Last-Minute EOFY Checklist Every Small Business Owner Needs Right Now
With 30 June just around the corner, now is the time to make sure your business is in the best possible position before the financial year closes. I know how quickly these final weeks disappear, and every year I speak with business owners who wish they’d acted a little sooner. So consider this your nudge.
Whether you’re a sole trader, a partnership, or running a small company, there are actions you can take right now that could meaningfully reduce your tax bill, set you up cleanly for the new financial year, and help you avoid any nasty surprises when we sit down to prepare your return.
Here’s what I’d be focusing on if I were in your shoes.
1. Claim the $20,000 Instant Asset Write-Off While You Still Can
This one is worth highlighting right at the top, because the deadline is 30 June 2026 and many business owners still aren’t taking full advantage of it.
For the current financial year, small business entities with aggregated turnover of less than $10 million can claim an immediate tax deduction for eligible depreciating assets costing less than $20,000. That means if you’ve purchased a piece of equipment, a tool, a device, or other business asset under that threshold this financial year, you may be entitled to write off the full cost in your 2025-26 return rather than depreciating it over several years.
A few things worth knowing:
- It applies on an asset-by-asset basis. If you’ve bought three separate assets each costing under $20,000, you can potentially claim all three, even if the combined total exceeds $20,000.
- The cost is calculated after any GST credits you’re entitled to claim, so factor that in when assessing eligibility.
- Assets must be first used or installed ready for use by 30 June 2026 to qualify in this year’s return.
- Assets costing $20,000 or more can still be added to your small business pool and depreciated over time.
| Good news for the new financial year too The Government has confirmed the $20,000 threshold will be permanently increased from 1 July 2026 onwards, providing small businesses with certainty when planning future asset purchases. This is a welcome change after years of annual uncertainty around temporary thresholds. |
If you’ve been sitting on the fence about a business purchase, now might be the time to have that conversation with us before 30 June.
2. Get Your Invoices and Expenses in Order
EOFY is the perfect time to make sure all of your deductible business expenses for the year have actually been recorded. This sounds obvious, but it’s easy for things to fall through the cracks, particularly if you’re managing your own bookkeeping or working across multiple accounts.
Run through your receipts, bank statements, and credit card records for the full financial year. Check that expenses including software subscriptions, professional memberships, vehicle costs, home office expenses, and any business-related travel have been captured and allocated correctly in your accounting system.
If you’re behind on your bookkeeping, now is the time to get it sorted. Walking into your tax return with incomplete records makes the whole process slower and more expensive, and means you risk missing deductions you’re legitimately entitled to claim.
3. Review Your Debtors and Consider Writing Off Bad Debts
If your business has outstanding invoices from clients who haven’t paid and you genuinely believe those amounts are unlikely to be recovered, you may be able to write them off as bad debts before 30 June.
To claim a bad debt deduction, the debt must have been included in your assessable income in a prior year, and you need to have taken reasonable steps to recover it. It also needs to be formally written off in your accounts before the end of the financial year. Simply acknowledging that a client probably won’t pay isn’t sufficient, the write-off must actually be recorded.
This is a conversation worth having with us before 30 June if you have outstanding amounts that are looking doubtful.
4. Check Your Super Obligations
With the superannuation guarantee rate currently at 11.5%, super remains one of the most important obligations for any business with employees. Before 30 June, make sure you’ve paid all required super contributions for the current quarter and that everything is up to date.
Super contributions need to be received by the superannuation fund by 30 June to be deductible in this financial year. Contributions lodged before 30 June but not received by the fund until July will fall into next year’s return. If you’re close to the deadline, it’s worth checking with your clearing house or fund to understand their processing timelines.
Also worth noting: the Payday Super reforms, which will require super to be paid on the same day as wages, are scheduled to commence from 1 July 2026. If you haven’t already looked at how these changes will affect your payroll processes, now is a good time to start that conversation.
5. Think About Prepaying Expenses
Small business entities are generally able to prepay certain expenses and claim a deduction in the current financial year, even if the expense covers a period extending into the next year. Eligible prepayments must generally cover a period of no more than 12 months.
Common examples include insurance premiums, rent, subscriptions, and professional memberships. If you have any of these coming up for renewal, it’s worth considering whether bringing the payment forward makes sense from a tax planning perspective.
This isn’t the right move for every business in every year, so it’s worth talking it through with us based on your specific situation before you go ahead.
