Chartered Accountants North Sydney

Sydney Harbour view across the water towards the North Shore foreshore

Chartered Accountants · North Sydney

Your local accounting team in North Sydney

Prime Partners is a chartered accounting practice at Level 4, 1 James Place, North Sydney, just minutes from North Sydney Station and the CBD.

We provide tax, business advisory, SMSF and accounting technology services to small and medium businesses, high-net-worth individuals and families across the Lower North Shore and greater Sydney.

Book a consultation


Call 02 8378 2421
Office
Level 4, 1 James Place
North Sydney NSW 2060

Established
North Sydney for
over two decades

Approach
Partner-led,
chartered team

Technology
Xero Platinum
Partner

Our North Sydney services

Compliance and advisory under one partner-led team

From the work that keeps you compliant to the strategic advice that shapes where the business goes next, you deal with one senior team on the systems we recommend to our clients.

Tax & Business Services

  • Annual financial statements and tax returns
  • BAS preparation and lodgement
  • Payroll tax and land tax compliance
  • Business structuring and entity setup
  • Tax planning strategies for individuals and businesses

Business Advisory & Coaching

  • Growth strategy and business planning
  • Cash flow management and forecasting
  • KPI development and performance tracking
  • Succession planning
  • Start-up advisory

SMSF Administration & Tax

  • SMSF establishment and structuring
  • Annual compliance and reporting
  • Investment strategy advice
  • Audit coordination
  • Pension and retirement planning

External Finance Team & Virtual CFO

  • Xero setup, training and advisory (Xero Platinum Partner)
  • Cloud accounting migration
  • App stack integration
  • Process automation

Why choose Prime Partners North Sydney

A senior relationship without CBD overheads

Chartered Accountants

Members of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, held to higher professional and ethical standards.

Xero Platinum Partner

Cloud accounting advisors at the highest Xero partnership level, working on the same systems we recommend.

Fixed-Fee Pricing

Transparent costs agreed up front, so you always know what to expect before the work begins.

Chartered accountants in North Sydney

Based on the Lower North Shore for more than twenty years

Our office in James Place is a two-minute walk from North Sydney Station and the Victoria Cross Metro, with the Sydney CBD one stop away across the bridge. For business owners on the Lower North Shore, that means tax planning, structuring and advisory conversations can happen face to face, around your schedule, without a trip into the city.

We work with clients across the North Sydney CBD and the surrounding suburbs, from Crows Nest, St Leonards, Milsons Point and Kirribilli through Neutral Bay, Cremorne, Mosman, Artarmon and Chatswood, as well as CBD-adjacent businesses that want a senior accounting relationship without CBD overheads. Many of our longest-standing clients started as local startups and have grown into multi-entity groups, with the relationship scaling alongside them.

If you are comparing accounting firms in North Sydney, the practical questions are usually the same. Who will actually do the work, how quickly do they respond, and do they understand businesses like yours. At Prime Partners the answer is a partner-led team of chartered accountants, working on the same Xero-based systems we recommend to our clients.

Industries we work with in North Sydney

The North Sydney commercial precinct is dominated by professional services, technology and consulting, and that is reflected in our client base. From our North Sydney office we act for:

Professional services firms. Legal, engineering, recruitment and consulting practices in North Sydney and St Leonards.

Technology and software companies. Including startups claiming the R&D Tax Incentive.

Medical specialists and allied health. Practices around the St Leonards health precinct.

Property, construction and trades. Businesses across the Lower North Shore.

Executives and families. In Mosman, Cremorne, Neutral Bay and Kirribilli with investment structures, trusts and SMSFs.

Growing multi-entity groups. Local businesses that have scaled into more complex structures over time.

Your work is handled by senior people, not passed down the line. The partners and chartered accountants you deal with day to day are based here in the North Sydney office.

Meet the team

Visit our North Sydney office

Two minutes from North Sydney Station

Address
Level 4, 1 James Place
North Sydney NSW 2060

Contact
Phone: 02 8378 2421
Email: via our contact page

Office hours
Monday to Friday
8:30am to 5:30pm

Getting here
  • Two-minute walk from North Sydney Station
  • Street parking available on James Place
  • Close to the Greenwood Plaza precinct
Areas we serve
  • North Sydney, Neutral Bay, Cremorne, Mosman
  • Crows Nest, St Leonards, Artarmon, Chatswood
  • Sydney CBD, Surry Hills, Pyrmont
  • Epping, Macquarie Park, Ryde
Also serving
  • Parramatta and Western Sydney
  • Milsons Point and Kirribilli
  • Lane Cove and Lower North Shore
  • Remote clients via video consultation

Frequently asked questions

Answers for North Sydney businesses and families

A chartered accountant has completed additional postgraduate education and professional examinations through Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, beyond a standard accounting degree. CAs are held to higher professional and ethical standards, carry professional indemnity insurance, and must complete ongoing professional development. For businesses, that means your accountant has the training and oversight to handle complex tax structures, provide strategic advisory services, and represent you in dealings with the ATO. At Prime Partners, all of our senior team hold CA designations.

