EOFY checklist: what Australian sole traders should do before 30 June

Try it

The button asks askROI for an end of financial year checklist spreadsheet for a made-up mobile dog grooming business: income records, expenses by category, decisions to make before 30 June, and the lodgment dates, with a column to tick. Change the business to yours and send it.

Australia's financial year ends on Wednesday 30 June 2027, and a few things only count if you do them before that date. An EOFY checklist splits into two piles: decisions you have to make by 30 June, and records you can gather afterwards. Get the first pile done in May and June, and the second pile becomes a quiet afternoon in July instead of a scramble in October.

This end of financial year checklist is for sole traders, contractors and employees with work deductions. It's general information, not tax advice, and every rule below links the official page we read on 6 November 2026. Check each one again before you act, because rates and caps change from year to year.

Key dates for the year ending 30 June 2027

• 30 June 2027: the income year ends. Purchases and super contributions you want counted this year need to happen by then.
• 31 October 2027: the due date for sole traders who lodge their own return. business.gov.au says returns are due by 31 October "unless you lodge through a registered tax agent".
• 1 November 2027: 31 October 2027 is a Sunday, and the ATO lets you lodge and pay on the next business day when a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday.
• Later, through a tax agent: a registered tax practitioner can usually lodge after 31 October. The ATO's income tax due dates page sets out when that applies, so engage your agent before 31 October and ask which date they'll lodge by. business.gov.au's EOFY checklist links the Tax Practitioners Board register, where you can check that an agent is registered.

Before 30 June: purchases and super contributions

Equipment you were going to buy anyway. From 1 July 2026 the $20,000 instant asset write-off is permanent for small businesses with turnover under $10 million, after Parliament passed the bill in August 2026 (Treasury, 19 August 2026). To use it, your business has to choose the simplified depreciation rules for the year. It works per asset, so several items can each qualify if each costs less than the limit, and they can be new or second-hand. The year you claim depends on when the asset was first used or installed ready for use, not just when you paid, so a clipper set ordered in June that isn't delivered until July lands in next year. Only the business use share counts. The ATO's instant asset write-off page has the full conditions. A write-off is a deduction, not a refund: buy what the business needs, not something to lower the tax bill.

Personal super contributions. If you're self-employed, you may be able to claim a deduction for personal super contributions, and a claimed contribution counts toward the concessional contributions cap, together with any employer and salary sacrifice contributions to any fund, so only the part of the cap those haven't used is left. The cap is $32,500 from 1 July 2026. To claim the deduction, you give your fund a notice of intent (form NAT 71121) by the earlier of lodging your return and the end of the next financial year, and the fund acknowledges it. The notice also has to reach the fund while it still holds the contribution, so give it before you roll over, withdraw or start a pension from that money, or the notice may not be valid. The deduction is for the financial year the contribution was made in, so ask your fund how long a payment takes to arrive and don't leave it to the last day. The ATO's contributions caps page lists the current caps.

Prepayments. Under the ATO's 12-month rule, a small business can deduct a prepaid expense, such as a year of insurance paid in June, in the year it pays, when the period the payment covers is 12 months or less and ends by the last day of the next income year. A payment that covers longer than that is spread over the period instead. Ask your agent before paying early for the deduction.

Records to gather, by category

This is the tax time checklist part, and in Australia tax time runs from July to October. After 30 June, collect the records that back every number on your return. For a sole trader that means enough to calculate and support your income: gross sales from every payment method, plus tax invoices, bank statements, merchant statements, receipts and EFTPOS records. Group the expenses into bookkeeping categories like these. They aren't the return's labels (the ATO's business schedule uses items such as cost of sales, motor vehicle expenses and all other expenses), so you or your agent map each one to a label when you lodge:

• Income: invoices you issued, card and bank deposits, cash takings, and any other income such as interest.
• Vehicle: fuel, servicing, registration and insurance, plus the records for the method you use to work out the business share.
• Equipment: receipts for tools and assets, with the date each was first used.
• Supplies: shampoo, towels, stock and consumables.
• Phone and internet: bills, with the business share worked out.
• Insurance: public liability and other business policies.
• Home office: the hours you worked from home and one bill for each expense (next section).

If you make invoices as you go, the invoice generator gives you a PDF invoice for each job, which makes the income pile easy. For receipts, the expense report generator turns a pasted list or a pile of receipts into a spreadsheet with subtotals by category.

Working from home: the fixed rate and its records

If working from home adds to running costs you actually pay, such as electricity or internet, the fixed rate method lets you claim a set amount for each hour you worked from home. On the Tax, Super + You page we read, the rate was 70 cents per hour, and it covers electricity and gas, home and mobile internet and phone, and stationery and computer consumables. You can't claim those costs again separately.

The page also says the rate is reviewed every year. For the year ending 30 June 2027, check the rate on the ATO's fixed rate method page before you claim.

The records matter more than the rate. You need a record of every hour you worked from home across the whole year, such as timesheets, rosters or a diary. An estimate for the year, or a few typical weeks multiplied out, isn't accepted. You also need one bill or receipt for each type of expense the rate covers that you incurred. If you haven't been logging hours since 1 July, start today.

How long to keep records

Keep business records for five years. For a sole trader, the five years run from when you prepared or obtained the record, or completed the transaction, whichever is later. Employees claiming work deductions keep their records for five years from the date they lodge, according to the ATO's records you need to keep page. Scan paper receipts, since thermal paper fades long before five years are up.

Turn the list into a spreadsheet

A checklist works best as a spreadsheet you tick off: one row per item, a column for the category, a due date and a done box. The Try it prompt asks askROI for exactly that, and the Excel generator builds the same kind of .xlsx from any description, with formulas for any totals. Do the 30 June decisions first, then work through the records in July, and you'll lodge with weeks to spare.

This post is general information, not tax or financial advice. For your own situation, talk to a registered tax agent or check the ATO.