Book a Free Consultation

Your initial consultation with GCFA is completely free and completely obligation-free. We will review your situation, explain what we can help with, and tell you what advice would involve and cost — before you commit to anything. Many people find the initial consultation useful in itself, regardless of whether they choose to proceed further.

What Happens in the Initial Consultation

The discovery consultation typically runs 45 to 60 minutes. We do not follow a script or work through a standard questionnaire — we have a genuine conversation about your situation and what you are trying to achieve. We ask questions. We review documents you bring. We test whether our reading of your situation matches yours.

Specifically, we are trying to understand: what your current financial position looks like (income, assets, debts, super, insurance, investments); what your goals are (retirement, protecting your family, building wealth, sorting out your insurance, navigating a specific financial decision); what is working and what is not; and what you are most concerned about.

At the end of the meeting we tell you our honest assessment. What areas do we think advice would add material value? What would that advice involve? What would it cost? Is there anything we cannot help with and you should seek advice elsewhere for? You then decide whether you want to proceed. There is no pressure, no follow-up call if you do not want one, and no obligation of any kind.

Meeting Options

In person at our Helensvale office — Suite 5, 64 Siganto Drive. On-site parking. Close to Helensvale train station. Accessible from the M1. This is typically the preferred format for an initial meeting where we are reviewing documents and discussing complex situations in detail.

By video (Zoom) — we send you a Zoom link in advance. Documents can be shared electronically before the meeting or screen-shared during it. This works well for clients across the Tweed, Northern Rivers, Brisbane and beyond who do not want to travel to Helensvale.

By phone — straightforward and effective for an initial conversation, particularly if you want to get a sense of whether GCFA is the right fit before committing to a longer meeting. We can review documents you email through.

What to Bring or Send

The more information you can share before or during the initial meeting, the more specific we can be about what we recommend. Useful documents include: recent superannuation statements; current insurance policy schedules (even if you are not sure whether the cover is adequate); a recent tax return or income summary; details of your mortgage and other debts; any existing financial plans or Statements of Advice from previous advisers; and an outline of any specific decisions you are trying to make.

Do not worry if you do not have all of these — we can work with whatever you have and request anything else we need. Some clients come to the initial meeting with nothing more than their superannuation fund name and a general sense that things need to be sorted out. That is fine. We will figure out what we need from there.

After the Initial Consultation

If you decide you would like GCFA to proceed with advice, we prepare a Statement of Advice — the formal document that sets out our specific recommendations, their basis and the associated costs. You review and approve that before anything is implemented. See our Advice Process page for a full explanation of what comes next.

Common Reasons People Book

Clients contact GCFA for a first consultation for many different reasons. The most common: a super fund that has never been properly reviewed; income protection that is non-existent or structured incorrectly; life insurance taken out years ago that has never been updated; a retirement approaching without a proper plan; an insurance claim not progressing as expected; or simply a general sense that finances need sorting out but it is hard to know where to start.

Whatever brings you to the initial consultation, the approach is the same — we listen, review what you have, and give honest advice on what we think should be done about it, at no cost and with no obligation. If you decide to proceed, we tell you exactly what it will cost before you commit. Call 07 5655 6194 or email email hidden; JavaScript is required to arrange a time that suits you.

After the initial consultation, if you decide to proceed, GCFA prepares a Statement of Advice — a formal document that sets out our specific recommendations, their basis, the associated costs and any relevant conflicts of interest. You review and approve this document before anything is implemented. Nothing changes in your financial arrangements until you have read the SOA and signed an authority to proceed. See our Advice Process page for a full explanation of what happens after the initial consultation.

GCFA’s Helensvale office is at Suite 5, 64 Siganto Drive — accessible via the M1 (Helensvale exit), close to Helensvale train station, with on-site parking. Office hours are Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. Meetings outside these hours can be arranged on request.