The country's top investment watchdog has released statistic showing that small businesses are the most frequent victims of insolvency.
Statistics compiled by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission covering the past three years showed most frequently it was small companies with meagre assets being placed in receivership by creditors chasing debts usually lower than $250,000.
The statistics showed that, on average, 76 per cent of all companies entering external administration had less than 20 employees, and 85 per cent had assets of less than $100,00.
The construction, personal services and retail industries were the most likely to get into debt, accounting for more than half of all insolvencies between them.
And while the year has been marked by the billion dollar collapses of giants like Clive Peeters and Griffin Coal, 46 per cent of companies in receivership had less than $250,000 in debt.
The causes of company's getting into trouble were spread easily across poor strategic management, inadequate cashflow and poor financial control, included a lack of record keeping.
Dodgy dealings are on the rise, with the number of receiver's reports citing misconduct within the business increasing from 65.8 to 68.8 per cent.
WA accounted for just 5.1 per cent of all administrations, behind New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.
