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“Dr Sridaran’s firm, MS Accountants, has served as our accountants throughout that period, serving us always to our complete satisfaction.”
The director
An accountant who is also a lawyer who chose to run a small firm.
Led by Dr Maheswaran Sridaran, chartered accountant, lawyer, registered tax agent, PhD Australian tax law (Macquarie University).
The story
Why he chose the harder, smaller path.
Few people with Dr Sridaran’s background end up running a boutique firm. He is a chartered accountant and a lawyer, with a doctorate in Australian tax law and over 45 years across more than five countries, mostly with two of the Big Four, the last 25 in Australia. The expected path was a corner office at a global firm.
He built the opposite: a practice deliberately kept small so he can find his voice, and so he can help others in his firm find their voice. The technical depth of a big firm meets an adviser who knows your business by name.
Being both an accountant and a lawyer, he can carry a tax problem the whole distance, from day-to-day advice through to a tax-authority investigation and, where it must go that far, litigation. He taught Australian tax law and commercial law at Macquarie University, Sydney, the third largest university in Sydney, where students chose him as “The most knowledgeable teacher in their chosen field”, an award made by the university. He has published in the Australian Financial Review and the Sydney Morning Herald. His first book asked whether the rules are even fair: Are Capital Gains Equitably Taxed in Australia? His work is cited in the standard Australian university text, Australian Taxation Law.
One question runs through all of it: whether the tax system is fair to the people who pay it, and whether the received answer, even from the High Court or the Commissioner, is the right one. That is the standard of thinking he now applies to a deliberately small number of clients.
The rigour comes with a manner his clients describe in consistent terms: patient, generous with his time, and unfailingly courteous, even when the matter is hard. The fairness he argues for in print is the fairness he extends to the person across the table.
The long view
Clients describe relationships measured in decades.
The references below span businesses, countries, and different kinds of work. What repeats is the experience of having a senior adviser who remains involved.
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“Throughout that very long period I have known Sridaran, I have been impressed by his unremitting dedication to a high standard of service, which he and his team at MS Accountants have always provided to me.”
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“I have always found the reliability of Sridaran and his team to be of an exceptionally high order.”
Our people
The people on your file.
Everything the firm sends out is built by the people on this page, and reviewed by the one at the top.
Dr Maheswaran Sridaran
m.sridaran@msaccountants.com.auDirector
PhD (Tax), Macquarie University · LLB, Macquarie University · Master of Taxation, UNSW · Chartered Accountant · Lawyer (admitted in NSW) · Registered Tax Agent
A chartered accountant, lawyer, registered tax agent, and the holder of a doctorate in Australian tax law, with over 45 years across more than five countries, mostly with two of the Big Four, the last 25 in Australia. His doctoral thesis examined Australian capital gains tax; his first book asked whether capital gains are taxed equitably in Australia. He founded MS Accountants in 2010 and remains its sole director. Ask him what the firm rests on and he will not point to his own credentials. He will tell you a firm is only as good as the people it hires, which is why he hires carefully, and why every engagement that leaves the practice is reviewed by him first.
Ms Niroshi Rathnayakage
niroshi@msaccountants.com.auSenior Accountant
CPA (Australia) · Registered Tax Agent (Australia) · BSc Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura
The senior accountant of the firm, with MS Accountants since 2013. Every accountant on the team works under Niroshi's direct supervision, and she reports only to Dr Sridaran. A CPA and a registered tax agent in her own right, she built her Australian tax experience across several firms after immigrating, on top of nearly a decade as an accountant in Sri Lanka, latterly with one of that country's largest fund managers. She began her career as an auditor at EY in Sri Lanka, holds a bachelor's degree in management from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, and was formerly an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka.
EY, Sri Lanka · With the firm since 2013
Ms Anne Tran
anne@msaccountants.com.auPractice Manager
Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting), Macquarie University
The practice manager of the firm since 2024, responsible for everything administrative so the accountants can stay on client work; by design she carries out none of the client engagements herself. Anne's working career began in 1999 and includes founding her own branded garments business in greater Sydney, so she runs the firm's operations with an owner's eye. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce in accounting from Macquarie University and reports directly to Dr Sridaran.
