMB Core works through when we review an Australian business. Use it as a self-assessment: anywhere you cannot answer confidently is usually where friction, cost or risk is hiding.
It is general guidance for Australian businesses and is not accounting, tax or legal advice. For your specific obligations, speak to a registered tax or BAS agent and check the ATO, Fair Work and ASIC directly.
Key findings
Cash flow & forecasting
Do you have a rolling 13-week cash-flow forecast? Do you know your cash conversion cycle, and how GST timing and BAS payments affect it? Most owner-run businesses manage cash by bank balance, not by forecast.
Tax & compliance rhythm
Are BAS/IAS lodgements, PAYG withholding and superannuation guarantee payments on a reliable calendar? Late super in particular carries real penalties. Is the business GST-registered correctly for its turnover?
People & Fair Work
Are employees correctly classified, paid to the right modern award or agreement, and are payslips and records compliant? Award interpretation and casual/permanent classification are the most common sources of back-pay exposure.
Pricing & margin
Do you know gross margin by product or service line — not just blended? Have prices moved with input costs? Under-pricing is the quietest threat to an otherwise healthy Australian SME.
Systems & data
Is the core stack (accounting, CRM, payments, ops) integrated, or are staff re-keying between Xero/MYOB, spreadsheets and email? Manual hand-offs are where errors and lost hours accumulate.
Governance & continuity
Are ASIC details current, key-person risks documented, and is there a basic continuity plan? Single points of failure — one person who “knows how it works” — are common and rarely written down.
Self-assessment
A quick self-score. Rate each area honestly; the lowest scores are where a review pays for itself fastest.
| Area | Healthy looks like | Risk signal |
|---|---|---|
| Cash flow | 13-week rolling forecast | Managed by bank balance |
| Tax rhythm | BAS/super on a calendar | Scrambling at deadlines |
| People | Award-checked, records kept | Unsure on classification |
| Margin | Known per line | Blended only |
| Systems | Integrated stack | Re-keying between tools |
Methodology & notes
This checklist is a prompt, not a compliance audit. Your obligations depend on structure, turnover, industry and state.
CMB Core runs a structured operational review and returns a prioritised, written plan. Engagements are fixed-scope and fixed-fee in A$.
