Australian financial year calendar FY22

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Things that need to happen between the end of the financial year and tax time

Here are the dates and deadlines to keep in mind when getting tax ready.

Key dates in June

30 June is EOFY. All new transactions from 1 July go into your FY23 books. The next month of your EOFY calendar will focus on closing out Q4 obligations.

Key dates in July

With your Q4 reports squared away in July, your EOFY calendar will now shift focus to annual reporting. That means getting things ready for your tax agent.

Key dates in August

Ensure your FY22 books show every transaction. Make copies of every receipt and invoice ready to give to your tax agent.

If you’re a Xero customer, get your paperwork into Xero with Hubdoc.

Key dates in September

Schedule your tax agent to work on your return. You get extra time (and way less stress) if you use a tax agent.

It’s a good idea to get your books and documentation tidy before involving a professional. Otherwise they’ll need to spend heaps of extra time on your accounts, and EOFY could end up being costly.

Key dates in October

Whether you have a tax agent or not, before working on your tax return make sure you:

  • check your books for mistakes
  • have run a profit-and-loss report and balance sheet

There are multiple PAYG withholding annual reports due at this time. You can find out more from the ATO.

May 2023

15 May 2023 is the deadline for your tax agent to lodge your return.

Setting yourself up for the new year

Financial year-end is the perfect time to do a check-up, celebrate your successes, and refocus on business goals.

For more Xero tips, advice and bookkeeping essentials for your business, visit How We Help You and get started today with Notch Above Bookkeeping, Australia-wide or call our bookkeeping team on 1300 015 130.

Source: Xero

payroll

Prepare Payroll for year end

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What you need to do with Payroll for year-end

With the end of the financial year approaching, follow these steps to ensure that your payroll and payroll summaries are in order.

Overview

  • If you haven’t opted into Single Touch Payroll (STP), review your employee PAYG payment summaries – individual non-business.
  • If you have opted into STP, sign off your STP data and send it to the ATO.
  • Create summaries for labour-hire and some employment termination payments (ETPs).

If you’ve opted in to STP before 1 July 2020, you can’t produce payment summaries for the 2020 financial year. Instead, file a pay run in the 2019/2020 financial year and then finalise your STP data.

Before you begin

  • If you’ve set up STP, you don’t need to file PAYG payment summaries. Instead, ensure that you finalise your STP data so the relevant information is automatically sent to the ATO.
  • You can send or print summaries for ETPs – Type R or O. You need to manually produce summaries for labour-hire and other ETP types.
  • You need payroll admin access to prepare payroll data for the end of the financial year.

Review payroll transactions

At the end of the financial year, reconcile your payroll to the general ledger and fix any errors. Ensure you’ve posted your last pay run for the financial year before continuing.

Reconcile payroll data with the general ledger

Run the Payroll Activity Summary report and make sure you select all employees and the financial year you’re checking.

Run the Trial Balance report, select the last date of the relevant period and sort by account name.

Use the following table to check your payroll data by matching the report balances in your Payroll Activity Summary report and the Trial Balance report:

Matching report balances
In your Payroll Activity Summary In your Trial Balance report
Total Earnings should match Total Wages and Salaries
Total Super should match Total Superannuation
Total Tax should match Total PAYG Withholding Payable

If balances don’t match, check your pay run history to find the pay run with the error and process an adjustment.

Once all balances are correct, you need to review the payment summary amounts.

Review payment summary details and fix any errors

Run a Payment Summary Details report, select all employees and the financial year you’re checking before reviewing the amounts for each employee.

If you find any incorrect amounts in the payment summaries, you’ll need to fix these before you continue.

What’s next?

Once you’ve generated payment summaries for your employees, you can submit these to the ATO.

Setting yourself up for the new year

Financial year-end is the perfect time to do a payroll check-up, celebrate your successes, and refocus on business goals.

For more Xero payroll, advice and bookkeeping essentials for your business, visit How We Help You and get started today with Notch Above Bookkeeping, Australia-wide.

Source: Xero

tax time

Complete tasks for your tax period

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EOFY business countdown

As a small business owner, you want to do what you love and managing your accounts might not be what you got into business for.

Use your time wisely to help give you the space to start analysing how your business is tracking and really focus on the growth opportunities available.

Completing financial tasks regularly will give you the ‘creative/thinking space’ to focus not only on marketing and growing your business but also take time away from your business to enjoy a holiday.

Are you registered for GST?

One way to set regular timeframes is if you report GST or Goods and Services Tax to the ATO.

