Tax1 June 2026·4 min read

The EOFY Checklist Every Australian Small Business Needs

The weeks before June 30 decide how your whole financial year looks on paper. Most of the levers (prepayments, super contributions, asset purchases, write-offs) only work if you pull them before the deadline. This checklist covers what we walk our own clients through every May and June.

Bring your records up to date first

Everything else depends on accurate books. Reconcile your bank accounts, chase unpaid invoices, and make sure expenses are categorised correctly. If your bookkeeping has drifted during the year, fixing it now is the single highest-value hour you can spend.

  • Reconcile all bank and credit card accounts
  • Review aged receivables; write off genuinely bad debts before June 30
  • Confirm payroll, PAYG withholding and super records match
  • Collect receipts for any unrecorded cash expenses

Pay superannuation early

Super is only deductible in the year it is received by the fund, not the year it relates to. Pay June-quarter super by mid-June so it clears before the 30th, and consider topping up personal concessional contributions if you have cap space.

Super paid on June 30 that lands in the fund on July 1 is deductible next year, not this year. Allow a week for processing.

Time your purchases and prepayments

If you need equipment, tools or software anyway, buying before June 30 brings the deduction forward; check the current instant asset write-off threshold with us first. Small businesses can also prepay up to 12 months of rent, insurance or subscriptions and deduct it now.

Do the stocktake and review assets

If you carry stock, June 30 is stocktake day; obsolete or damaged stock can be written down. Review your asset register too: scrapped or sold assets should come off the books, which can crystallise deductions.

Book your planning conversation before June, not after

Tax planning is the conversation you have in May; tax preparation is what happens after. By the time the return is being lodged, the levers above have expired. A 30-minute review of your position before EOFY routinely pays for itself many times over.

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