I'm not afraid to admit I was a bit of a show pony in my late teens, the fancy shoes, big hair and swagger that I though was the 'winning' formula with the lady's, and I digress.

ESIC status is far more interesting and critical for the life and blood of an early stage venture. It not only sets out enticing taxation concessions, it establishes a that the company has been able to attain something special, hard won and a sense of accomplishment. 

Its by no means an assurance of success, though it does prove the company has what it takes to overcome some serious early hurdles, compliments of the tax man.

It's in that light, and under the law of the land, that we review and upgrade assessments on the directory. We are not expressing a negative view on 'pending', 'self assessed' or other less than verified status, quite the contrary, its just that full ESIC status is only granted at the express wishes of the platform, upon receipt of vital supporting documentation. 

We are not auditing the applicant, we are taking an assumed ATO position and applying the gravitas the listing demands and the resources available to the company.

For the purposes of clarity, we've set out some of the status listings you may find whilst browsing and how best to interpret them;

• Pending
• In Assessment
• Self Assessed ESIC Pending Verification
• Later stage innovation company
• ESIC (confirm **)
• ESIC

Pending;

A pending application is one that has been lodged and published. Preliminary review of the company has been undertaken regarding its ACN, officeholders and website. A qualified tax practitioner has undertaken a basic review of the questionnaire and any omissions, and conversed with the company officeholders. 

In many cases the applicant may simply have simply wanted more information regarding the ESIC process and requirements. In others the need is more pressing. 

Many pending applications are not published.


In Assessment

This status indicates that the pending ESIC status is under review and likely to be amended upon receipt of additional documentation, although this is not a certainty, and long delays may apply, e.g. when IP registration is involved.


Self Assessed ESIC Pending Verification

When a Status upgrade occurs, this could result in Full or 'Self assessed' status and this is not an absolute reflection on the quality of the applicant, far from it. 

An applicant may select 'self assessed ESIC' to safeguard IP, save time, take alternate council etc.


ESIC 

A full ESIC status applies on receipt of key verifiable data, for example, fully registered patent documents, accountants income tax return(s), ASIC annual statements, Cap table, Investor schedules etc.


ESIC (confirm **)

We may confirm ESIC status, subject to material documentation, e.g. licence agreement/patent/3rd party investor documentation. Naturally review of the status would require additional work in this area (application of an NDA, confidentiality agreement etc).

We conduct the above assessments in a professional manner, within the limitation of an outside advisers role. We do not vouch safe the status, and expressly advise users, the company and 3rd parties to contact the appointed tax agent and or their solicitor to conduct the necessary personalised review that can only be conducted by someone engaged to that task. Where that service is not obtainable, or a competitive quote desired our directory offers excellent referral resources, which we encourage you to use.

Many companies come to us unprepared for ATO and investor enquiries, whereas few progress in that regard.

I only wish I had that kind of guidance in my late teens, cringe as you imagine the haircuts!

Happy upgrading,


Tom