The more organised you are, the less stressful the process will be and the more likely you are to maximise your deductions. Without accurate records and receipts, you won’t be able to make the most of your expenses. Make it easy for you and your account or tax agent and gather all your documents in one place.

While everyone’s situation is unique, as a general rule, this is an ideal list of documents to get started:

✅ Copy of last year’s tax return

✅ Records of sales and purchases of shares, business or property

✅ Private health insurance details

✅ Spouse details

✅ Children’s details including date of birth

✅ List of income, including Income Statements, rental income, interest and dividends and any foreign income

✅ List of expenses, including work-related expenses, donations, self-education expenses and the cost of managing tax affairs

✅ Your Income Statements, Centrelink Payments, Private Health Insurance Details may be available to be downloaded by yourself or your accountant from the ATO.

✅ Use your balance sheet and profit and loss statements to reconcile your accounts receivable, accounts payable, bank accounts, and loans. Get your GST and PAYG withholding accounts updated. Prepare Payment Summaries to send to your employees by July 14. Get your own and your employees’ superannuation contributions updated.

Perform a stocktake of your inventory as well as your plant, equipment and assets. Keep records of assets purchased and any expenses acquired to improve assets throughout the year. These records will help with calculating your eligible depreciation credits. Don’t forget to log all your business expenses to maximise your tax refund.

Allocate time to review the tax deductions that apply to your business. You can claim credits on expenses for vehicles, travel, clothing, stationery, as well as capital expenses such as machinery and equipment over a longer period. To make a claim, make sure you have the proper documentation such as paper or electronic records substantiating the expense was for business purposes.

Cloud-based accounting tools such as
Xero
Rounded
Hnry
and many more help generate your income tax return, balance sheet, profit and loss statement reports to get your statements ready. You’ll get these once you’ve reconciled your accounts receivable, accounts payable, bank accounts, and loans.

The deadline for lodging your income tax return is by October 31, reporting on the previous financial year. Once you’ve gathered all your information, you can lodge your tax return online or through your registered tax agent or accountant.

If you are required to lodge a BAS, you can do so monthly or quarterly online, by phone, through mail or your registered tax agent or accountant.

Have more than 20 employees? Single Touch Payroll will make it easier for you to report salary, wages, PAYG withholding and super contributions with every pay run.

Your Single Touch Payroll (STP) reporting and payment summaries will automatically be made available through myGov as an income statement by July 14.

Be informed about any tax law changes that may significantly impact you and your business in the new financial year when the Federal Budget is released in May each year. Get familiar with how these changes will affect you by keeping your finger on the pulse with your bookkeeper and accountant, as well as financial media like Australian Financial Review or follow the ATO which always keeps keep the latest news from the Government available from their site. 

It’s in your accounting software’s best interests to keep their customers and audience informed too, so make sure to stay subscribed to their news and updates. Keep your ear to the ground for always updating your software and systems through your accountant and other business and professional experts.

Review your balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement to assess if you’ve achieved your financial targets. These statements will also assist you in setting new performance goals for the upcoming year while creating a cash flow forecast.

It’s business planning time! Take this time to reflect on your business while focusing on your priorities. If your results from the previous year didn’t meet to your expectations, explore which strategies are working and which ones aren’t. Set actionable goals with step-by-step strategies to achieve them.