GST is reported via a business activity statement or BAS, monthly, quarterly or annually. Use your GST period as your time frame to work towards.

Check the ATO or speak to your bookkeeper to see if you need to report GST. You can also find the ATO lodgement and payment dates for BAS’s here.

If you don’t have a bookkeeper, see if Notch Above could be suitable for your business.

Not registered for GST?

You can still set regular time frames for your business to work towards and keep yourself accountable.

TIP! A great period to work towards is quarterly, so you can start to compare business performance from one quarter to the next.

Tasks

Complete the following day to day tasks for each time frame

  • Record all sales
  • Record all expenses, such as bills, wages and other business expenses
  • Reconcile your bank accounts regularly
  • Keep business documents stored within the file library in Xero
  • Keep your payroll and superannuation up to date

What should you be doing at the end of each period?

Reports

Reports that help with comparing periods include:

  • The Profit and loss report: to show your income and expenses for current and past periods
  • The Balance sheet: to understand the financial position of your business

Also start to prepare or chat to your bookkeeper about preparing budgets for your business.

If you don’t have a bookkeeper, check out Xero’s Advisor Directory to find one suitable to your business.

Check out our video on cash flow for an in-depth understanding, and how we can help you to track and manage your cash flow more effectively.

Having this knowledge is going to empower you to start making business growth decisions and have more meaningful conversations with your bookkeeper the next time you talk.

Setting yourself up for the new year

Financial year-end is the perfect time to do a check-up, celebrate your successes, and refocus on business goals.

For more Xero tips, advice and bookkeeping essentials for your business, visit How We Help You and get started today with Notch Above Bookkeeping, Australia-wide.

Source: Xero

tax return

The basics of EOFY

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Breakdown of common EOFY terminology

The end of the financial year or EOFY is a time when your business has to submit a tax return based on your income and expenses.

EOFY Period

Starts on 1 July each year and ends on 30 June the following year, also known as the Australian financial year.

Tax return

A form that tells you how much tax your business needs to pay based on income, expenses and other tax information.

Activity Statements

Used by GST registered businesses to report goods and services tax (GST), Pay as you go tax (PAYG), Pay as you go withholding taxes (PAYGW) and other taxes.

Lodgement dates

Key dates to lodge various tax return types to the Australian Tax Office (ATO).

The type of tax return that your business needs to file to the ATO will depend on your entity structure.

For detailed information on the different types of entities and tax differences click here.

Points to be aware of when talking to your bookkeeper

  • Tax deductions or concessions you can claim for your business and what implication these may have on your taxes.
  • Tax planning. It’s a way to look at your financial affairs and save you tax.
  • Write off assets by deducting an amount from an asset’s value each year.
  • Review any insurance cover especially if you’ve had any changes to normal operations during the year.
  • Cash flow forecasting. Look at your business’s finances to see if you have enough cash to continue operating or to expand your business.

Tip! EOFY is also a great time to chat to your bookkeeper about your business structure and its suitability.

If you don’t have a bookkeeper, find out if Notch Above might be suitable for your business.

Before even lodging a return, you need to have your accounts ready

For the year you need to have:

  • Recorded all sales
  • Recorded all expenses, such as bills, wages and other business expenses
  • Reconciled all your bank accounts for the EOFY
  • Keep documents stored within the file library in Xero
  • Make sure payroll and superannuation are up to date

Take a look at Xero’s checklist for a more detailed list of tasks to complete at the end of the financial year.

Setting yourself up for the new financial year

Financial year-end is the perfect time to do a check-up, celebrate your successes, and refocus on business goals.

For more Xero tips, advice and bookkeeping essentials for your business, visit How We Help You and get started today with Notch Above Bookkeeping, Australia-wide.

Source: Xero

Mailbox in Flood Waters

QLD flooding assistance extended

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Supporting flooded small businesses, primary producers and additional councils

Low interest loans are now available for Queensland primary producers and small businesses in local government areas facing a massive clean-up operation in the aftermath of the flooding in Southern Queensland.

The assistance is available through the joint Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).

DRFA low interest loans of up to $250,000 as well as freight subsidies of up to $5,000 for eligible primary producers are available in 11 LGAs: Bundaberg, Gympie, Lockyer Valley, Moreton Bay, North Burnett, Scenic Rim, Somerset, South Burnett, Southern Downs, Toowoomba and Western Downs.

DRFA low interest loans of up to $250,000 are also available for small businesses in Gympie, Lockyer Valley, Southern Downs, Somerset and Western Downs.

