The Sounds of the Baskerville

Hosted by Thesolvers.com.au

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Episodes

121

Latest episode

Jun 2026

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About the show

That's info-tainment! Chris Baskerville is an astute businessman, Chartered Accountant, Liquidator, Bankruptcy Trustee and State Managing Partner of a national firm. Chris is also able to share his expertise and experience in an entertaining and informative way. James Flaherty talks with the showman himself. You may laugh, you may cry, you may throw things at whatever device is playing this podcast . Tune in and join in.

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60 recent

June 16, 2026Episode 12214 min

122. You Guys Are Going to Be Busy

In this episode of The Sounds of the Baskerville, Chris Baskerville and James Flaherty take stock of where Australian small businesses find themselves right now. Budget changes, tightening capital gains tax concessions, a harder ATO, and rising interest rates on second-tier lending have quietly closed the escape hatch that many directors have been relying on — drawing equity from the family home to prop up a leaking business.Chris unpacks why pouring money into a broken business model is just buying time, not buying survival. He also pulls back the curtain on what insolvency practitioners actually do — and why the directors who call early get options, while those who wait until the plane is nosediving pay a much steeper price.

June 10, 2026Episode 12117 min

121. The Nightclub and The Engineer

In this episode of The Sounds of the Baskerville, Chris Baskerville and James Flaherty bring the SBR vs Voluntary Administration debate to life with real war stories from the coalface. First up: a nightclub owner who poured his personal injury compensation into a business, only to find himself trapped in the wrong restructuring tool and how switching to VA changed everything.Then Chris flips the script with a COVID-era engineering firm that was the textbook case for SBR: a fundamentally sound business, a hockey stick recovery in sight, and a director who just needed one clean break from legacy debt. The lesson? Neither tool is universally better. The right answer depends on who you owe, what assets you hold, and how early you ask for help. And the earlier you call, the more options you have.

June 3, 2026Episode 12018 min

120. The Creditor Matrix

In this second instalment of The Sounds of the Baskerville's deep dive into restructuring, Chris Baskerville and James Flaherty get into the mechanics of the decision, what Chris calls the Creditor Matrix. Because the right path isn't just about cost or control. It's about who you owe money to, how much power they hold, and whether they like you. Chris unpacks why the ATO dominates nearly 80% of all SBR creditor pools and what happens when it doesn't. He explains why voluntary administration is the only real option for businesses with complex assets, related party creditors who want a vote, or directors who need to buy time. He also tackles licensing and why a construction company entering VA may never trade again. The matrix isn't complicated. But getting it wrong is.

May 27, 2026Episode 11916 min

119. Not Every Job is a Nail

In this episode of The Sounds of the Baskerville, Chris Baskerville and James Flaherty go head-to-head on one of the most important decisions a distressed business can face. Both tools exist to restructure and preserve viable companies, but they are not interchangeable, and choosing the wrong one could cost you dearly. Chris breaks down the key differences: who stays in control, what the eligibility thresholds really mean, why unpaid super can be a dealbreaker, and why voluntary administration offers flexibility that SBR simply can't. He also explains the compelling maths behind SBR, how a director contributing $200,000 can wipe out $1 million in debt, and when that equation no longer makes sense.

April 28, 2026Episode 11824 min

118. Drugs, Diamonds & Divorce

In this episode of The Sounds of the Baskerville, Chris Baskerville and Pierce Carstensen are back — and this time the gloves are off. Pierce delivers two jaw-dropping war stories that bring the family law and insolvency crossover to vivid life: a diamond merchant framed on death row, and a debtor who tried to hide everything behind a conveniently timed divorce.But beneath the remarkable storytelling lies a serious message for creditors, directors, and insolvency practitioners. Pierce reveals why the family court can actually be a more powerful forum to recover assets than the state courts — and why failing to intervene in family law proceedings could mean walking away empty-handed.If Episode 117 was the theory, Episode 118 is where it gets real.

April 22, 2026Episode 11725 min

117. When Business and Marriage Both Fall Apart

In this episode of The Sounds of the Baskerville, Chris Baskerville is joined by James Flaherty and family law specialist Pierce Carstensen for a fascinating deep-dive into one of the most overlooked intersections in the insolvency world — where family law and insolvency law meet head-on.Pierce reveals why insolvency practitioners routinely leave money on the table when a family law element enters the picture, and why that needs to change. From spouses quietly transferring assets to defeat creditors, to the Family Law Act's little-known power to tear apart those very agreements, to the complex dance between trustees in bankruptcy and the family court — this episode pulls back the curtain on a space that most practitioners avoid but can't afford to.

April 14, 2026Episode 11617 min

116. You Can't Sell More Time

In this episode of The Sounds of the Baskerville, Chris Baskerville and James Flaherty tackle one of the most common and quietly dangerous traps facing Australian businesses right now: the labour and margin squeeze. When you can't hire enough people to meet demand, and rising costs are eating into what little margin you have left, the ceiling on what your business can earn becomes very real, very fast. Chris and James explore what business owners can actually do about it, from smart pricing strategy (you can lose 20% of customers and still come out ahead) to the role of automation, offshoring, and knowing when a business model has simply run its course.

April 7, 2026Episode 11517 min

115. When the Storm Hits

In this episode of The Sounds of the Baskerville, Chris Baskerville and James Flaherty take a candid, unscripted look at the economic storm clouds gathering over Australia. From the cascading effects of global conflict on fuel prices, to the squeeze on household disposable incomes, to tightening credit across second-tier lenders, the conditions for a wave of business distress are quietly falling into place. Chris unpacks the concept of externalities, the economic shocks no business owner can plan for and what history tells us about the insolvency cycle that follows. With recession talk returning and the cost of living biting harder than ever, this episode is a timely reality check.

March 31, 2026Episode 11419 min

114. One Shot in Seven Years

In this episode of The Sounds of the Baskerville, Chris Baskerville and Ginette Muller take stock of where the SBR landscape stands today. After years of record uptake, the numbers are starting to dip and the reason why matters for every business owner, accountant, and advisor in the room.The ATO, creditor in 93% of all SBRs, has sharpened its scrutiny. Red flags like poor compliance history, Division 7A director loans, and underpowered offers are killing proposals that might once have slipped through. Chris and Ginette unpack what practitioners need to do differently: front-load your evidence, get clients match fit, and make your one shot in seven years count. The stakes are real. Tighten the process too much, and phoenixing fills the void.

March 24, 2026Episode 11318 min

113. Here Are the Keys

In this episode of The Sounds of the Baskerville, Chris Baskerville and James Flaherty tackle one of the most overlooked conversations in business: how to close up shop the right way. Whether you're exhausted, retirement-bound, locked in a deadlocked shareholder dispute, or simply watching a once-great business run out of road, there's a world of difference between walking away cleanly and watching chaos consume everything you built.Chris breaks down every option on the table, from simply letting a company deregister, to members' voluntary liquidations with serious tax advantages, to the expensive mess that shareholder disputes become when there's no agreement in place. The bottom line? Meeting danger head-on halves it. Ignoring it doubles it. If you've ever wondered what "closing well" actually looks like, this episode is your roadmap.