30 June Is Weeks Away: What a Sydney Bookkeeper Should Have Sorted Before EOFY

There are two kinds of bookkeepers in late June. One is calmly working through a checklist they started in May. The other is Barry, who has just discovered that "EOFY" is not, in fact, a type of pasta, and is now hiding in the stationery cupboard whispering that the due date is more of a vibe.

Published: June 2026

This is the checklist. If your bookkeeper has not raised most of these with you yet, forward them this article. Or forward yourself this one.

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1. Reconciliations actually current

Everything else on this list depends on the file being reconciled to 30 June: every bank account, credit card, loan and payment platform. Not "the main account". All of them. A file with 300 unreconciled transactions does not have an EOFY problem, it has an every-day problem that EOFY exposes. If that sounds like your file, the war crimes list will feel familiar, and a Free Xero Roast will tell you how deep it goes.

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2. Payroll reconciled and STP finalised by 14 July

Before finalisation, payroll needs to balance three ways: what the payroll system says was paid, what STP reported to the ATO during the year, and what actually left the bank. Allowances coded correctly, salary sacrifice handled, terminations processed properly. Then the STP finalisation declaration is due by 14 July 2026, at which point your team's income statements turn "tax ready" in myGov and the where-is-my-payment-summary messages stop. Miss it and you become the reason eleven employees cannot lodge their returns.

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3. Super timing, and the deduction question

Quarterly super for April to June is due by 28 July 2026, and it is the last quarterly super payment under the old system. The part your bookkeeper should have flagged weeks ago: employer super contributions are generally only deductible in the year the fund receives them. Paying the June quarter in early-to-mid June, with enough buffer for clearing house processing, is the difference between deducting it this year or next. Whether that timing makes sense for your tax position is your accountant's call. Making sure the question gets asked before 30 June, rather than discovered in September, is the bookkeeper's.

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4. Payday Super ready before the first July pay run

From 1 July 2026, super is payable every payday and must reach employees' funds within 7 business days. The quarterly cycle is gone. Two practical jobs needed doing before now:

• Clearing house migration. The ATO's Small Business Superannuation Clearing House closed to users from 1 July 2026. If your super still runs through it, you need payroll-integrated super or a commercial clearing house configured and tested before July's first pay run, not during it.
• Cash flow re-planning. Super stops being a quarterly lump and becomes part of every pay run. On a $1.2M annual payroll, that is roughly $144,000 of super per year moving from four payments to twenty-six. The total is the same; the rhythm is completely different, and businesses that ran lean between super quarters will feel it immediately.

The penalty regime for late super also sharpens under the new system, with ATO-assessed charges and daily interest. The era of quietly paying super a few weeks late is over.

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5. Debtors, creditors and the write-off conversation

An aged receivables review before 30 June, not after. Invoices that are genuinely dead may be claimable as bad debts, but generally only if written off before year end, which is a decision for you and your accountant that cannot be made retroactively. Same energy on the creditor side: supplier statements reconciled, disputed invoices resolved or documented, so the year-end accounts payable figure means something.

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6. Stock, assets and the physical-world stuff

If you carry inventory, a stocktake at or near 30 June, with the count actually entered into the file rather than living in a spreadsheet called "stocktake_FINAL_v3". The asset register reviewed: things scrapped, sold or lost during the year removed, so depreciation next year is calculated on assets that exist. Hospitality and ecommerce clients, this is your section, and there is more in the hospitality group guide.

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7. The loose ends that make accountants sigh

Director loan account movements documented. Owner spending separated from business spending, properly, not via a suspense account the size of a small moon. Hire purchase and loan balances reconciled to lender statements. GST control accounts reconciled to the BAS actually lodged. None of this is glamorous. All of it is the difference between your accountant doing tax work and your accountant doing forensic accounting at tax-work prices.

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8. The June BAS, queued

The Q4 BAS is due 28 July, or 25 August through a registered agent's electronic lodgement program. A bookkeeper who has done items 1 through 7 can draft it in an afternoon and tell you the payment figure weeks in advance. The full deadline breakdown, including what late actually costs, is in the BAS deadline guide.

