The Last 2 Weeks of Financial Year: What to Do

Well it’s that time of year that strikes at the heart of every person responsible for the finalisation of year end accounts.  Somehow this time of year always seems to come around quicker and quicker each year, especially with the increased amount of reporting now required by businesses.

With just over 2 weeks to go before we hit 30 June 2021, we thought it might be timely to raise a few of the last minute things that will make a big impact on your end of year tax planning.  A snapshot of items for businesses to consider before the end of the financial year include:

• If you have the cashflow, consider paying all super contributions to your superannuation funds before the last week in June as you can only get a tax deduction for superannuation payments that have actually been paid and received by the super funds.  Please note that if you use a superannuation clearing house to make your payments, then all super payments need to be made by the 24^th of June in order to reach the actual super funds by the 30^th of June.
• Consider using the Instant Asset Write off relevant to your size of business including the various thresholds which apply for small businesses (less than $10M turnover).
• Reconcile your PAYG payable to get ready for the year end preparation of payment summaries or preparation of year end reporting through Single Touch Payroll (“STP”).  If you are using STP then you no longer need to provide your employees with a payment summary as all employees will get an “income statement” in their myGov account and you will have until the 31^st of July to finalise and report your final STP information with the ATO.
• Make a concerted effort to collect all of your outstanding debts prior to the end of June and write off any bad debts that will not be collected.
• Take advantage of the immediate deduction for prepayments of $1,000 or less and make any tax deductible donations to registered charities.

It is a challenge at this time of year, to try to prevent that feeling of being too overwhelmed while you are trying to achieve the best financial outcome for your business and also minimise your taxation obligations.

Often the best strategy is often the simplest – go back to writing a “To Do” list and update it regularly.  This will also clearly identify what needs to be done before and after the end of the financial year so that you can meet all of your deadlines without losing sleep.  Of course, at Windsor Group, we can be your best ally, as we can help you with short or long term staff across all areas including accounts payable, accounts receivable / debtors chasing, payroll specialist, accountants etc. right up to Chief Financial Officers.  We are just a phone call away and are more than happy to help ease the burden to let you get on with running your successful business. Alternatively, you can view a selection of our available candidates and also sign-up to receive updates on our experienced temps and contractors here.

If you need assistance setting up your Single Touch Payroll, we have temporary staff on hand to assist you with this assignment. Simply contact our Temp Team on (07) 3211 0001.