Running projects overseas is one thing. Building a business there is another.
A UK events company had already delivered projects across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane using local and UK freelancers.
Australia was becoming more important to the business. The company now needed the infrastructure to match. That meant establishing an Australian entity, opening a local bank account and preparing to manage accounting, tax, payroll and HR locally.
Industry: Events/Professional Services
Headquarters: United Kingdom
Partner: The CFO Centre
Country supported: Australia
Solutions: Entity Establishment; Accounting & Tax; Global Payroll; HR Support
The challenge: Australia was becoming more than a project location
The company’s flexible workforce model had worked well for individual events.
Its UK operation included four directors, around six full-time employees and approximately 80–90 freelancers. Australian projects brought UK freelancers together with local talent. Two project managers were already working in Australia on freelancer contracts.
The commercial opportunity had moved faster than the operating model.
Australia was no longer just a project market. The business needed a model built for a more permanent presence.
An Australian entity would solve one problem and immediately create several others.
Who would manage the books? How would local payroll work? What tax obligations would follow? How would employees be supported? What would happen when UK team members needed visas?
Incorporation was one step. Becoming operational was the real job.
For a small internal team, building that expertise in-house or coordinating several Australian providers would create another challenge of its own.
The partnership: bringing in the right expertise at the right time
The CFO Centre was already supporting the company through its fractional finance relationship.
As the Australian business grew, the brief grew with it.
The company now needed local support spanning entity establishment, accounting, tax, payroll and HR.
That was when the CFO Centre brought GoGlobal into the relationship.
Instead of leaving the client to coordinate separate providers, the two teams brought those needs together through one approach.
The CFO Centre remained close to the client’s financial picture. GoGlobal provided the local infrastructure and expertise needed on the ground in Australia.
From delivering events to building local infrastructure
GoGlobal supported the establishment of the Australian entity and helped the company prepare for ongoing local operations.
But registration was only the starting point. The real work came next.
GoGlobal provided ongoing accounting and tax support alongside local payroll and HR services.
Those pieces could now move together rather than becoming separate projects for the company’s directors to manage.
Leadership could stay focused on clients, projects and growth while The CFO Centre and GoGlobal supported the financial and operational infrastructure behind the expansion.
The result: Australia became an operation, not just a project location
The company moved from delivering Australian projects through a largely freelance model toward establishing a permanent local operation.
Entity establishment, accounting, tax, payroll and HR were brought together through the same expansion relationship.
That gave leadership a clearer path for growing in Australia while keeping the administrative burden away from its small internal team.
More importantly, the company did not have to solve each new operational requirement from scratch.
The CFO Centre and GoGlobal brought financial oversight and local execution together, helping turn repeat project work in Australia into an operation the business could build on.
By the numbers
- 3 Australian cities where the company had already delivered events: Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane
- 80–90 freelancers supporting the UK business
- 2 project managers already engaged in Australia
- 5 connected areas of Australian support: entity establishment, accounting, tax, payroll and HR
- 1 coordinated partnership supporting the client’s expansion
Sometimes international expansion happens before you call it expansion
A company wins work overseas. People start traveling. Local freelancers join the team. The market becomes more important.
Then what looked like a series of international projects starts looking like an international operation.
That’s the point where momentum starts demanding structure.
For this company, Australia had already become part of the business. The CFO Centre and GoGlobal helped the operating model catch up.
The CFO Centre brought the financial view. GoGlobal brought the local execution.
Together, they gave the client a practical way to turn momentum in Australia into an operation built to last.
“Our clients don’t always arrive at international expansion with a neat roadmap. Sometimes the opportunity is already happening. Our role is to understand where the business is heading and bring in the right expertise to help it get there.”
Gill Jennings, Regional Director | The CFO Centre
“International growth often starts before the infrastructure is ready. Our job is to help close that gap. Working alongside The CFO Centre means clients can connect financial strategy with the local expertise needed to build and operate in a new market.”
Harry Dhillon, Partnerships | GoGlobal
About the GoGlobal–CFO Centre partnership
The CFO Centre gives growing businesses access to experienced fractional CFO support, helping leadership teams strengthen financial strategy and make confident decisions.
When those decisions lead across borders, GoGlobal brings the local expertise needed to put them into action.
From entity establishment and accounting to tax, payroll and HR, GoGlobal supports the practical work of entering and operating in new markets.
Together, The CFO Centre and GoGlobal connect financial strategy with international execution, giving clients one coordinated path from growth decision to local operation.
Planning international growth? Schedule a consultation today and turn your next market into an operating plan.
