As the end of the financial year (EOFY) approaches in Australia, small business owners need to start preparing their financial records and making important decisions.

June 30 is more than just a date — it’s a deadline that can impact your tax bill, cash flow, compliance, and even future funding opportunities.

Whether you’re a sole trader, company director, or small business operator, proper planning can save you stress, time, and money.

Here are the top 5 accounting tasks every small business must do before June 30.

1. Reconcile Your Accounts and Finalise Bookkeeping

Start by making sure all your accounts are reconciled — including bank accounts, credit cards, loan accounts, and payment gateways like Stripe, PayPal or Square. This ensures your financial data matches what’s in your actual bank account and eliminates discrepancies that could lead to errors in your tax return.

You’ll also want to:

• Ensure all sales and expense invoices have been entered and correctly coded.
• Chase any unpaid invoices and write off bad debts if necessary.
• Categorise and attach receipts to transactions using your accounting software (e.g., Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks).
• Review asset purchases or disposals during the year and update your depreciation schedule accordingly.

Doing this now will make it easier for your accountant to prepare your year-end financials — and help you get your tax return lodged faster.

See our QuickBooks Online, MYOB and Xero Bank Reconciliation Courses

2. Review Your Payroll and Superannuation

If you have employees or even just pay yourself through payroll, your EOFY payroll reporting must be correct and compliant with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

Here’s what you need to check:

• STP Finalisation: Single Touch Payroll (STP) finalisation declarations must be completed by July 14. Make sure all payslips are accurate, year-to-date figures are reconciled, and no duplicates exist.
• Super Guarantee (SG): Super contributions for the April–June quarter are due by July 28, but if you want to claim a tax deduction this financial year, ensure they are paid and received by the super fund before June 30.
• Double-check that you’ve met the current SG rate (11% as of FY 2023–24) and that any salary sacrifice arrangements are correctly reported.

Many businesses use this time to switch payroll systems or review wages ahead of the next financial year — so now is a good time to review employee entitlements, awards, and changes to the minimum wage.

See our QuickBooks Online, MYOB and Xero Payroll Courses

3. Take Advantage of Tax Deductions and Instant Asset Write-Offs

EOFY is your last chance to strategically reduce your tax bill by claiming all eligible deductions. This includes everyday operating costs like:

• Business vehicle expenses
• Office rent
• Internet and phone bills
• Accounting software subscriptions
• Staff training
• Marketing and advertising

Additionally, the Instant Asset Write-Off scheme may still apply, allowing you to immediately deduct the cost of eligible business assets purchased before June 30 (subject to thresholds and eligibility). This can include things like laptops, tools, or equipment used to run your business.

Speak with your accountant about whether it’s worth bringing forward expenses (such as pre-paying rent, insurance, or subscriptions) to claim the deduction this year.

4. Do a Stocktake and Review Your Inventory

If your business holds inventory — whether it’s retail stock, food and beverage, raw materials, or finished goods — a stocktake is required at the end of the financial year.

You’ll need to:

• Physically count your stock on hand as of June 30.
• Write down obsolete or unsellable inventory.
• Adjust your accounting software or inventory system to reflect actual quantities and values.

Why it matters:

• Accurate inventory levels help determine your cost of goods sold (COGS).
• It affects your gross profit and taxable income.
• It ensures your balance sheet is accurate and useful for making financial decisions.

Pro tip: Use this opportunity to streamline your inventory system and get rid of slow-moving or obsolete stock through clearance sales or donations.

5. Meet With Your Accountant and Plan Ahead

Finally, book a meeting with your accountant or bookkeeper before June 30 — not after. This allows you to implement any last-minute tax strategies, rather than simply reporting what’s already been done.

During this meeting, consider discussing:

• How your business performed this year
• Your likely tax position and any payments due
• Whether to defer income or bring forward expenses
• Capital gains tax (CGT) events or asset sales
• Superannuation contributions, especially if you’re self-employed
• Budgeting and forecasting for the new financial year

Your accountant can also help you identify whether your business structure is still right for your goals, or if it’s time to move from sole trader to company or trust structure.

Bonus Tip: Stay Organised for Next Year

If you found EOFY stressful this year, use this opportunity to invest in tools or services to make next year easier:

• Set up regular reconciliations in your accounting software.
• Automate invoice reminders to improve cash flow.
• Consider outsourcing your bookkeeping if it’s holding you back.
• Keep digital receipts organised with tools like Dext or Hubdoc.

Final Thoughts

The end of the financial year doesn’t need to be a panic-ridden time if you’re organised and proactive. By reconciling your accounts, reviewing payroll, maximising deductions, completing stocktakes, and meeting with your accountant, you’ll be in a strong position to meet your tax obligations and grow your business with confidence.

Whether you do your books yourself or work with a professional, staying on top of EOFY responsibilities is a sign of a smart, sustainable business.

Now’s the time — don’t leave it until June 29!

Bookkeeping Course Options

Business owners and Managers

EzyLearn’s COMPLETE Bookkeeping Courses include every skill level for most accounting tasks from set up and configuration to financial reporting, BAS and Payroll.

See the Complete Bookkeeping Courses for QuickBooks Online, MYOB and Xero

Jobseekers, bookkeepers and part-time employees

If you are looking for work, are a contract bookkeeper who wants more clients or a part-time accounts employee you will find that businesses use different accounting programs. EzyLearn has catered for this with our Bookkeeping Academy course packages.

