End of financial year is a deadline, not a task. The tasks are things you either kept on top of during the year or you did not. This checklist separates what has to happen before 30 June — because after that it is too late — from what happens in July.
Before 30 June
Things that are only possible before year end
- Write off bad debts. A debt you have genuinely given up on can be written off as a deduction — but the write-off has to be recorded in the books before 30 June, not decided in September.
- Review your asset register. Assets you have scrapped or sold should be disposed of in the books. Assets you need and were going to buy anyway may be deductible this year if they are installed ready for use by 30 June. Check the current instant asset write-off threshold with your agent — it has changed repeatedly.
- Do a stocktake if you carry inventory. Count it, value it, and write down obsolete stock. Closing stock directly changes your taxable profit.
- Pay deductible expenses you were going to pay anyway. Prepaying certain expenses can bring the deduction forward. This is legitimate timing, not avoidance — but talk to your agent about which prepayments qualify.
- Make any planned super contributions. A personal deductible contribution only counts for this year if the fund receives it before 30 June.
Reconciliation work
June reconciliation
- Every bank and credit card account reconciles to its 30 June closing balance.
- No transactions left uncategorised. This is the single biggest source of July pain.
- Accounts receivable agrees with the invoices you actually believe are collectable.
- Accounts payable agrees with the bills you actually owe.
- The GST control account agrees with your lodged BAS position for the year.
- Payroll year-to-date figures agree with what you have reported through STP.
- Loans and hire purchase balances agree with the lender's statements.
- Owner drawings and personal expenses are out of the business expense accounts.
July: the lodgement fortnight
| Date | What is due |
|---|---|
| 14 July | STP finalisation declaration for arm's length employees. This is what marks employees' income statements as Tax ready in myGov. |
| 28 July | Q4 (April–June) BAS. Also the final quarterly super deadline for paydays before 1 July 2026 — under Payday Super, paydays from 1 July 2026 are on a 7-business-day clock instead. |
| 28 August | Taxable payments annual report (TPAR), if you pay contractors in a reporting industry. |
| 30 September | STP finalisation for closely held payees, if you have any. |
| 31 October | Individual tax return, if you lodge your own. Using a registered tax agent generally gets you a later date, provided you are on their books before 31 October. |
Do you have to lodge a TPAR?
The taxable payments annual report is easy to miss because it only applies to some industries. You need to lodge one by 28 August if you paid contractors for services in industries including:
- Building and construction
- Cleaning
- Courier and road freight
- Information technology
- Security, investigation or surveillance
For each contractor you report their ABN, name, address, the total you paid them and the total GST included. If you are in one of these industries, the practical implication is that contractor payments need to be coded so you can pull that report — which is a June problem, not an August one.
Closing the year properly
Once your accountant has finalised the year, lock the period. A locked period means nobody — including you, six months later, chasing a reconciliation — can post a transaction into a year that has already been lodged. Retrospective changes to a lodged year are how a clean set of books becomes an amended return.
Then take twenty minutes to actually read the year's profit and loss and balance sheet. This is the one moment in the year when the numbers are complete and verified. It is worth more than the compliance work that produced them.
The three habits that make next EOFY boring
- Categorise weekly, not quarterly. Twenty minutes a week beats two days a quarter, and you remember what the transactions were.
- Move GST out as it arrives. A standing transfer of the GST portion into a separate account means the BAS payment is already there.
- Reconcile monthly. A month that reconciles cannot hide a problem for eleven more months.
Common questions
Sources
Every rate, threshold and due date in this guide was checked against the pages below on the dates shown. Tax rules change — verify against the ATO before you rely on anything here, and get advice for your own situation.
- End-of-year finalisation through STP — checked 2026-09-27
- Due dates for lodging and paying your BAS — checked 2026-09-27
- Work out if you need to lodge a TPAR — checked 2026-09-27