DRFA assistance has also been extended to the Fraser Coast, Gympie, Gladstone, North Burnett and South Burnett Regional Councils to help them with repair efforts.

Bundaberg, Livingstone, Rockhampton and Western Downs Regional Councils will also receive assistance with their repair efforts, as well as their counter disaster operation costs.

Minister for Fire and Emergency Services Mark Ryan said the funding was part of the Australian and Queensland Governments’ ongoing commitment to supporting Queenslanders along the road to recovery after months of rain and flooding.

“The severe weather and seemingly unending rainfall that hovered over Southern Queensland during May flooded several communities, many of which had already been affected by previous flooding events since the start of the year,” Mr Ryan said.

“Low interest loans under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements will provide concessional loans up to $250,000 and essential working capital loans of up to $100,000 to help kick-start the recovery of impacted primary producers and small businesses.

“Primary producers can also access freight subsidies of up to $5,000 for the movement of stock, feed, machinery, fuel, water, building and fencing materials.

“In addition, the councils who have been included in this extension can rest assured that their costs associated with counter-disaster operations and the repair of their essential public assets damaged by the flooding, such as local roads, will be covered under the DRFA.

“The Australian and Queensland Governments will continue to work closely with local councils to support their ongoing recovery efforts and identify where further assistance can be provided to ensure all impacted communities have the best possible support.”

For more information on assistance available to primary producers, small businesses and not-for-profit organisations visit www.qrida.qld.gov.au or free call 1800 623 946.

Information on disaster assistance can be found on the Queensland Reconstruction Authority’s website at www.qra.qld.gov.au.

Did paper-based office-based bookkeeping systems let you down during the floods? Now’s the time to think about a Cloud Bookkeeping solution — ask us how on 1300 015 130.

Source: Queensland Government

bookkeeping

EOFY resources for small business

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End of financial year resources for your small business

Get help with tidying up the books and wrapping up the accounts this end of financial year (EOFY).

Dates to mark in your diary

Here are the key EOFY milestones you need to know. Check out Xero’s handy key dates calendar so you can meet your year-end requirements on time.

  • 30 June: The Australian financial year runs from 1 July to 30 June. At midnight on 30 June, the financial year ends and your business books are closed off. Super contributions must be paid to qualify for tax deductions.
  • 14 July: Reconcile your payroll in Xero so you can submit your end-of-year finalisation declaration via Single Touch Payroll (STP) by 14 July. Your employees can then complete their income tax returns.
  • 28 July: Lodge and pay your Q4 business activity statement (BAS). If you lodge online, you may be eligible for a two-week extension. If you have employees, your super and PAYG instalments are also due.
  • 31 Oct: You have until 31 October to submit your tax return, but there are exceptions. Check the ATO website or ask your tax agent.

Processing payroll

Understand how to review, reconcile and amend your payroll, so you can finalise and lodge your Single Touch Payroll (STP) declaration by July 14.

First-timers

If it’s your first time using Xero to complete your end of financial year:

Pros

If you’ve used Xero to complete your end of financial year before:

Closing the books

Familiarise yourself with bank reconciliations, closing off accounts in Xero, EOFY adjustments and more.

First-timers
Pros

Setting yourself up for the new year

Financial year-end is the perfect time to do a check-up, celebrate your successes, and refocus on business goals.

For more Xero tips, advice and bookkeeping essentials for your business, visit How We Help You and get started today with Notch Above Bookkeeping, Australia-wide.

Source: Xero

cafe counter front of house

Brisbane Suburban Shopfront Improvement Grants

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Bring a fresh look to your Brisbane shopfront

Brisbane City Council is driving suburban economic vitality by helping businesses and property owners upgrade their shopfronts.

The Suburban Shopfront Improvement Grant program provides up to $5000 (excluding GST) to property owners or tenants of shopfronts in local business precincts to assist in bringing a fresh new look to their shop’s façade.

The program is designed to support local businesses and bring character to suburban areas.

This is a matched grant, meaning that for every dollar requested from Council, the Applicant must have an equal dollar amount (or more) to put toward the project. To be eligible, work must not have already commenced or been paid for.

Planning your shopfront improvement

Grants are available for long-term, street-level improvements that bring a new look to the shopfront and contribute to the streetscape in a creative way.

For inspiration and eligibility requirements, visit https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/business-in-brisbane/business-opportunities/suburban-shopfront-improvement-grants.

Did your paper-based office-based bookkeeping systems let you down during the floods? Now’s the time to think about a Cloud Bookkeeping solution — ask us how on 1300 015 130.

