Agribusiness Accountants

Industries · Agriculture & Agribusiness

Accountants who understand farming income, and the years it doesn’t come.

Farming earns its income in a cycle that no other business runs on. A strong season has to carry the hard ones, the land holds the wealth and the family holds the future. We work with established farming and agribusiness operations, on the tax, structure and succession decisions that hold a farm together across the good years and the lean. With our Orange office in the Central West, we know this work from close to the ground.

Talk to us→How we work→
In short

Prime Partners advises established farming and agribusiness operations on the financial decisions that come with variable income and the family farm. That covers tax averaging and farm management deposits, the R&D tax incentive for on-farm innovation, structure to hold land and protect the family, and succession across generations. With offices in North Sydney and Orange, we bring the technical depth of a specialist practice and the accessibility of a team that knows your operation by name.

We work with broadacre cropping and grazing operations, livestock and cattle producers, mixed farming enterprises, vineyards and orchards, dairy farms, and agribusinesses across processing, supply and rural services.

The pressures you carryWhat we doHow we workMoments that matterCommon questions
The pressures you carry

The financial questions that sit underneath every farming operation.

A farming business earns its income in swings that the tax system, the bank and the family all have to absorb. The decisions that matter most are about smoothing the cycle, holding the land, and passing it on. These are the recurring pressures we help farming operations hold.

Income that swings with the season
A strong year followed by a poor one is the rhythm of farming. Tax averaging and farm management deposits exist to smooth that cycle, and used well they are the difference between keeping a good year’s income and losing much of it to tax.
The R&D you may already be doing
Trialling new crop varieties, livestock practices, growing methods or on-farm technology can qualify for the R&D tax incentive. It is widely overlooked in agriculture, and the work many operations already do can be recognised when it is documented and claimed properly.
Structure to hold the land
How the land, the operation and the family interests are held decides your tax, your protection from risk, and how the farm can be passed on. For most farming families it is the single most important structural decision they make.
Succession across generations
Passing the farm on means balancing the children who farm and those who do not, the tax and duty on transferring land, and the future of the operation. Planned ahead, it keeps the farm whole and the family together.
Funding, drought and the bank
Equipment, land and working capital all need funding through a cycle the bank watches closely. Clear reporting and a tax position that holds up through a dry year keep the operation on solid ground when the season turns.
What we do

The same journey we take every client on, told for a farming business.

Most farming families come to us for one thing and stay for the rest. The work tends to follow a natural order, from getting the tax and foundations right through to passing the farm on. Each step below is a service in its own right, and each one links through to the full detail.

Accounting clean-up→
Where the books have fallen behind a tough run of seasons, we bring them back to a standard you and the bank can rely on, so the numbers tell the truth before any decision is made on them.
Business accounting and tax→
Year-end accounts and tax, with averaging and farm management deposits planned around your season, so the swings in income are smoothed rather than taxed at their peak. The foundation everything else sits on.
R&D tax incentive→
A central conversation in agriculture, not an afterthought. Where you trial new varieties, practices or technology, we assess eligibility and prepare the claim so the on-farm innovation you already do is properly recognised.
External finance team→
The reporting a farming operation actually needs, including position by enterprise, cash flow through the cycle and the picture the bank wants to see, run by a team alongside the business rather than a once-a-year file.
Business structure review→
How the land, the operation and the family interests are held sits at the heart of a farming business. We review whether your structure still protects the land and fits how the operation now runs.
Business growth→
The decisions that come with expanding an operation, from buying more land to funding equipment and bringing the next generation in, so growth strengthens the farm rather than stretching it.
Business succession→
Passing the farm to the next generation, balancing the children who farm and those who do not, and handling the tax and duty on transferring land so the operation continues and the family holds together.
Private client advisory and SMSF→
The personal side of a farming family’s wealth, including individual tax position, investment beyond the farm gate, self managed super and holding assets in the right hands.
How we work

A senior-led relationship, not a once-a-year file.

Every engagement is led by a senior practitioner who knows the operation and stays close to it. The way we work follows the same shape, whatever the farm.

1
Understand the operation
We start with what you farm, how the income moves through the season, where the land and family interests sit, and what you are trying to build over the next generation.
2
Get the foundations right
Compliance, reporting and the tax planning around averaging and farm management deposits brought to a standard you can rely on, so a strong year is kept rather than lost to tax.
3
Advise on the decisions that count
R&D claims, structure, funding and the tax across the cycle addressed as they arise, with the analysis to support a real decision rather than a hunch.
4
Stay alongside the operation
A continuing relationship where you can pick up the phone before you buy land or commit through a dry year, rather than explain it after the fact.
5
Plan the handover
When the time comes to pass the farm on, we plan the succession years ahead, balancing the family and handling the tax on transferring land, so the farm carries on and the generation who built it steps back on their own terms.
Moments that matter

The decisions that shape a farming family deserve more than a once-a-year accountant.

Buying the neighbouring block when it finally comes up. Keeping a strong season’s income instead of losing it to tax. Bringing a son or daughter back onto the land. Passing the farm on in a way that holds the family together. These are the moments where good advice is worth far more than the work that surrounds it, and they are the moments Prime Partners exists for.

Common questions

Questions farming businesses ask us.

What does an accountant for a farming or agribusiness do?
An accountant for a farming or agribusiness handles the financial work that comes with income that swings between strong years and hard ones. That means managing tax averaging and farm management deposits to smooth the tax across good and bad seasons, structuring the operation to hold land and protect the family, claiming the R&D tax incentive where the operation trials new methods, and planning succession of the farm. At Prime Partners we cover the routine accounting as a matter of course and focus the relationship on the tax, structure and succession decisions that hold a farming business together across the cycle.
What is a farm management deposit and how does it help with tax?
A farm management deposit, or FMD, lets a primary producer set aside income from a strong year before tax and draw it down in a weaker year, when it is then taxed. It is one of the main tools for smoothing the swings in farm income, reducing tax in high years and providing a reserve for the lean ones. Used alongside tax averaging, FMDs are central to managing the financial cycle of a farming operation, and we plan their timing around your season and your tax position.
How does tax averaging work for primary producers?
Tax averaging lets primary producers even out the tax they pay across years of variable income, so a single strong season is not taxed at the highest rates while the lean years waste the lower brackets. It compares your current year income to your average over up to five years and adjusts the tax accordingly. Combined with farm management deposits, averaging is a core part of why farm tax planning is its own discipline, and we manage both together across the cycle.
Can a farming business claim the R&D tax incentive?
Yes, farming and agribusiness operations can often claim the R&D tax incentive where they trial new methods, crop varieties, livestock practices, or technology to solve a genuine technical uncertainty. Field trials, new growing techniques and on-farm innovation can all qualify when they are run and documented properly. It is an area many agricultural businesses overlook, and we assess eligibility and prepare the claim so the work you are already doing is recognised.
How do you plan succession for a family farm?
Succession for a family farm has to balance the future of the operation, fairness between children who farm and those who do not, and the tax and duty on transferring land. It works best planned years ahead, using the structure, the timing of transfers and the available concessions to pass the farm on without forcing a sale or fracturing the family. We work through it with the whole family in view, so the farm continues and the people behind it are treated fairly.
Where is Prime Partners located?
Prime Partners has offices in North Sydney and Orange, NSW. Our Orange office puts us in the Central West, working with farming and agribusiness operations across regional New South Wales, and nationally where the relationship calls for it.
Talk to us

Start a conversation about your operation.

If you are planning around this season’s income, weighing an R&D claim, buying more land, or thinking about how the farm passes on, we would be glad to talk it through.

Get in touch→