As the financial year draws to a close in Australia, it’s not just tax agents who are shifting into high gear—bookkeepers are the quiet heroes working behind the scenes to make sure everything adds up (literally and legally).
Whether you’re a solo bookkeeper, part of a practice, or a business owner managing your own accounts, now is the time to get your financial house in order. EOFY isn’t just about compliance; it’s an opportunity to reset, reflect, and improve. Here are six essential bookkeeping tasks to tick off before 30 June rolls around:
Reconcile EVERYTHING
Now’s the time to ensure your bank accounts, credit cards, PayPal, Stripe, and any other platforms are fully reconciled. If you’ve been putting off that one statement from January because it “just doesn’t balance,” now’s the moment to face it.
Pro Tip: Automate where you can. Tools like Xero and MYOB offer bank feeds for a reason—use them to your advantage.
Review Your Chart of Accounts
Are your accounts still serving your business? Often, outdated or overly complex charts can hide the true story of your financials. A tidy chart of accounts makes reporting cleaner and helps you – and your accountant – see patterns more clearly.
Tip: Archive old or unused accounts to declutter your reporting and speed up EOFY prep.
Clean Up Payroll
With Single Touch Payroll (STP) Phase 2 in place, now is not the time to leave payroll reviews until the last minute. Double-check:
- Employee details (TFNs, addresses, bank info)
- Super paid and allocated correctly
- Terminated employees have been marked correctly
- All pay categories are mapped properly
A tidy payroll equals fewer headaches when finalising STP at year-end.
Review Expenses & Asset Purchases
EOFY is a great time to review whether any purchases could be classified as capital expenses or depreciating assets. It’s also a time to catch anything coded incorrectly – subscriptions, prepayments, or one-off costs that might need adjusting.
Bonus: Don’t forget to flag anything that may be eligible for the instant asset write-off (especially if thresholds change).
Backups, Reports & BAS
Get into the habit of downloading and filing:
- Key reports: Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, Trial Balance
- Copies of lodged BAS/IAS
- Year-end adjusting journals or accountant entries
Keep a digital EOFY folder for each financial year – it’ll save you hours when questions come up down the track.
Reconcile Debtors & Creditors
Chasing up old invoices and cleaning up your accounts payable and receivable can make a huge difference before EOFY. Review:
- Outstanding customer invoices — are any write-offs or follow-ups needed?
- Supplier bills — are all payments recorded and matched?
- Credit notes — have these been applied correctly?
Getting your debtor and creditor balances right ensures accurate reporting and avoids surprises at tax time.
Final Thoughts
EOFY is more than just a deadline. It’s a chance to improve processes, identify what’s working (and what’s not), and set your clients – or your own business – up for a stronger year ahead.
And remember: clean books = faster tax returns, fewer accountant queries, and peace of mind for everyone involved.
💬 Are you EOFY ready? What’s your biggest pre-30 June tip or challenge? Share in the comments!
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