Siddharth Soin

Siddharth Soin is a co-founder and Partner of Belay Advisory, a Sydney- and Melbourne-based firm that delivers integrated accounting, tax and wealth-management services to founders, executives, and private business and family groups. He built the firm alongside his long-time business partner Richard Felice — the two have worked together for roughly 15 years — with the stated aim of removing the "financial silos" that result when clients use separate tax and wealth advisers. Belay operates from Level 10, 35 Clarence Street, Sydney and Level 5, 88 Jolimont Street East, Melbourne.

Sid is a chartered accountant, having completed his qualification with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (2008–2010). Before founding Belay, he was a Partner at CountPlus One, a Sydney accounting and business-advisory practice, where he provided financial advisory, accounting and taxation services. His specialist areas span private family groups, corporate and reporting structuring, due diligence, business valuations, cash flow and forecasting, and advising niche client groups such as medical and dental practitioners and travel agencies. Among the achievements highlighted in his firm bio are helping grow a client's business from roughly $450k to more than $60M in turnover and securing $400k+ in R&D tax claims.

Beyond accounting, Sid is an operator and founder in his own right. He is a co-founder of Brix Distillers, the first dedicated craft rum distillery to open in Sydney in over 200 years, located on Bourke Street in Surry Hills. He launched the venture with friends and business partners Damien Barrow and James Christopher (who also run the Cammeray venue The Public), turning a five-year rum-distilling hobby into a 24/7 working distillery, ageing facility and bar built around a 1,200-litre Australian-made copper still.

He has also contributed to industry governance, serving as Treasurer on the board of the Resolution Institute, the peak body representing mediators and dispute-resolution practitioners across Australia and New Zealand. He describes himself as someone who is as passionate about learning today as when he started in the industry more than a decade ago, and frames his advisory style as personal and relationship-driven.

• Invests and advises as an individual operator/founder rather than through a formal venture fund; his "yes" is rooted in deep involvement with the business and its owners rather than passive capital deployment.
• Strong affinity for owner-operated and family-held businesses, where his accounting, structuring, valuation and R&D-claim expertise adds value beyond the cheque.
• Demonstrated appetite for hospitality and consumer/craft-product ventures, evidenced by co-founding and building Brix Distillers from concept to a fully operational distillery and bar.
• Emphasises relationships and connection — his firm's positioning is that good advice comes from understanding a founder's vision and "roping up" to help navigate financial challenges, which mirrors how he engages with the businesses he backs.
• No publicly stated standard check size or formal seed-fund mandate; engagements appear to be relationship-led and Australia-focused.