DHM Coaching and Consulting

07/09/2026

Last chance to join me for my "Let's Talk Finance" workshop in Welshpool next week.

If you've been meaning to understand your business financials better, this is your opportunity.

In one practical, interactive day, you'll learn how to:
> Understand what your profit and loss statement and balance sheet are really telling you.
> Make better informed business decisions.
> Feel more confident talking with your accountant or bookkeeper.

No accounting background is needed—just a willingness to learn.

"Debbie the presenter was excellent. Very knowledgeable, patient, and great at explaining complex matters. The actual course material was exceptional, practical and hands on. Great interactive learning tool." - SBDC Workshop Participant

📅 Thursday 10 September 2026
⏰ 9am–5pm
📍 The Aspire Centre, 34 Welshpool Rd, Welshpool

https://events.humanitix.com/let-s-talk-finance-0926

This workshop is subsidised by the State Government through the Small Business Development Corporation WA.
I'd love to see you there.

02/09/2026

Being good at what you do doesn't automatically make you good at understanding the numbers.

This recent ABC article really resonated with me. One business owner talks about discovering that creating her product was only a small part of running a business. It was the financial side that left her feeling overwhelmed. I see this all the time.

Most people don't go into business because they love balance sheets and profit and loss statements. But understanding what those numbers are telling you is an essential part of running a successful business.

The good news is financial literacy can be learnt.

That's exactly why I enjoy facilitating Let's Talk Finance. I take accounting concepts and explain them in plain English, using visual tools to help business owners understand how their financials fit together and feel more confident making decisions.

You can read the ABC article here:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-14/taskforce-launched-to-equip-small-business-financial-literacy/107016448

My next Let's Talk Finance workshop is coming up:
📅 Thursday 10 September 2026
⏰ 9am–5pm
📍 Welshpool

To book:
https://www.smallbusiness.wa.gov.au/workshops/lets-talk-finance

This workshop is subsidised by the State Government through the Small Business Development Corporation WA.

Small businesses call for support to develop financial literacy skills as new research reveals a sobering reality.

01/09/2026

You don't need to be a "numbers person" to understand your business finances.

One of the best parts of running these workshops is when participants share the moment everything clicks into place for them.

Here's what one participant had to say:
"I had no idea where to even begin looking at a Balance Sheet, but now I can confidently understand the different segments. The realisation that the P&L and Balance Sheet are connected - my mind was blown!"
– Venus Nekoufar, Dynamic Autobody

If you'd like to feel more confident reading your financial reports and making business decisions, I'd love you to join me.

📅 Thursday 10 September 2026
⏰ 9am–5pm
📍 The Aspire Centre, 34 Welshpool Rd, Welshpool

https://events.humanitix.com/let-s-talk-finance-0926

This workshop is subsidised by the State Government through the Small Business Development Corporation WA.

25/08/2026

Do your financial reports leave you with more questions than answers?

You're certainly not alone. Many business owners tell me they know they should understand their numbers, but don't know where to start.

In this "Let's Talk Finance" workshop, I'll explain accounting concepts in plain English, so you can finally make sense of your profit and loss statement, balance sheet and the numbers that drive your business.

📅 Thursday 10 September 2026
⏰ 9am–5pm
📍 The Aspire Centre, 34 Welshpool Rd, Welshpool

https://events.humanitix.com/let-s-talk-finance-0926

This workshop is subsidised by the State Government through the Small Business Development Corporation WA.

25/08/2026

Saw this on abc news recently - it's good to hear that Xero have convened a task force with the objective of addressing the lack of financial literacy within small businesses. Great news! The statistic quoted that "a third of small business owners don't know if they made a profit or not last month" is not a surprise to me.

I see this frequently when facilitating financial literacy workshops, or working directly with SME business owners.

We're fortunate here in WA that small businesses have access to extensive training and resources through the Small Business Development Corporation WA at hugely subsidised rates. Simply take a look at the workshops page, filter under finance and you'll find a whole raft of great financial literacy workshops listed. Come and join me if you like at "Let's Talk Finance" on 10 September in Welshpool.

Small businesses call for support to develop financial literacy skills as new research reveals a sobering reality.

19/08/2026

I recently completed my accreditation with the FBA AU as an accredited family business advisor. This is what one of my family business clients had to say:

"We are a 55 year old family business and have grown significantly in the past 10 years...... however, we hadn't taken a strategic approach to finance.

With Debbie's excellent coaching and understanding of what it means to grow from a small business to a medium sized entity when it comes to reporting, financing, policies, systems and risk, we are now in excellent shape and can move forward knowing that we have a strategy and guardrails in place.

It has been a real pleasure to work alongside Debbie to draw on her insights and to observe the empathy that she shows when working alongside the long term members of our finance team."

Stephen Armstrong, CEO Pacific Automation

12/08/2026

The ATO is not a source of business finance.

One trend that concerns me is the growing number of businesses relying on unpaid tax obligations to fund day-to-day operations.

While it may relieve pressure in the short term, it's a strategy that carries significant risk.

Recent reports infdicate the ATO is owed billions in outstanding tax debt from businesses, mostly in the SME sector and it's becoming increasingly active in recovering those amounts.

Recently I attended a restructuring and insolvency seminar hosted by CAANZ where the panel of WA based insolvency specialists reported that they are seeing the ATO taking a much firmer approach to debt recovery. The ATO are issuing more Director Penalty Notices to recover unpaid taxes & superannuation. Even more worrying is that some Directors choose to ignore these Notices, either because they don’t appreciate the implications or assume the ATO won’t act. Think again.

In my experience, however, unpaid tax is rarely the real problem.

It's usually a symptom of something else, including:
> declining profitability
> inadequate pricing
> poor cash flow forecasting
> poor cash management practices
> insufficient working capital, maybe because business grown too quickly
> excessive drawings from the business.

Negotiating another payment arrangement may provide breathing space, but it won't fix a business model that isn't generating enough cash.

I always encourage my clients to respect the ATO as an important stakeholder in their business.
Financially sustainable businesses don't rely on tax debt as working capital. They focus on addressing the underlying causes before cash flow becomes a crisis.

These issues are just one of the topics I explore in my latest blog on why profitable businesses can still run out of cash.

Why profitable businesses still run out of cash isn't always about profit. Learn practical cash flow habits.

14/07/2026

One of the things I love about facilitating financial literacy workshops is the people I meet. Louis Moncrieff is a great example of that. Small business owner of Co-Creative IT and ReWare. Louis has a big appetite for learning and passion to build a resilient business through exceptional customer service combined with giving back. An absolute pleasure to meet you Louis.

We met through a recent workshop I facilitated for the Small Business Development Corporation WA.

24/06/2026

I’m pleased to share that I am now a FBA AU Accredited Advisor.

This accreditation is the culmination of a 6 month course with Family Business Association delivered by the University of Adelaide. It reflects my commitment to continuing professional development equipping me to provide more value to my family business clients.

Having spent many years working within a family business JWH Group, and continuing to work with family businesses in my coaching and consulting practice, I thought I knew a thing or two about the nuances, challenges and rewards of family businesses. This course has served to deepen my understanding of their complexity and uniqueness.

A shout out to Richard Boyce and Chris Graves as course facilitators for sharing their knowledge and experience. Fellow participants for adding to the richness of the course. Sarah Herft and Katie McMeekin of FBA for your support.

10/06/2026

I had the pleasure of meeting Renee Turner last week. She was a participant in a workshop I was facilitating for the Small Business Development Corporation WA. The workshop started in a very special way with Renee providing an Acknowledgment of Country. It was a privilege to be in the room that morning. Thank you Renee.