6. Consider the Impact of Recent Budget Announcements
The 2026-27 Federal Budget included a number of significant announcements that may be relevant to your planning, both now and in the years ahead.
For small business owners, the confirmed permanent increase in the instant asset write-off threshold to $20,000 from 1 July 2026 is welcome news. For those with company structures, the new loss carry-back provisions commencing from 1 July 2026 may also be relevant if your business has incurred losses in prior years.
For business owners operating through family trusts or discretionary trusts, the proposed minimum 30% tax on trust distributions is a development to watch closely. While that measure isn’t due to commence until 1 July 2028, the rollover relief window for those considering restructuring opens from 1 July 2027, meaning the planning conversation needs to start well before that date.
Similarly, the proposed changes to capital gains tax, which would replace the current 50% CGT discount with a CPI indexation system and apply a minimum 30% tax rate from 1 July 2027, are significant for anyone holding investment assets through trusts or personally.
We’ll be covering both the family trust changes and the CGT overhaul in dedicated articles over the coming weeks, because both deserve a thorough look. In the meantime, if either of these areas is relevant to your situation, I’d encourage you to reach out so we can start that conversation sooner rather than later.
7. Tidy Up Your Records and Reconcile Your Accounts
One of the most useful things you can do before EOFY is make sure your accounting records are reconciled and accurate. That means reconciling your bank accounts, ensuring your accounts receivable and payable are up to date, reviewing your balance sheet for any obvious errors, and confirming that your GST records are correct if you’re registered.
The cleaner your records are when we start preparing your return, the smoother the process and the less time it takes. And time, at EOFY, is always in short supply.
8. Don’t Leave It Until the Last Day
I say this every year, and every year it bears repeating. The last week of June is genuinely one of the busiest periods for our team, and the closer we get to 30 June, the less room there is to do anything meaningful. If there are decisions to be made, purchases to consider, or strategies to implement, we need time to think them through properly.
If you haven’t already been in touch to discuss your EOFY position, now is a great time to call or email us. Even a short conversation can be enough to identify something worth acting on before the clock runs out.
| Ready to get your EOFY sorted? Call TSP on 4926 4155 or email ad***@****************om.au. We’re here to help you finish the financial year in the best possible shape and start the new one with confidence. |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the instant asset write-off threshold for 2025-26?
For the financial year ending 30 June 2026, small business entities with aggregated annual turnover of less than $10 million can claim an immediate deduction for eligible depreciating assets costing less than $20,000. The asset must be first used or installed ready for use before 30 June 2026.
Can I claim the instant asset write-off on multiple assets?
Yes. The threshold applies on an asset-by-asset basis. This means you could potentially claim an immediate deduction for multiple separate assets, each costing less than $20,000, even if their combined value exceeds that amount.
When do super contributions need to be paid to claim a deduction this year?
To be deductible in the 2025-26 financial year, super contributions must be received by the superannuation fund by 30 June 2026. Contributions lodged before that date but received by the fund after 30 June will be deductible in the following year. Check processing timelines with your clearing house or fund if you’re cutting it close.
What are bad debts and how do I write them off before EOFY?
A bad debt is an amount owed to your business that you’ve included in assessable income in a prior year and that you genuinely believe is unrecoverable. To claim a deduction, you need to have taken reasonable steps to recover the debt and formally write it off in your accounts before 30 June. We can help you assess whether any outstanding amounts qualify.
What are the proposed family trust and CGT changes in the 2026 Budget?
The Government has proposed a minimum 30% tax on distributions from discretionary (family) trusts, commencing 1 July 2028, along with changes to the CGT regime that would replace the 50% discount with CPI indexation and a minimum 30% tax rate from 1 July 2027. Both changes are significant and require careful planning. TSP will be publishing dedicated articles on each of these measures shortly.
How can TSP help me with my EOFY planning?
Our team can review your current year position, identify deductions you may have missed, advise on the timing of income and expenses, and help you plan for the changes coming in the new financial year. Call us on 4926 4155 or email ad***@****************om.au to arrange a time to talk.
When not at work, Deidre enjoys spending time with her husband and two children, as well as indulging in audiobooks and coffee.
Areas of Expertise:
✅ Business structuring & compliance
✅ SMSF strategy & auditing
✅ Tax planning for individuals & businesses
📧 deidrem@tspaccountants.com.au