Seven moves to make before June 30, 2026
February. Summer’s winding down. And like most business owners, you’re probably thinking about the months ahead, not tax planning.
That’s understandable. But June 30 doesn’t wait for a convenient time. The ATO doesn’t care that margins are tight or that it’s been a big season. The business owners who end up in a good position are the ones making smart decisions now, not in May when it’s already too late.
If you’re getting surprise tax bills every year and scrambling to find the cash, it’s worth asking an honest question: Is this your accountant’s problem, or yours?
The Accountant Side of the Problem
One of our Directors recalls a pattern he saw early in his career. His firm used to take 13 months to work through their tax return stream. Returns were being lodged in July for work that was, effectively, two financial years old. Clients received bills with no warning and no time to prepare.
When the firm implemented a 10-day turnaround system, it changed everything. They cleared their workload by February and finally had capacity to do something useful: tax planning. Clients could see what they’d owe 10 months before the bill arrived, and actually do something about it.
That shift happened decades ago. But plenty of accounting firms still operate the old way. If your accountant is still catching up on last year’s returns in February, there’s no capacity left to plan ahead for June 30.
The signs are familiar: your return always comes late, there’s rarely a conversation about strategy, and the tax bill lands every year as a surprise. That’s the accountant side of the problem.
The Client Side
Of course, sometimes it’s not the accountant.
Running a business is demanding. Between managing cash flow, dealing with staff, and keeping operations moving, tax planning drops to the bottom of the list. Most business owners aren’t deliberately ignoring it. They’re just busy.
The trouble is, by the time you finally sit down in May or June, the opportunities have mostly passed. The best planning happens now, well before the pressure builds.
A good accountant won’t wait for you to bring it up. They’ll reach out, keep you on track, and flag things before they slip. But when they do call, you have to actually respond.
A Simple Test
Has your accountant already spoken to you about tax planning this year? If they have, that’s a good sign.
If they haven’t, send them an email this week asking about it. If they respond and make time to talk strategy, that’s encouraging. If they go quiet, you have your answer.
Seven Things to Focus on Before June 30
Whether you’re working with another accountant or us, here’s what every business owner should be thinking about right now.
1. Review Your Depreciation Schedule
Depreciation is one of the more effective tools for managing your tax position, but the schedules need to be current. That means all business assets: equipment, vehicles, computers, furniture, machinery, anything that should last more than a year.
If you have assets that are obsolete or no longer in use, consider writing them off. That piece of equipment you replaced last year, the computers are gathering dust in the storeroom. Writing them off provides an immediate tax benefit and ensures your records reflect what you actually own.
2. Write Down Obsolete Inventory or Assets
Most businesses accumulate stock or equipment over the year that’s damaged, outdated, or simply no longer worth what was paid for it. If that applies to your business, write it down.
Inventory should be valued at the lower of cost or current market value. For hospitality businesses, this might mean expired stock or broken equipment. For retailers, it’s damaged goods. If something has dropped significantly in value or is effectively worthless, adjusting the valuation reduces your taxable income and gives a more accurate picture of the business. Keep photos and disposal records in case the ATO ever asks.
3. Know Where the Instant Asset Write-Off Stands
The rules around instant asset write-offs have shifted several times in recent years, so it’s worth a specific conversation with your accountant about what applies to your business for the 2025-26 financial year.
The principle is straightforward: if you genuinely need an asset and the timing is right, purchasing before June 30 can bring the tax benefit forward. What you shouldn’t do is buy something purely for the deduction. If you spend $20,000 to save $6,000 in tax, you’re still $14,000 out of pocket. Only buy what the business actually needs. The tax benefit is a bonus.
4. Top Up Your Super
Voluntary super contributions remain one of the more straightforward tax-planning tools available. You can contribute up to $30,000 in deductible concessional contributions each year, which reduces your taxable income directly and builds your retirement balance in a lower-tax environment.
Get across what you’ve already contributed this year before making additional payments. If you’re unsure whether this fits your situation, that’s worth a conversation with one of our Directors.
A separate point worth raising: the current SG rate is 12%, and payday super begins on July 1, 2026, just four months away. That means super will need to be paid on each payday rather than quarterly. If your business has been treating quarterly super as a short-term cash flow buffer, that approach ends on July 1. Worth planning for now rather than scrambling later.
5. Review Your Business Structure
This is the one most business owners put off, and often the most expensive.
Many businesses are still running in structures that made sense five years ago but don’t reflect where things stand today. A business that started as a sole trader and has grown to $500,000 in turnover may be paying top marginal tax rates when a different structure could reduce that liability by thousands every year, completely legitimately.
If you have a family trust, your distribution minutes must be executed before June 30, not backdated when you complete your tax return. It’s a common oversight that limits your flexibility in how you distribute income. We see it regularly.
6. Prepay Strategic Expenses
If your business turns over under $50 million, you can prepay up to 12 months of certain expenses and claim the deduction in this financial year. That could include rent, business insurance, software subscriptions, or service agreements.
If 2024-25 has been a strong year and you want to lower your taxable income, prepaying expenses you’d pay anyway is a sensible move. You’re not inventing costs. You’re timing them smartly.
7. Know What’s Coming
This sounds basic, but most business owners genuinely don’t know what they’ll owe in tax until it’s too late to act on it.
Your accountant should be able to forecast your tax position now. Not at lodgment time, not when they’re processing your return. Now. If you have no idea what your bill looks like for this financial year, that’s a problem, not just for cash flow planning, but for making any of the decisions above.
What You Lose If You Wait Until June
Leaving this until May or June means missing:
- The ability to make strategic asset purchases before June 30
- Time to execute trust distribution minutes properly
- Opportunities to prepay expenses and bring deductions forward
- Room to adjust your super contributions
- Any realistic chance of reviewing your business structure
Leave it too long, and you end up in the same position as last year. Rushed. Unprepared. Paying a bill you weren’t expecting with money you haven’t put aside.
What Makes the Difference
The businesses that manage tax well aren’t always the ones with the highest turnover. They’re the ones who understand their numbers, plan ahead, and have an honest conversation with their accountant before the pressure builds.
You’ve got four months until June 30. That’s enough time to make smart moves, understand what’s coming, and set things up properly instead of scrambling at the last minute.
But only if you start now.
Ready to get ahead of June 30? Book a chat with one of our experienced accountants to review your position and talk through what’s still possible this financial year.
Contact the friendly team at Acumon today on (02) 4931 1100 at Greenhills or (02) 4955 9195 at Lambton – or book a consultation today.