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What this looks like when it works

A hypothetical 18-staff Alexandria ecommerce business, $4M revenue. Their bookkeeper starts the EOFY run in mid May: reconciliations were already current (they always are), payroll balanced in the first week of June, June-quarter super scheduled for 16 June with the deduction question already sitting in the accountant's inbox, stocktake booked for the evening of 30 June, Payday Super configured in the payroll platform and tested on a dummy run. Total drama: none. Total late nights: none. That is not heroism, it is just what current books make possible.

The other version of this story involves a panicked week in late July, an accountant's bill with a "file reconstruction" line on it, and a super deduction that quietly moved to next year. Same business, same numbers, different bookkeeper. If yours is the second kind, the warning signs are catalogued in 13 signs your bookkeeper is Boring Barry, and what a proper one costs is in the 2026 pricing guide.

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FAQ

When is STP finalisation due for 2025-26?

‍14 July 2026. After finalisation, employees' income statements show as tax ready in myGov.

When does Payday Super start?

‍1 July 2026. Super must be paid with each pay run and reach the fund within 7 business days of payday. The final quarterly payment, for April to June 2026, is due 28 July 2026.

Do I have to pay June quarter super before 30 June?

‍No, the legal due date is 28 July. But contributions are generally only deductible when received by the fund, so paying before 30 June with processing buffer is how the deduction lands in this financial year. Whether to do that is a question for your accountant.

What happens to the Small Business Superannuation Clearing House?

‍It closed to users from 1 July 2026. Businesses that relied on it need payroll-integrated super payments or a commercial clearing house in place before their first July pay run.

What does my accountant need from the bookkeeper at year end?

‍A fully reconciled file, balanced payroll, reconciled GST and loan accounts, supporting documents attached, and a list of judgement calls flagged rather than buried. Clean handover is most of what separates a cheap accounting bill from an expensive one.

Can I switch bookkeepers right at EOFY?

‍Yes. It is busier, but a competent bookkeeper takes over files in July constantly, and starting the new financial year with a clean file beats dragging the old mess into it. The steps are in the switching guide.

Is EOFY tax planning the bookkeeper's job?

‍No. Tax planning is your accountant's or registered tax agent's job. The bookkeeper's job is making sure the file is so current and clean that tax planning is possible before 30 June rather than archaeologically reconstructed after it.

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About Sydney Bookkeeper

Sydney Bookkeeper is the modern, fixed-price Sydney bookkeeper for businesses with staff that are tired of slow, hourly, jargon-spouting incumbents. We work with professional services firms, construction and property businesses, agencies, tech and ecommerce companies, hospitality groups, and health practices across Sydney. Monthly bookkeeping, BAS lodgement, payroll, and Xero file cleanups, all on fixed monthly pricing, no lock-in.

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The team uses a registered BAS Agent for all BAS and IAS lodgement services. Full registration details, agent particulars, and copies of the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) Code of Professional Conduct, the TPB complaints process, and any conditions on the agent's registration are available on request by emailing [contact email]. This content is general information only, written for Australian small and mid-market businesses. It does not constitute tax, financial product, or legal advice and should not be relied on as such. Tax obligations depend on your individual circumstances. For advice specific to your business, contact the team directly or consult a registered tax agent or licensed financial adviser. Sydney Bookkeeper is not a licensed tax agent or licensed financial adviser. Information was current at the time of publication and may change without notice. We review and update guides periodically.

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Sources

• ATO, Payday Super: https://www.ato.gov.au/paydaysuper
• ATO, Single Touch Payroll finalisation: https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/hiring-and-paying-your-workers/single-touch-payroll
• ATO, Super guarantee: https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/super-for-employers
• ATO, Key lodgment and payment dates: https://www.ato.gov.au/tax-and-super-professionals/for-tax-professionals/prepare-and-lodge/due-dates

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