Today we start Phase 4 of the Business Legal Lifecycle. It's subtitled Bringing on new employees. By the time you reach this phase you are ready to bring on some help to help your business to continue to grow.

On Fast Fix Monday today we are talking about deregistering your company and members wind-up.

As your company comes to the end of it's lifecycle you may want to consider deregistration. Companies cost money to keep in operation so one option is to simply deregister it. There is an ASIC form that you have to submit to start this process. All the members of the company have to sign-off on the deregistration. The company cannot be currently carrying out any business and can't owe any debts. It also has to have assets that are worth less than $1000. All penalties and fees have to have been paid. The business can't be involved in any legal proceedings.

Liquidation is usually associated with a company in financial difficulty. But that's not always the case. A members voluntary liquidation is something different. If the business is solvent a liquidator can still be appointed to sell-off the companies assets. There isn't a one size fits all solution to this. If you are thinking about using this to wind-up the company you need to consult your advisers first. There are some tax benefits to doing this. But it is more difficult to re-register a company that has been subject to a voluntary liquidation.

Insolvency and winding-up has been the focus of this month's episodes. Today we've invited an expert on insolvency to share his decades of experience with us. Hank de Jonge is the c-founder of de Jonge Read a business consultancy focused on guiding business through insolvency. Hank has an extensive background both operating and buying businesses. He founded de Jonge Read in 2006 and has strived to help companies to navigate the complicated world of bankruptcy.

Today for Fast Fix Monday we talk about the five consequences of winding up a business. Once a

business has been declared insolvent a liquidator will be appointed to sell-off the assets of the business.

There are a number of consequences of having appointed a liquidator. Today, we'll discuss five of those

consequences.

Today on BLL we're excited to welcome Peter Docker onto the program. Peter is a speaker, teacher and

author of the book Find Your Why: A practical guide for discovering purpose for you and your team.

Peter says he exists to help people find the real purpose in their working lives so they can do

extraordinary things. Peter says your why is not created, it's discovered. That's what makes it authentic

and real.

Today on Fast Fix Monday we continue our discussion about bankruptcy. There are a number of consequences when you declare bankruptcy. Those include:

1. A trustee will be appointed to manage all of your financial affairs. You will have to give up all the information related to your debts and other financial information.

2. Bankruptcy will affect your income and your employment. You will have a set amount of money you will be allowed to earn for yourself. That amount depends on how many dependents to have. Everything else will go to the trustee.

3. Bankruptcy doesn't let you avoid all your debts. It will allow you to wipe out much of your debt but things like fines and child maintenance cannot be eliminated.

4. Bankruptcy can affect your ability to travel overseas. You may have to hand in your passport. You will need consent from our trustee who may not let you go.

5. If you're bankrupt your name will forever appear in the National Personal Insolvency Index. People will be able to search that index and find that you've gone bankrupt in the past.

6. Bankruptcy will affect you ability to obtain credit in the future. Credit reporting agencies will keep a record of your bankruptcy for five years from the date you declared.

7. The trustee may sell your assets. Your allowed to keep your household goods and a vehicle as well as the tools of your trade. But everything else can be sold to pay your debts.

8. You may lose the right to continue legal action. If you are in the midst of a lawsuit and the trustee will decide if that case will continue.

9. Bankruptcy lasts for three years. You will have to declare all your financial assets and liabilities. You have to provide all that information before the bankruptcy comes into effect.

Insolvency is a dirty word for anyone in business. But there is always a risk that you will have to wind-up your business because of a lack of funds. Today, were joined by Lee Crosthwaite a partner at Worrells Solvency and Forensic Accountants. He's a registered liquidator and has worked at the firm since 2002. He has been involved in administering a number of high profile bankruptcies in Australia. He has a lot of great insights into what an insolvency practitioner does. We also discuss how business owners can turn their business around and avoid insolvency.

Today on Fast Fix Monday we discuss the three ways to avoid insolvency. Throughout April we are going to be discussing Phase 13: Winding up you business. That process can be forced on you if you become insolvent. To make sure that never happens here's what you need to do,

Time for another Monthly Legal Updater, our regular review of important legal stories in Australia and around the world.

On BLL today we discuss Phase 13: Insolvency, Winding Up and Bankruptcy in greater detail. We are going to focus on this phase throughout April of 2018. Terms like insolvency and bankruptcy have a well earned negative connotation but it doesn't necessarily have to be that way. Winding up a business can be a positive thing. At some point you're going to exit your business and you need to have a plan in place before that happens.