Business partnership alignment for owner-led businesses
You started as partners. Make sure you still are.
Most partnerships do not fail over one big argument. They wear down over years of unspoken gaps: who does the work, who gets paid for it, who decides, and what happens if one of you wants out. The Partner Alignment Review puts those gaps on the table, gets you agreeing on them, and hands your lawyer and accountant clear instructions to make it stick.
- Typically three to six weeks
- Two to six partners
- Neutral, works for all owners
In short
A Partner Alignment Review is a structured, facilitated process for business partners and shareholders in owner-led Australian businesses. It aligns six areas: roles and contribution, reward, decisions, money in and out, protection, and exit. It ends with a signed-off Partner Agreement Brief for the partners' own lawyer and accountant. Ajility runs the process. Qualified advisers give the legal, tax and insurance advice.
Signs your business partnership is out of alignment
Common situations in partnerships of two to six owners. If two or more apply, the gaps are already costing you.
One partner works in the business full time, the other turns up for the quarterly meeting, and both take the same draw.
Money has come out of the company over the years and nobody is sure how it has been recorded.
The shareholders agreement is a template, out of date, or was never signed.
Nobody has agreed what happens if a partner gets sick, leaves or dies.
Big decisions stall because no one has the final say.
The partners still get on, but nobody wants to be the one to raise it.
What does a Partner Alignment Review cover?
Every review works through the same six areas, so nothing is left to chance and nothing turns personal.
Roles and contribution
Who works in the business, who only owns it, and what each partner is accountable for. Working partner and silent partner roles, defined.
Reward
How each partner is rewarded for working and for owning, agreed as a principle. Your accountant then sets how it is paid.
Decisions and authority
What one partner can decide alone, what needs everyone, and how a deadlock gets broken.
Money in and out
Loans, drawings, funding and capital calls listed in one place, each flagged for your accountant to confirm, including any Division 7A loans.
Protection
Whether a shareholders agreement, directors and officers cover, key person and buy-sell arrangements exist, and when each was last reviewed. Anything missing or stale goes to your lawyer and broker.
Exit and change
What you want to happen on leaving, illness, death, deadlock or underperformance, recorded as clear instructions for your lawyer to draft.
How does the review work?
A structured process with a neutral operator in the room. Typically three to six weeks.
Weeks 1 to 2: Listen and map
Weeks 2 to 4: Partner sessions and the Brief
Weeks 4 to 6: Advisers and operating install
Confidential one-on-ones
A private conversation with each partner about what is working, what is not and what they want.
Alignment map
Where you agree, where you do not, and where nobody has decided. Facts on one page, not feelings.
Facilitated partner sessions
Working sessions to agree each of the six areas, one at a time, with options and consequences laid out.
Partner Agreement Brief
Your agreed commercial intent in plain English, signed off by every partner, as instructions for your lawyer.
Adviser coordination
We brief your lawyer, accountant and broker, keep them to timelines and track every open item to close.
Operating install
Roles, scorecards, a partner meeting rhythm and partner reporting, so what you agreed shows up in how the business runs.
What we do, and what your advisers do
We run the process and keep everyone moving. Your qualified advisers give the advice. That split is what keeps the outcome sound.
| Ajility | Your lawyer, accountant and broker |
|---|---|
| Runs the conversations and partner sessions | Draft and advise on the shareholders or partnership agreement |
| Maps roles, contribution and accountability | Advise on tax, including Division 7A and how partners are paid |
| Records what you have agreed in the Partner Agreement Brief | Advise on and arrange insurance cover |
| Briefs your advisers and tracks every item to close | Value shares and set any buy-out method |
| Installs the operating rhythm once it is agreed | Represent an individual partner if that is ever needed |
Ajility is not a law firm, registered tax agent, financial services licensee, accredited mediator or investigator, and does not give legal, tax, financial product, insurance or valuation advice. We work for the business and all of its owners together, never for one partner against another.
See where you and your partners differ
The free Partner Alignment Check takes about six minutes. Each partner answers on their own. The result shows where your answers differ, not who is right, and nobody sees another partner's answers unless that partner shares them.
Example result, illustrative
How much does a Partner Alignment Review cost?
Partner Alignment Review
From $9,900 plus GST
Typically three to six weeks. Pricing is based on business size, number of partners and on site versus virtual delivery.
- One-on-one with each partner
- Alignment map across the six areas
- Facilitated partner sessions
- Partner Agreement Brief, signed off by every partner
- Adviser briefing and coordination to close
- Partner meeting rhythm and scorecard
Who it is for
Owner-led businesses, $3M to $30M. Across Australia, on site or virtual.
Two to six partners or shareholders. Working partners, silent partners, family and investor shareholders.
Partners who want to stay together, or separate properly. Either way, agreed in writing.
Not the right fit once lawyers' letters are exchanged. Then your lawyer should lead, and we can step in once there is a way forward.
Questions business partners ask
What is a Partner Alignment Review?
- A structured, facilitated process that gets business partners and shareholders agreeing on roles, reward, decisions, money, protection and exit, then briefs their own lawyer and accountant to put it in writing. It is run by Ajility, a fractional COO practice for owner-led Australian businesses.
Is this mediation?
- No. Mediation is a formal process, usually run by an accredited mediator once a dispute has started. A Partner Alignment Review is an operating review run while you are still partners, to agree how the partnership works before it becomes a dispute.
Do you write our shareholders agreement?
- No. Your lawyer drafts it. We give your lawyer a clear, signed-off brief of what you have agreed, so they start from agreed instructions rather than a blank page, and we track it through to signing.
Is the Partner Agreement Brief a binding agreement?
- No. The Brief records what the partners have agreed in principle, in plain English, as instructions for your own lawyer. It is not a contract and creates no legal rights or obligations. Your lawyer turns it into the shareholders or partnership agreement that does.
What should a working partner be paid compared with a silent partner?
- Most partnerships separate the two: a reward for doing a role, priced as if you were hiring for it, and a return on ownership shared by shareholding. We help you agree that principle. Your accountant advises how it is paid.
Will you tell us what to do about our Division 7A loans?
- We make sure every loan and drawing is listed and in front of your accountant, who advises on the tax treatment. We do not give tax advice.
Who do you work for if we disagree?
- The business and all of its owners together. Every partner signs the engagement, and we never act for one partner against another, during the review or afterwards.
Are the one-on-ones confidential?
- We agree at the start what will and will not be shared with the other partners. Our notes are business records, not privileged legal communications, and we say so up front.
How much does a Partner Alignment Review cost?
- From $9,900 plus GST. Pricing is based on business size, the number of partners and on site versus virtual delivery. It typically takes three to six weeks.
What if it is already a dispute?
- Then your lawyer should lead. We pause the review and refer it on, and we can help with the operating side once a way forward is agreed.
Related
Working partner vs silent partner: how to split pay and profit fairly
InsightHow to restructure a small business group with shared owners
ServiceStructure and Performance Reset
By Adam Ayoub, Fractional COO, Ajility. Last reviewed 30 October 2026.
Start with a 30-minute conversation.
Tell us where the partnership stands. We will tell you plainly whether a review will help, and what it would involve.