Accountants across Australia are now busily preparing for the end of financial year - drinking lots of coffee, dreaming about tax planning, getting ready for 30 June celebrations and importantly, turning their minds to all the payroll and bookkeeping tasks that need to be tended to over the coming months. Getting organised and preparing for the end of the financial year removes a great deal of pressure when the time comes to finalise payroll and accounts. There are a few things that business owners and their bookkeepers should consider in preparing for and finalising the end of financial year accounts.

Important Dates:

1 July 2025:

Superannuation contribution rate increase to 12%

7 July 2025:

Payroll tax monthly lodgement due

14 July 2025:

STP finalisation declaration due

21 July 2025:

Monthly BAS Lodgement date

21 July 2025:

Payroll Tax annual lodgement due

28 July 2025:

Quarterly BAS Lodgement date

28 July 2025:

Previous quarter superannuation – must be in the fund

28 August 2025:

TPAR lodgement date

1 July 2026:

Pay Day Super begins

Important things to note:

• Super Guarantee Contribution is 12% from 1 July 2025. Many software packages will automatically update the superannuation percentage, but it is always wise to check. Some software will allow an override on the Superannuation Guarantee Charge amount, and if that feature is in use, the software will not automatically update to the new rate. The new rate applies to all wages paid on or after 1 July 2025, even if some of the wages were earned prior to 30 June.

• ATO penalties, GIC and SIC will no longer be tax deductible from 1 July 2025. If you have a debt with the ATO, you may want to discuss with your accountant the best way to now account for ATO interest and penalties.

• Superannuation contributions must be in the employee’s superannuation fund by the due date, which is 28 July.  Therefore, it is recommended that the payment be made earlier in the month (before 20 July) to allow time for the clearing house to distribute the funds. If it is discovered through an audit at a later date that the payment did not arrive in the fund on time, the employer will be liable for a Superannuation Guarantee Charge.

• Single Touch Payroll lodgements must be done at the time of processing the payroll.

• From 1 July 2026, there will be two important superannuation changes:

• Payday super: Superannuation will need to be paid at the same time as an employee’s wages – preparations for this transition can begin now by changing the frequency of super payments from quarterly to monthly (or more frequently). This may help with budgeting so that when 1 July 2026 arrives, business owners are ready to begin making the payments without any burden on business cash flow.
• The ATO Small Business Clearing House will close down. Business owners will need to choose another clearing house to use to lodge superannuation payments. Many accounting software packages include a superannuation clearing house with their payroll package, and most superannuation funds also have clearing houses. If help is required, please contact our Bookkeeping team and we will be happy to assist.

Before End of Financial Year (EOFY)

There are a number of steps that can be taken prior to the end of the financial year to help alleviate the pressure and make the EOFY a smooth process.

• Ensure all accounts are reconciled on a regular basis and all accounts are reconciled (including clearing accounts and inter-entity loans) to the end of April.
• Any of the steps in the checklist below can be commenced ahead of time, with reviews and reconciliations to be completed by the end of March, April, or May. The final checks can then be done as soon as possible after 30 June. Having completed much of the review process already, any discrepancies would have been identified and corrected. 

Prepare for EOFY Payroll

An STP Finalisation declaration must be made by 14 July. This ensures that employees can access the necessary information to complete their income tax return. Some tasks can be completed prior to the end of the financial year (EOFY), and early preparations will assist in ensuring the finalisation is completed on time.

Early preparations can include reconciling wages, superannuation and PAYG. If these are all reconciled by the end of March or April, the final reconciliation will be a smaller and less stressful task. This will make lodging the final STP and annual Payroll Tax lodgement a much quicker process.

EOFY Checklist

Download our End of Financial Year Checklist here, is a comprehensive list of items to check and reconcile to prepare accounts for the accountant. By implementing a process that keeps accounts up to date and regularly checked, it will help identify possible discrepancies and problems. It will prompt business owners to inform their accountant of significant business changes that may impact their tax position. It will also provide a current overview of the business and alert business owners to any changes that may impact trading and cash flow. Some items on the checklist may not apply to all business owners, but checking everything that does apply will make EOFY a breeze.

Get in touch if you need our help getting your end of financial year in order.