With the firm since 2024
Ms Lakshika Subramaniam
lakshika.subramaniam@msaccountants.com.auAccountant
CPA (Australia) · ACMA, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK) · Registered BAS Agent · Advanced Diploma in Business Administration, Association of Business Executives (UK)
An accountant with the firm since 2024, bringing at least 15 years of working experience in Australia, preceded by many years in Sri Lanka in the commercial sector and in professional accounting firms, including EY. A CPA, an associate of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in the UK, and a registered BAS agent, Lakshika is currently studying to become a registered tax agent. She prepares compliance work for the firm's clients, largely independently, under Niroshi's supervision.
EY, Sri Lanka · With the firm since 2024
Ms Eshani Rathnayake
eshani@msaccountants.com.auAssistant Accountant
CPA (Australia) · ACA, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka · BSc Accounting (Special, First Class), University of Sri Jayewardenepura
An assistant accountant with the firm since 2024, joining soon after immigrating to Australia. Eshani spent nearly ten years as an accountant across Sri Lanka, Jamaica, where she worked for KPMG, and the United Kingdom. She graduated with first-class honours in accounting from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, widely regarded as Sri Lanka's preeminent university for business education, and is an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka. Since arriving in Australia she has gained membership of CPA Australia and is studying for the Chartered Tax Adviser credential conferred by The Tax Institute. She prepares compliance work for the firm's clients under Niroshi's supervision.
KPMG, Jamaica · With the firm since 2024
Ms Lakshika Senaviratne
lakshika@msaccountants.com.auAssistant Accountant
Associate member, CPA Australia · Master of Professional Accounting & Finance, Deakin University · BSc Accounting & Finance (Special), Rajarata University, Sri Lanka
An assistant accountant with the firm since 2024, a couple of years after arriving in Australia. Lakshika worked for nearly ten years as an accountant in Sri Lanka, in the commercial sector and in professional accounting firms including EY. Since arriving in Australia she has added a Master of Professional Accounting & Finance from Deakin University to her bachelor's degree in accounting and finance from Rajarata University, Sri Lanka, and is completing the CPA Australia program. She prepares compliance work for the firm's clients under Niroshi's supervision.
EY, Sri Lanka · With the firm since 2024
How it works
One director. On your file, start to finish.
No handoffs, no rotating account managers. Here is what working with the firm actually looks like.
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You speak with the director.
Not an account manager, and not a rotating cast. From the first conversation, you deal with Dr Sridaran.
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The position is modelled before you commit.
The tax consequences of a sale or restructure are worked out in advance, as the courts would read them, with no surprises after you sign.
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He stays on the file.
The team prepares the work; he signs off on all of it. Even compliance-only clients receive senior time on the strategic issues each year.
A global firm
- Your file is passed down to juniors and across account managers.
- Big-firm overhead and handoffs, billed back to you.
- Generalists applying the rules as written.
MS Accountants
- A supervised, credentialled team does the work. The principal reviews all of it.
- Boutique scale, senior time, direct access to the principal.
- Doctoral-level depth on the questions that cost the most.
In his own words
Not just advice. A public case for fairness.
Dr Sridaran has argued in the national press that the tax system should be fairer, and that the received answer, even from the High Court, is worth questioning. A sample of the record.
“Tax reforms for the best and fairest”
Australian Financial Review · 2008
“High Court gets it right on GST”
Australian Financial Review · 2008
“There's a different way to view takeover concerns”
Australian Financial Review · 2007
“Tax agents deserve a better deal”
Australian Financial Review · 2007
“Top universities serve students first”
The Sydney Morning Herald · 2008
And a book
Are Capital Gains Equitably Taxed in Australia?
His first book, published in 2012.
Book a conversation
When the tax question is hard, who do you call?
A boutique Sydney firm led by a chartered accountant and lawyer who also holds a doctorate in Australian tax law and has spent his career on the hardest tax questions. His team builds every file. He reviews every one.