See Bookkeeping Academy Course Packages

[A casual chat between two friends – Sam, a job seeker wanting to upskill, and Alex, someone who recently completed the EzyLearn Xero course.]

Have you noticed the social media ads for Reckon, MYOB and Xero? It’s 2 months out from the end of financial year and it’s interesting to see the comments on Facebook to the ads of these companies.

They all have different marketing messages. Which one would you choose?

Office admin workers are the key employees which keep every business running, large or small. They perform the tasks required to keep some form of order and record keeping for the business and without their assistance everything could turn messy quickly.

There is a celebration in a small number of countries for these works and it is often known as Secretary’s Day.

It is an opportunity for bosses or managers to give gifts to their secretary’s and some common gifts tend to be gestures of appreciation that are relatively easy to give in a workplace setting. These often include:

Join the Bookkeeping Academy as a member to improve your personal brand and get online exposure for bookkeeping and office administration work.

• Membership to bookkeeper database
• Verification of Credentials
• Online Member Profile
• 4 hours annual CPD training credits
• Your Worklife Contribution (optional)
• Local Awareness Marketing
• Training in bookkeeping integration subjects
• Access to Academic Development Program (APD)
• Bookkeeping Affiliate Program Membership
• Social Media Marketing Introduction Training

Business Owner Benefits

The Bookkeeping Academy is designed for anyone who wants to enhance their knowledge and use of technology to manage the financial aspects of their business.

As a business owner this gives you a low cost educational and support resource to help you use technology to become more organised and efficient in the administration aspects of your business.

Ongoing Course Access and Support

This membership gives you ongoing access to EVERY course that you have ever enrolled into (since January 1st 2013) with EzyLearn – this includes all

• updated training workbooks,
• educational videos and
• exercise files.

We update our training materials regularly to keep up with changes in features, compliance requirements and navigation changes made by the major software vendors.

Specialisation for Certified Bookkeeping Assistants

When you specialise you demonstrate your commitment to a deeper level of understanding about certain Bookkeeping Assistant tasks. This knowledge ensure you are more productive for your employer or client and can help them use technology to better manage their business.

Specialisation Training include:

1. Introduction to Apps and Integrations
2. Receipt Capture and Storage
3. Credit Management
4. Rostering and Workforce Management
5. Financial Reporting

Get the details about Bookkeeping Academy membership

When we were using our old enrolment form I was alerted about the option to migrate to using Stripe instead of PayPal.

At the time I wondered why a software company that makes online forms would encourage all their users to migrate away from PayPal – the company that Elon Musk started. Now I can see why.

Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of great features that PayPal offer, including:

• PayPal Pay in 4
• Cashflow lending
• low cost ePayments gateway

The problem we’ve noticed is that once a payment has been received the system that we’re using often doesn’t get the correct notification of a successful payment for that order.

It started with our Wufoo form builder several years ago, but recently it has happened for some students who use PayPal for their payments.

AI Driven Customer Service, VERY Average PayPal

As a result of a recently missed payment a student requested a refund and the whole process for this has changed as well. In fact it was clunky and awful to use. So bad that we found ways of trying to reach out and ask a question to a real person.

We also wanted to know how to rectify the payment notification issue and came across a VERY awkward support system that wanted to just brush it’s hand of our enquiry!

We offer a 30 day money back guarantee and have since we first started offering online courses in MYOB and Xero and Microsoft Office. Early on this offer was important because some students didn’t know if they would be able to learn online. Now it’s to ensure that students are completely happy with their online learning experience.

I’ve received some negative feedback this week, but it’s not as bad as you think.

When I say negative it means that we did something that needed correcting. I think a lot of people take any negative feedback as a personal attack but I’ve come to realise it is a HUGE BONUS when someone actually reaches out to tell you what they think – but you need to do something about it.

I love hearing from our blog subscribers and students PARTICULARLY if it helps us improve and do a better job.

Dani, if you are reading this, you made us act on our digital marketing using MailChimp!

I think Mailchimp has become a bit of a rip off to be honest. They’ve figured out exactly what people like about their email marketing software and created “upgrades” for anyone who wants to use them.

When anyone requested our free training course samples we use MailChimp for our AutoResponders – messages that are sent automatically at pre defined intervals.

Here is an example of an AutoResponder series (or what MailChimp call a Journey).

1. Person subscribes to your list (Mailchimp now limit your lists to 3)
2. Send a Confirmation message which includes details about how to access our Free samples.
3. Wait one day
4. Sent a message about our learning journeys
5. Wait one day
6. Send a message about our past students and testimonials
7. Wait 3 days
8. Sent a message about our Bookkeeping Academy

All of those 8 steps were part of ONE Journey Automation (AutoResponder) but then Mailchimp limited the number of Journey points so we got rid of the “Wait one day” steps.

Mailchimp realised that their users were creating lots of automated marketing messages (Journeys) so they included this ability in a more expensive “upgrade” plan. Anyone who used them previously were simply TRUNCATED and left to waste!

It resulted in 3 emails being sent automatically and Dani thought that was a complete overload and very SPAMMY.

There are alternative email marketing software programs and one that still enables you to create long journeys is Aweber.

Many other students probably thought the same but because you wrote it down and made us realise how bad it looks, we acted on it!

The messages come out regularly and are spaced with a day or two in between them.

The RESULT

We’ve now created many different journeys and separated the dates to make sure that the messages you receive when you request our free Xero Course samples for example are spaced out evenly.

Learn Mailchimp in our Email Marketing Course and connect with your own customers.