‘Tis the Season to be Served! Pre-Holiday Warning for Accountants
Do you act as a registered office for any corporate client or other company?
Are you closing down your offices over the Christmas/New Year period?
If you answered “Yes” to either of these questions, you must read on…
If you are acting as the registered office for a company, you may receive important legal documents and notices that are served on the company during your Christmas and New Year break.
We provide this reminder about the vital importance to keep records of all legal documents and notices received (including the date of receipt) and to notify the company officers as soon as possible.
Strict statutory deadlines apply to responding to legal documents and notices. If any such documents are posted to or left at your office whilst you are closed over the break the timeframe for compliance will commence even though nobody may see the document for days if not weeks.
This reminder will be of the utmost importance in December 2022 – January 2023. For example, any Statutory Demand or Bankruptcy Notice served on your office has a 21-day deadline. Recipients must take action in response within this timeframe, failing which the recipient of the Bankruptcy Notice will have committed an act of bankruptcy and any company that is served with a Statutory Demand could be wound up. Don’t let this happen to your clients or you may expose your business to liability for the consequences.
We expect that many creditors are planning to issue their Statutory Demands and Bankruptcy Notices in late December 2022 and early January 2023.
If you or your clients require any urgent assistance with any legal document or notice received or need to make an urgent application to set aside a Statutory Demand or Bankruptcy Notice over the Christmas and New Year period, please contact Gavin Parsons at gavin@gpalaw.com.au or (02) 9262 4471.
Finally, we wish you, your family and colleagues a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the team at Gavin Parsons and Associates!