Small Business Restructuring (SBR) eligibility calculator

The basics

What is Small Business Restructuring?

Small Business Restructuring (SBR) is a formal debt-restructuring process introduced in 2021 for smaller Australian companies that are insolvent, or likely to become insolvent, but still viable. It lets a company propose a plan to pay its creditors an affordable amount over time, so the business can keep trading rather than being wound up.

What sets SBR apart from full voluntary administration is that the directors stay in control of the day-to-day running of the business. A restructuring practitioner — who must be a liquidator registered with ASIC — helps develop the plan and put it to creditors to vote on, but does not take over the company. That makes it a lighter, cheaper path for eligible businesses.

Because it is designed for smaller companies, eligibility is tightly defined. The most important limit is the $1,000,000 cap on total liabilities, but there are three further tests covering the company's current status and its recent history. The calculator above checks all of them; the sections below explain each one in plain English.

Who qualifies

The eligibility criteria

A company is eligible for restructuring on the day a practitioner is appointed only if all four of these hard criteria hold. The calculator tests exactly these:

01Debt under the cap

Total liabilities must not exceed $1,000,000 on the day a restructuring practitioner is appointed. This is the single hardest cut-off — a company above it cannot use SBR.

02No existing administration

The company is not already under restructuring, an unterminated restructuring plan, administration, an unterminated deed of company arrangement, or liquidation.

03Clean company history

The company has not itself been through restructuring or a simplified liquidation process in the last 7 years.

04Clean director history

No current director — or anyone who was a director in the last 12 months — has also directed a different company through restructuring or simplified liquidation in the last 7 years.

A narrow regulatory exemption can apply to the last two criteria where the other company is a related body corporate whose restructuring or simplified liquidation began no more than 20 business days before this company's restructuring — a registered liquidator can confirm whether it applies to you.

Two things that matter but don't affect eligibility

The calculator also asks about two readiness matters. Neither changes whether you can appoint a practitioner — they affect only when a plan can be proposed to creditors:

Insolvency resolution

Directors must formally resolve that the company is insolvent, or likely to become insolvent, before a practitioner is appointed. This is a required legal step, not a warning sign.

Employee & tax readiness

Current employee entitlements should be paid and tax lodgments (BAS, returns) brought up to date before a plan is put to creditors — but a company not yet there can still appoint a practitioner and work toward it.

Next steps

What your result means

A likely eligible result means your answers did not trip any of the four hard criteria. It is a starting point for a conversation with a registered liquidator, not a guarantee — eligibility is only confirmed on the actual day a practitioner is appointed, and the figures can move before then. Keeping a close eye on your total liabilities in the meantime matters, which is where automated insolvency risk monitoring helps.

A likely not eligible result explains exactly which criterion is the problem. If it is the $1,000,000 liability cap, voluntary administration or a deed of company arrangement are worth discussing with a registered liquidator instead. If it is the company- or director-history criteria, ask whether the related-body-corporate exemption might apply before ruling it out. Either way, the sooner you have that conversation, the more options are usually on the table. Our guides to what happens when a business can't pay its debts and the safe harbour provisions for directors set out the surrounding options in plain English.

Questions

Small business restructuring, answered

What is the debt limit for small business restructuring?

To be eligible for Small Business Restructuring, a company's total liabilities must not exceed $1,000,000 on the day a restructuring practitioner is appointed. It is the hardest cut-off in the eligibility test: a company above the cap cannot use SBR and would usually look at voluntary administration or a deed of company arrangement instead. The calculator above checks your figure against this $1,000,000 threshold.

Who is eligible for SBR?

A company is eligible if, on the day a restructuring practitioner is appointed, all four of these hold: total liabilities are $1,000,000 or less; the company is not already under restructuring, administration, a deed of company arrangement, or liquidation; the company has not itself been through restructuring or simplified liquidation in the last 7 years; and no current director — or anyone who was a director in the last 12 months — has directed another company through restructuring or simplified liquidation in the last 7 years. The calculator tests all four.

What does a small business restructuring practitioner do?

The restructuring practitioner must be a liquidator registered with ASIC. They work with the directors to develop a debt restructuring plan and put it to creditors to vote on, while the directors stay in control of the day-to-day running of the business. That is what makes SBR lighter and cheaper than full voluntary administration, where an external administrator takes over the company.

How is small business restructure eligibility calculated?

This free calculator applies the four statutory eligibility criteria from the Corporations Act 2001 — the debt cap, no existing external administration, and the company- and director-history tests — to the answers you give. It also flags two readiness matters (the directors’ insolvency resolution and whether employee entitlements and tax lodgments are current) that affect when a plan can be proposed, but not whether you can appoint a practitioner. Eligibility must be confirmed again on the actual day a practitioner is appointed.

Is small business restructuring the same as liquidation?

No. In a liquidation the company stops trading and its assets are sold off to pay creditors. In Small Business Restructuring the company keeps trading, the directors stay in control, and the aim is to agree a plan to pay creditors an affordable amount over time so the business can continue. A company that has been through a simplified liquidation in the last 7 years is, however, blocked from using SBR.

Is this SBR eligibility checker legal advice?

No. It gives a general indication based on the main eligibility criteria and does not cover every provision or exception in the Corporations Act 2001. It is free and needs no signup. Before acting, speak with a registered liquidator, accountant, or financial counsellor — only an ASIC-registered liquidator can act as your restructuring practitioner.