BDO New Zealand Logo

Family Business

Family businesses of all sizes and types dominate the private sector in New Zealand. Some of the most successful and professional companies — many of them household names — are family owned and run.

Developed from the vision and hard work of the founder, these businesses take on their unique character as other members of the family enter the business. At best, such an environment can be inspiring and motivating. At worst, it can result in routine business decisions becoming clouded by emotional issues.

We are leaders in family business advising. Family and privately owned businesses form the core of our client base and we work closely with these business' everyday. The first accounting firm in New Zealand to provide an accredited family business advisory training programme, we have a deep understanding of the unique challenges that result from mixing business with family, as well as the advantages that can put them ahead of other businesses.

Services

Our focus

We have built our success on developing trusted business adviser relationships and delivering solutions and ideas tailored to the needs of our clients. We work very closely with our clients to enable them to meet their challenges and find the most positive way forward. By facilitating discussion between the family and the business, and helping to clarify the boundaries of each, we can help your family business better understand the roles, responsibilities and privileges of all involved.

Our approach

Our role as trusted business advisers is to help families reach agreements in creating a workable framework for the future of their business. Building a consensus when ‘family’ and ‘business’ issues are involved is not an easy process — it needs to be handled sensitively and methodically, ensuring that the relevant family members are included in the process and are all working towards the same goals.

The BDO methodology, which has been developed and tested under the most challenging family business circumstances, has proved to be successful, flexible and able to be individually tailored for clients.

There are five stages to the process:

  1. An initial family gathering, covering the principles of owning a family business
  2. Individual meetings with family members and key stakeholders, using a specially developed questionnaire format
  3. Identification and prioritisation of key issues for the family and the business, which are used to develop a draft family constitution
  4. A family retreat over two days, at which family members reach a consensus on the issues identified, complete a family charter and establish a family council
  5. Post-retreat follow up; the completed family charter is usually issued at the next family council meeting

How we can help you

We place importance upon a personal, partner-led approach that is based on fostering close working relationships with our clients. Our advisers work with family businesses to first understand the needs of the business and family, and then develop strategies for handling the sensitivities that inevitably exist or arise.

Our team of experts brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise from a wide range of industry sectors and can draw from an extensive BDO network of resources, including local educational activities, networking events, and expert advice on family business issues. This ensures that we keep you up to date with the latest industry challenges and trends.

Our team engages in continual learning through:

  • Cutting-edge research, which includes our involvement with the Australian Centre for Family Business, an internationally recognised leader in family business research
  • Annual skills update to ensure our skills are up to dat and best practice
  • Completion of BDO’s international accreditation program for family business advisers
  • Participation in Family Business Australia’s accreditation program.