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January is usually framed as a clean slate. New plans. New budgets. New optimism.
But for many directors and the advisors who support them, January isn’t about starting fresh. It’s about reopening conversations that were quietly deferred last year.
Unpaid tax. Stretched creditor arrangements. Personal guarantees signed years ago and rarely revisited. Director loan accounts that grew incrementally while everyone focused on keeping the business moving.
2026 is shaping up as the year when those unresolved issues demand clearer, more deliberate decisions.
Not because conditions are suddenly worse. But because the margin for delay has narrowed.
The end of temporary fixes
Over the past few years, many businesses survived through a series of rational, short‑term decisions:
- Refinancing to manage immediate cashflow pressure
- Informal payment plans with the ATO or key suppliers
- Using new borrowing to retire old debt
- Hoping the next project, contract, or season would restore balance
Each decision made sense in isolation. Together, they often postponed the real issue rather than resolving it.
What we are seeing now is the cumulative effect of that approach. Debt structures are more complex. Personal exposure is less clear. And the room to manoeuvre is smaller than it once was.
Temporary fixes don’t fail loudly. They fail quietly, by consuming time and optionality.
When decision fatigue becomes the real risk
By the time many directors seek insolvency advice, the problem is no longer a lack of information. It’s exhaustion.
Years of reactive decision making create a particular kind of fatigue:
- Every option feels urgent
- Every conversation feels confronting
- Every delay feels justified because there’s always something else to deal with first
For advisors, this often shows up as a client who knows the numbers but can’t bring themselves to act. The BAS is filed late. The difficult conversation is postponed. The restructuring option is acknowledged but not pursued.
The risk here isn’t just financial. It’s that inaction becomes the default decision.
And in insolvency, doing nothing is rarely a neutral choice.
What’s different about 2026
There’s no single policy shift or dramatic trigger defining this year. Instead, it’s the steady return to normal enforcement and commercial reality.
Creditors are still willing to engage, but patience is finite. The ATO expects compliance, not just communication. Lenders are scrutinising viability more closely. And personal exposure issues are being tested more often, not less.
At the same time, formal pathways like Small Business Restructuring remain effective, but only when accessed early, with reliable information and realistic forecasts.
The practical implication is simple. Options still exist. But they don’t stay open indefinitely.
Why controlled decisions matter more than perfect ones
Insolvency is rarely about finding the perfect outcome. It’s about choosing a controlled one.
A controlled decision:
- Is made early enough that multiple pathways are still available
- Separates personal risk from corporate risk as clearly as possible
- Protects advisor relationships rather than fracturing them
- Reduces the emotional toll by replacing uncertainty with structure
This is where early, specialist advice changes the trajectory. Not by eliminating difficulty, but by improving the quality of the decision being made.
For many directors, the turning point isn’t a court action or creditor demand. It’s the moment someone simplifies the situation: What matters now. What can wait. What risks are personal. What options are still viable.
Clarity doesn’t remove the pressure. But it prevents pressure from driving the wrong outcome.
Starting the year with realism, not fear
January doesn’t need to be dramatic to be decisive.
For advisors, it’s an opportunity to raise conversations that were parked last year, before urgency removes discretion.
For directors, it’s a chance to confront unresolved issues while choice still exists, rather than waiting for it to narrow.
At Insolvency Options, we see the difference early engagement makes every day. When decisions are made with structure, empathy, and specialist input, outcomes are more controlled, commercially and personally.
2026 won’t punish businesses for struggling. But it will reward those who choose clarity over delay.
If you’re carrying unresolved questions into the new year, a conversation now can change the options available later.
Need to discuss a client scenario or business position confidentially?
We work alongside accountants, lawyers, and directors to simplify complex situations and identify the most appropriate pathway forward. Book a confidential consultation with Darren.
Want to explore these issues further?
Listen to the i.O. — Insolvency Options podcast, where Darren breaks down insolvency decisions in plain English, with real‑world context for advisors and business owners alike.