Our Background and Focus
Exfin was established in 2005 with the sole purpose of providing expatriate Australians, and future migrants to Australia, with easy, reliable and cost effective access to quality professional and financial services.
The experience of the principals, after many years outside Australia, was that very few Australian businesses were geared towards serving the requirements of expatriate Australians and this remains the case even today. While the internet has made keeping in touch with Australia immeasurably easier, we felt that it could also be actively used to provide professional and other services to Australian expatriates – hence the development of Exfin.
More than a decade later, we maintain a very extensive network of experienced professionals both in Australia and overseas, whose focus is providing services to individuals and companies who have international interests and issues. All have a commitment to meeting common service standards and have indicated a desire to support expatriate and international clients. Exfin continually monitors the achievement of customer service standards and, equally importantly, the perceived and real quality of service being provided by all providers within the Exfin network.
The range of issues that we encounter every day is extraordinarily diverse and we may not always know the immediate answer to inquiries, but we are better equipped than almost any other organisation to find an answer and deliver a professional solution. The continually growing number of visitors to the site and the thousands of annual inquiries from all over the world reinforce the view that Exfin is providing a useful resource and we intend to ensure our services remain relevant and progressive.
"We encounter an enormously diverse range of inquiries and consequently there will be occasions where we can't provide an immediate answer to questions, but we are better equipped than almost any other organisation to find an answer and deliver a professional solution."
We continue to find that both Australians and international clients are becoming more and more comfortable with using professional services provided directly out of Australia, despite the distance. Why, for example, search New York, Singapore or Hong Kong for an Australian tax or financial advisor when you have an up to date, licensed professional available in Australia who is often more economical? And if you do need "face to face" advice, or very specialist assistance, the network we have established over the years means that if you need Australian tax advice in London, US tax advice in California or financial planning advice in Italy, appropriate providers may exist within the Exfin network.
Exfin remains an evolving business and we intend to progressively add to the information presented as time goes by – and we very much welcome feedback from visitors and clients regarding areas where we might provide useful, value added services to Australian expatriates and migrants to Australia.
Exfin is a commercial site, with revenue derived from a variety of sources including marketing and operational support from service providers, referral payments, advertising and sponsorship. None of this support results in any service costs to Exfin users except in areas where we offer direct services and clearly set out the applicable fees.
Advisors and Fees
Following the receipt of an inquiry to Exfin, our typical approach is to have appropriate advisor make contact and arrange an initial discussion, which is without cost or commitment, to better understand the background behind the inquiry and the precise scope of advice required - after which a fee quotation will be provided in advance of any advice or services being provided.
The only situations where this approach may not apply is where individuals want immediate access to professional advice, for example legal or tax advice, and then an hourly fee will be quoted in advance. These circumstances are rare and tend to be related to urgent or preliminary matters - our preference is very much that any advice is provided on a written basis.