Look beyond basic tax compliance. The right accountant should understand your industry, offer proactive tax planning rather than just lodging returns, and communicate regularly throughout the year rather than only at tax time. Key factors include professional qualifications such as CA or CPA, experience with businesses of your size and complexity, technology capability across cloud accounting platforms like Xero, advisory services such as business structuring and cash flow forecasting, and a genuine interest in your growth. A good first step is a face-to-face meeting to assess whether the relationship will be collaborative and forward-looking.

Legitimate tax minimisation starts with getting your business structure right, whether that is a company, trust or combination, and reviewing it as your circumstances change. Beyond structure, key strategies include maximising deductible superannuation contributions, timing income and expenses across financial years, taking advantage of the instant asset write-off for eligible purchases, claiming the R&D Tax Incentive if you conduct eligible research activities, and structuring salary packaging to reduce FBT exposure. The most effective approach is working with your accountant proactively throughout the year rather than reviewing these options after 30 June.

There is no single best structure, since it depends on your revenue, growth plans, number of owners, asset protection needs and succession intentions. A sole trader structure is simple but offers no asset protection and is taxed at personal rates. A company pays a flat 25% tax rate for base rate entities and provides limited liability, making it suitable for businesses retaining profits for growth. A trust offers flexible income distribution among beneficiaries and a 50% CGT discount on assets held over twelve months. Many established businesses use a combination, for example a trading company owned by a discretionary trust. Getting this right early avoids costly restructuring later.

A virtual or outsourced CFO provides the strategic financial leadership of a full-time chief financial officer without the cost of a permanent hire. Services typically include cash flow forecasting, budgeting and variance analysis, KPI reporting, financial modelling for growth or acquisition, and board-level financial reporting. Businesses with revenue between $2 million and $20 million often benefit most, since they are large enough to need strategic financial oversight but not yet at the scale to justify a full-time CFO salary of $200,000 or more. If you are making decisions about expansion, funding or exit without clear financial modelling, a virtual CFO can add significant value.

Yes. An SMSF can purchase commercial property, including offices, warehouses, retail premises and rural land used for business purposes, and even lease it back to a member’s business at market rent. This is one of the most powerful SMSF strategies available, since it allows your super to fund your business premises while the rental income and capital growth accumulate in a tax-effective environment at a 15% tax rate, or nil in pension phase. The property must satisfy the sole purpose test, be acquired at market value, and any lease must be on arm’s-length terms. A limited recourse borrowing arrangement can also be used to fund the purchase.

Common signs include an accountant who only contacts you at tax time and offers no proactive advice, a lack of regular management reporting or cash flow analysis, a business that has outgrown your accountant’s expertise such as needing international tax or SMSF services, missed deadlines, or a sense that you are paying for compliance work without strategic value. The transition process is straightforward. Your new accountant handles the transfer of records and the outgoing accountant is professionally obligated to cooperate. Many businesses find that switching to a more advisory-focused firm pays for itself through better tax outcomes and financial clarity.

Start planning at least three to five years before you intend to exit. Key steps include getting a realistic business valuation, ensuring your financial records are clean and up to date, reducing owner-dependency by building a management team, reviewing your structure for tax-efficient sale or succession, understanding the CGT implications including the small business CGT concessions if eligible, and identifying potential buyers or successors. More than 70% of family business transitions fail, often because planning starts too late. Your accountant should be involved early to model different exit scenarios and their after-tax outcomes, whether that is a trade sale, management buyout or family succession.

Accounting & advisory services from our North Sydney office

Every Prime Partners service is delivered from our North Sydney office

Business accounting & tax advisory tax returns, BAS, payroll tax and proactive tax planning

Accounting clean-up & financial rectification rebuilding books and records you cannot currently rely on

Business structure review companies, trusts and multi-entity group structuring

Business growth & expansion advisory cash flow, KPIs and finance frameworks for scaling businesses

Business succession & transition advisory exits, management buyouts and family succession

External Finance Team & Virtual CFO Xero Platinum Partner, management reporting and CFO-level oversight

Private client advisory personal tax and structuring for executives and families

SMSF administration & tax services establishment, compliance and investment strategy

At the Moments That Matter our advisory framework for the decisions that shape ownership and wealth

R&D Tax Incentive advisory fixed-fee R&D claims, ESOP, ESIC and EMDG support

You can browse the full range on our accounting and advisory services page. We also have an office in Orange NSW serving the Central West region, with particular expertise in agribusiness and primary production.

Latest insights

Recent thinking from the team

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FBT 2026: What You Need to Know Before 31 March

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FBT on Cars 2026: Rates, Methods & EV Exemptions

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Compliance
ATO Crackdown on Trusts and Family Structures

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Book a consultation

Ready to talk to a chartered accountant in North Sydney?

Call us on 02 8378 2421 to see what we can do for you, or send a message and we will be in touch.

Contact us


Call 02 8378 2421