Enterprise Software Developer Triples Revenue in 10 Years with the Help of BLG

Key Services

• Restructuring advice allowed Emagine to maximise R&D tax offsets without impairing ability to pay dividend to shareholders
• Advice on international expansion helped fuel significant growth
• Regular attendance at board meetings, including profitability and cashflow advice on proposed company actions

Emagine provides enterprise-level marketing software to large telecommunication companies. With an international client base in Australia, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, Emagine has flourished since it was launched 18 years ago.

“Our software manages the entire marketing process for our clients,” says Emagine CEO and Executive Director, David Peters. “We allow them to design and deploy targeted campaigns. We might have hundreds of concurrent campaigns happening at any given moment.”

An innovator and leader in the field, Emagine prides itself on providing operational excellence, best-in-class technology, and tangible results to achieve 100% customer satisfaction.

$250,000 in Savings in the First Six Months

Emagine began working with BLG Business Advisers in 2007, after they felt they’d outgrown their previous accountant. David received a referral to BLG from one of his investors—a decision for which David was instantly rewarded.

“As soon as we joined BLG, they discovered $250,000 in overpaid taxes and we got a refund,” David says. “I remember telling them that they’d just paid for themselves for many, many years.”

Restructuring, R&D and International Advice

David points to advice BLG has provided for restructuring the business as one of the major benefits Emagine has received from BLG. “BLG helped us restructure into a group holding company with subsidiaries so that we could segregate the business and align it in a way that allowed it to run independently and to grow,” David says. “Most importantly, they did this in a way that didn’t impair our ability to pay dividends to our investors and shareholders.”

In addition, BLG’s knowledge of government programs has allowed Emagine to maximise working capital. “Their advice and guidance on specific government incentives, in particular R&D tax incentive programs, has been very advantageous to us.”

As an international company with offices and clients around the world, David says that he often leans on BLG’s knowledge and connections to help them make decisions and Luke Bland is now involved in that journey. “They’re not experts in tax law in Nigeria, for example,” David says, “but they’ll put us in touch with contacts in those markets. Our international expansion has greatly benefitted from working with BLG.”

Benefits and Results

• Found $250,000 in overpaid taxes in the first six months of their working relationship
• Knowledge of tax law and incentives allows Emagine to maximise working capital
• Restructuring aligned business and helped facilitate 3x growth
• Advice on matters such as overseas expansion and international payroll obligations has made international operations smoother

Conclusion

"BLG Business Advisers is fantastic,” David says. “I’ve referred several other companies to them. They provide good value for money and in-depth advice on everything from tax planning to structure. They have an unreserved recommendation from me.”