Fee questions are reasonable. Australian compliance is unfamiliar to many overseas businesses. And in this market, mistakes are easy to make and expensive to unwind.
This article explains how and why ABN Australia price our services when supporting international businesses operating in Australia.
The Australian regulatory reality
Australia is not a low-risk or low-touch jurisdiction for foreign-owned companies. Foreign ownership increases scrutiny across tax, particularly GST, transfer pricing and permanent establishment, as well as director obligations, payroll, superannuation, and banking onboarding under AML and KYC rules.
The Australian Taxation Office actively targets foreign-owned entities. Errors are audited, penalised, and slow to fix. Our pricing reflects that reality.
Comparing costs across jurisdictions
When comparing costs, jurisdictions should not be treated as like-for-like. Professional fees that work in one country do not translate cleanly to another.
Australia has high regulatory scrutiny, personal liability for directors, and active enforcement by tax and corporate regulators, particularly for foreign-owned entities. The work is also performed by Australian-qualified professionals, whose wage and compliance costs are materially higher than in many other countries. This means more documentation, review, and senior oversight are required.
While this regulatory environment does increase compliance effort, it is also what gives investors confidence to deploy capital knowing their interests are protected. That balance is a key reason Australia continues to attract significant foreign direct investment each year.
Pricing is driven by risk and judgement
We price for complexity and risk, not administration. We do not price based on form counts, data entry time, or how much work can be pushed to junior staff. We price based on the level of judgement required to deliver the work correctly.
Higher-risk entities require more senior oversight. That is not a commercial preference. It is a technical necessity. As risk increases, so does the need for experienced review, deeper analysis, and more time spent assessing transactions, structures, and reporting positions. That directly affects the cost of delivery.
What drives complexity
Risk and complexity scale in several ways. They increase with business size, but also with the quality of bookkeeping systems, the volume and nature of transactions, the extent of intercompany and transfer pricing considerations, and the regulatory profile of the industry.
A smaller business with weak systems or complex cross-border flows can carry more risk than a larger but simpler operation.
Why client revenue and expenditure matter
We often use revenue or expenditure as a pricing reference because it correlates strongly with risk. Higher revenue usually means more transactions, greater exposure to error, increased ATO scrutiny, and more significant consequences if something is wrong.
It also typically requires more senior staff involvement to complete the work to the standard required. This is not about charging more because a business can afford it. It reflects the risk profile that comes with a larger financial footprint.
Fixed fees and accountability
Wherever possible, we use transparent fixed fees. The purpose is certainty. You know the cost upfront. There are no surprise invoices, no padded hours, and no incentive to slow delivery. We carry the delivery risk.
One integrated team
Our service model is deliberately integrated. Clients do not need to coordinate between multiple providers for setup, corporate compliance, tax, payroll, and governance.
You deal with one coordinated team accountable for the whole picture. That reduces errors, avoids rework, and removes the inefficiency that comes from fragmented advice.
Adjusting scope without reducing quality
If budget is a constraint, we adjust scope, not standards. One way we do this is through tiered support plans, which allow clients to move up or down depending on how active their business is in Australia and how much access they need to our team.
The quality of work and risk controls do not change. The breadth of support does.
Sustainable pricing, long-term outcomes
We are not pricing our services to maximise short-term margins. But our fees do need to be sustainable.
Sustainable pricing allows us to invest in experienced people, robust systems, training, and governance frameworks, and to attract and retain the calibre of talent required to support foreign-owned businesses properly. Discounting and under-quoting can feel positive in the short term, but it almost always leads to compromised service, staff turnover, slower responses, and ultimately increased risk for clients.
What this means in practice
Foreign-owned companies face heightened obligations under Australian tax law, director duty frameworks, banking AML and KYC rules, and payroll and superannuation enforcement regimes. The cost of non-compliance routinely exceeds professional fees by multiples.
ABN Australia works exclusively with international businesses entering and operating in Australia. This is not an add-on service for us. It is our core focus.
We combine senior-led delivery, integrated services, fixed-fee transparency, and clear explanation rather than black-box compliance. We have supported more than 1,000 international clients and maintain over 500 five-star reviews because this model works.
What it does not mean
This does not mean we are the cheapest provider. It does not mean you pay for unnecessary work. It does not mean fees change without explanation. And it does not mean you are locked into long-term contracts.
If you have questions about a fee, start with clarity. Tell us which part you want to unpack, share any budget constraints early, and we can adjust scope or support level while keeping the core risk protections in place.
Clarity upfront reduces risk for everyone.
Aaron Garry
Managing Director