Robin Lamb | Published 9 September 2026 | Updated 15 September 2026
For a business using a 30 June financial year end, tax planning should begin with its current position and intended decisions.
What result is expected? What tax has already been paid? Are owners considering a purchase, payment or transaction that needs assessment?
These questions are more useful than a last minute search for deductions. Early discussion allows time to identify missing information, understand likely obligations and consider advice before making commitments.
Are the current figures a reliable starting point?
An estimate is only as useful as the information behind it.
Bring recent management accounts and identify the date to which records have been reconciled. Discuss outstanding customer invoices, unpaid supplier bills and material transactions that have not yet reached the accounts.
Also identify expected activity between the reporting date and 30 June. A report covering part of the year is not a complete picture of the likely annual result.
Reliable business records provide the starting point. Your accountant will still need to consider relevant tax adjustments and any uncertainty in the remaining period.
What has changed since last year?
Last year’s return provides context, but it may not be a useful guide on its own.
Explain changes in profitability, business activities, ownership and financing. Identify significant transactions such as an asset disposal, an unusual receipt or a substantial expense.
The reasons behind a changed result matter. Increased sales with tighter margins present a different picture from higher profits generated by an event that is unlikely to recur.
Tell your accountant about changes affecting the owners personally where these may be relevant to their tax position. Do not assume that everything important will be visible in the business accounts.
What tax is expected, and what cash will be available?
Ask for an estimate that identifies the assumptions, the relevant taxpayer and the information still outstanding.
An estimate prepared before the year closes is not a final assessment. It may change when the remaining trading results, records and tax treatment are confirmed.
PAYG instalments are prepayments towards expected tax on business and investment income. Bring details of instalments already paid so they can be considered alongside the estimated liability.
Keep that discussion separate from the cash balance. Money in the bank may also be needed for wages, suppliers, loan repayments and other commitments.
The useful outcome is an understanding of likely tax payments and funding needs, including uncertainty, rather than a single figure treated as settled.
Are planned purchases commercially justified?
Start with the business need and affordability.
Would the purchase still make sense without a tax deduction? What other commitments would it limit? Would financing introduce repayments the business can comfortably accommodate?
Then ask about the tax treatment and relevant timing. Ordering, paying for or financing an item does not automatically establish a deduction for that financial year.
The nature of the expenditure, which entity incurs it and how an asset will be used can matter. For depreciating assets, when they are first used or installed ready for use can also be relevant. Some expenditure receives treatment over time rather than an immediate deduction.
A deduction does not repay the purchase price. Unnecessary spending can leave the business with less cash, even where a tax deduction is available.
What money has moved between the business and its owners?
Review drawings, loans, owner contributions and payments involving related entities.
Clarify who paid whom, what each amount represents and whether the records reflect the arrangement. Include proposed payments as well as those already made.
These transactions need to be understood in the context of the structure. Money taken from a sole trader business should not be treated as interchangeable with a company payment or a trust distribution.
For a company, ask whether owner balances or proposed payments require further assessment, documentation or attention by a relevant date.
For a trust, ask whether the deed, beneficiary circumstances and intended income decisions require consideration before the year ends. Legal input may be needed where the governing documents are unclear.
Do not assume that last year’s arrangements remain appropriate or that these matters can all wait until the annual return is prepared.
Which matters have their own timetable?
30 June is not the deadline for every tax obligation or planning decision.
Ask your accountant to distinguish matters requiring attention before the financial year ends from those governed by other dates. Preparing and lodging the annual return later is a separate stage.
A proposed property transaction, ownership change or restructure also deserves advice before commitments are made, regardless of where it falls in the financial year.
If a sale is being discussed, raise the assets involved, their ownership and the proposed terms. Planning before a business or property sale should not be postponed until a routine annual review.
What to bring to the discussion
Useful information includes:
- Current financial reports and known gaps in the records.
- Prior returns and tax instalment details.
- Owner and related entity balances.
- Major transaction documents.
- Proposed purchases, payments and other commitments.
- Changes in ownership or relevant personal circumstances.
Arrange the discussion early enough for questions to be investigated. Agree on the scope of the review rather than assuming tax planning is included in every accounting engagement.
Speak with Jaha about the business’s expected position and decisions ahead. The aim is considered advice and realistic expectations, not spending for its own sake or a promised tax saving.