Give the practitioner the business model as well as the balances

The accounts do not explain every operating problem

After an insolvency warning, a practitioner needs accurate financial records. They also need to understand how the business wins work, delivers it and gets paid. Prepare a concise operating explanation alongside the numbers. Seek advice urgently while assembling it; the exercise is to support a proper assessment, not to postpone decisions or justify continuing as before.

Use actual recent jobs

Imagine a fitout business with strong sales but repeated cash shortages. Select completed and current jobs showing quoted value, direct costs, outstanding work and collections. Identify where figures are incomplete. A presentation full of future opportunities does not explain why recent work has failed to produce enough money to meet obligations.

Understand the purpose of the review

ASIC says a suitably qualified registered liquidator can review solvency and outline available options. Give that review practical evidence about the operation. Do not arrive with a predetermined promise that restructuring will save the company. Eligibility, feasibility and the company's current legal position require assessment, even if the directors strongly prefer one possible outcome.

Source: ASIC: What to do if your company is insolvent

Explain proposed changes concretely

If management proposes higher prices, a smaller workforce or different customer terms, show what has actually changed and what remains only an idea. Include implementation costs and delivery constraints. In the fitout example, quoting at a higher margin will not necessarily fix losses on contracts already signed. Keep those existing commitments visible rather than forecasting only the improved future work.

Identify reliance on others

Record assumptions requiring customer approval, supplier agreement, additional finance or specialist capacity. Provide evidence where available and flag uncertainty. The practitioner should be able to distinguish steps the company can control from hoped-for decisions by other parties. A plan dependent on several unconfirmed concessions needs those dependencies exposed early.

Keep advice ahead of new commitments

Ask what the company should do now, including about further debt, while options are assessed. Update the practitioner if the operating facts change. A clear business explanation can help identify whether and how an underlying operation might be viable, but it does not itself provide authority or protection to continue trading through an unresolved insolvency concern.