Independent advice for directors & individuals facing financial distress.
We work alongside directors and individuals under pressure from the ATO, creditors, and tight deadlines — turning your numbers, your tax position, and what you owe into a clear, practical plan you can act on.
- No hidden agenda or pressure
- Confidential and judgment-free support
- Clear guidance on all available options
Acts before insolvency
takes hold.
Independent advice. No agenda. No pushed outcomes.
Our role is to assess your situation objectively, map every option on the table, and connect you with the right registered professionals — when, and only when, that’s the right call. Behind that role sits years of experience working with directors under pressure from the ATO, creditors, and tight deadlines — the know-how to look at your numbers, your tax position, and what you owe, and turn all of that into a clear, practical plan you can actually follow.
Our Services
Corporate Insolvency
The point where a company can no longer pay its bills as they fall due, and the law requires directors to act. We review your books, flag the risks to you personally, get the paperwork in order, and brief the right practitioner — so when the formal process starts, nothing catches you off guard.
Small Business Restructuring
A government-backed process that lets small companies settle old debts for as little as 20 to 30 cents on the dollar while continuing to trade. We check whether you qualify, build the repayment offer creditors will accept, run the numbers, and manage the conversations — so when the formal process starts, it works.
Personal Insolvency
What happens to you — not the company — when personal guarantees, tax debt, or a Director Penalty Notice put your own assets on the line. We review what you’ve guaranteed, weigh bankruptcy against alternatives, so when the formal process starts, you know exactly what you’re facing.
Liquidation
The formal wind-up of a company that can’t be saved — assets sold, creditors paid what’s possible, company deregistered. We organise the director’s declarations, list the assets and debts, notify creditors, and hand over to a registered liquidator — so when the formal process starts, it runs cleanly.
Why Choose Langford & Chase?
Your corner in the fight.
Independent
We don’t take insolvency appointments and we don’t earn fees from any outcome we recommend. That means when we tell you a particular path is right — or that it isn’t — you can trust the reasoning is about your situation, not ours.
Fast
DPNs run on a 21-day clock. Statutory demands run on 21 days. Court dates don’t move. We work at the speed your situation demands, and most directors have a clear picture of where they stand within a week of the first call.
Discreet
Everything you tell us stays between you and us. Staff, family, creditors, the ATO — none of them hear anything from our end. Many of our clients call us from their car for a reason, and we respect that from the first minute.
Practical
No lectures on the Corporations Act. No jargon walls. We tell you what you’re facing, what your realistic options are, and what happens next — in language you can take home and explain to your partner over dinner.
Real stories
What directors say.
James Mitchell
Owner, retail business
Owner, retail business
Owner, retail business
Owner, retail business
Built for the critical moment
Received a DPN?
The ATO just made you personally responsible for your company's tax debt. You have 21 days to move — and the wrong move locks it in forever.
A Director Penalty Notice is the ATO’s way of stepping around your company and coming after you personally. The debt was the company’s. Now it’s yours — your assets are on the table.
A few things directors don’t realise until it’s too late:
Move fast and you have options. Move slow and they disappear.
✓ The clock is 21 days from the date on the notice
not the date you opened it. If it sat in the mailbox for a week, you’ve already lost a week.
✓ There are only four ways out
two of them (paying in full, or appointing an administrator/liquidator/small business restructuring practitioner) have to happen inside the 21 days.
✓ Lockdown DPNs can't be undone.
If your BAS or SGC statements were lodged more than 3 months late, the “appoint an administrator” escape hatch is already closed. Paying is the only option left.
✓ Bankruptcy doesn't automatically wipe it.
DPN debt survives some insolvency events. This is a debt that follows you.
Move fast and you have options. Move slow and they disappear.
Resources
Small Business Restructuring vs Liquidation: Which Is Right for Your Company?
Two very different paths for a company in trouble. One saves the business at cents in the dollar. The other ends it. Here’s how to work out which one you actually need — and why choosing wrong is expensive. The one-sentence difference Small Business Restructuring (SBR) keeps your company alive — you settle debts at a discount and keep running the business. Liquidation ends your company — a liquidator sells the assets, distributes what’s left, and closes it down. That’s it. That’s the fork in the road. The rest of
Can’t Pay ATO Tax Debt? A Director’s 2026 Survival Guide
If your company owes the ATO more than it can pay, you’re not alone — and you’re not out of options. But every week you wait, the options get narrower. Here’s what actually happens, what you can do, and how to protect yourself personally. The reality in 2026 The ATO has changed. The “quiet years” of COVID-era leniency are over. Debt collection is back to pre-2020 aggression — and in many ways, sharper. In the last twelve months alone, the ATO has: Issued more Director Penalty Notices than in any
Received a Director Penalty Notice? What To Do in the Next 21 Days
If a Director Penalty Notice just landed on your desk — or in your inbox — the clock is already running. This guide walks you through what a DPN actually is, the four ways out, and the decisions you need to make before day 21. What a DPN actually is (in plain English) A Director Penalty Notice (DPN) is how the Australian Taxation Office steps around your company and comes after you personally for unpaid tax debt. Normally, if a Pty Ltd company can’t pay its tax bill, the company
Ready to move forward?
FAQ
What is pre-insolvency?
What is a Small Business Restructuring (SBR)?
Do you provide insolvency services?
No — and that’s intentional. We’re independent advisors, not registered liquidators. When formal insolvency is the right answer, we introduce you to practitioners we trust and stay involved. We don’t accept referral fees.