See more Business Grant information »

Source: BCC

heron legs surrounded by water

Disaster assistance for latest QLD flood event

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Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA)

Personal hardship disaster assistance has been activated to help flood-affected residents in the Lockyer Valley and Southern Downs to cover the costs of immediate essential needs, such as food, temporary accommodation, clothing and medication.

In addition, the Brisbane, Fraser Coast, Gladstone, Gold Coast, Gympie, Lockyer Valley, Logan, Moreton Bay, North Burnett, South Burnett, Southern Downs and Toowoomba LGAs have been activated for counter disaster operations assistance to cover the costs of the immediate clean-up efforts.

Resilient Homes Fund

Queenslanders whose homes were damaged by floods can now register to access grants to raise, repair, retrofit or have their home voluntarily bought back.

Funding is available for rebuilding resilient homes, raising homes or buying back homes.

Queensland homeowners across 37 local government areas whose property was inundated as a result of any of the three major floods in 2021-22 including the South East Queensland floods (22 February 2022 onwards); the ex-Tropical Cyclone Seth floods (29 December 2021 – 10 January 2022); and the Central, Southern and Western Queensland flooding (10 November – 3 December 2021).

Did paper-based office-based bookkeeping systems let you down during the floods? Now’s the time to think about a Cloud Bookkeeping solution — ask us how on 1300 015 130.

Source: Queensland Government

green payroll binder

Employer guide to family and domestic violence

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What are your legal responsibilities as an employer?

As an employer, you need to be aware that the Fair Work Act provides minimum entitlements for employees.

Employers can provide more than the minimum entitlements under workplace policies, enterprise agreements and informally.

Under the Fair Work Act, employees dealing with the impact of family and domestic violence can:

  • take unpaid family and domestic violence leave
  • request flexible working arrangements
  • take paid or unpaid personal/carer’s leave, in certain circumstances.

Unpaid family and domestic violence leave

Employees (including casual and part-time employees) are entitled to 5 days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave each 12 month period. This leave:

  • doesn’t accumulate from year to year if it isn’t used
  • is available in full when an employee starts working at a new workplace
  • renews in full at the start of each 12 month period of employment
  • can be taken as a single continuous period or separate periods of one or more days.

Employers and employees can agree for an employee to take less than one day at a time, or for the employee to take more than 5 days of leave.

What is family and domestic violence?

The Fair Work Act defines family and domestic violence as violent, threatening or other abusive behaviour by an employee’s close relative that seeks to coerce or control the employee and causes them harm or to be fearful.

Who is a close relative?

A close relative is:

  • an employee’s:
    • spouse or former spouse
    • de facto partner or former de facto partner
    • child
    • parent
    • grandparent
    • grandchild
    • sibling
  • an employee’s current or former spouse or de facto partner’s child, parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling, or
  • a person related to the employee according to Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander kinship rules.

When can employees take unpaid family and domestic violence leave?

Employees can take leave when they:

  • are experiencing family and domestic violence
  • need to do something to deal with the impact of that violence
  • it’s impractical to do so outside their ordinary hours of work.

Notice and evidence

If an employee takes family and domestic violence leave, they have to let their employer know as soon as possible. This can happen after the leave has started. Employees also need to tell their employer how long they expect the leave to last. An employer can ask for evidence, which can include:

  • documents issued by the police
  • documents issued by a court
  • family violence support service documents, or
  • a statutory declaration.

Confidentiality

Employers have to take reasonably practical steps to keep any information about an employee’s situation confidential when they receive it as part of an application for leave. This includes information about the employee taking family and domestic violence leave, including leave records as well as any evidence provided by the employee.

Employers aren’t prevented from disclosing information if it’s:

  • required by law, or
  • necessary to protect the life, health or safety of the employee or another person.

Employers need to be aware that any information about an employee’s experience of family and domestic violence is sensitive. If information is mishandled, it could have adverse consequences for their employee including serious injury or harm. It is recommended that employers work with their employee to discuss and agree on how this information will be handled.

Visit fairwork.gov.au to learn more about family and domestic violence leave including access to their free resource Employer Guide to Family and Domestic Violence.

Certified Xero Bookkeepers

Notch Above Bookkeeping are certified Xero bookkeepers offering agreed-price monthly fees so you know exactly where you stand. No hidden extras and no ticking clock. Browse our range of Xero bookkeeping services below and get in touch to discuss which plan best suits the needs of your business.

Source: Fair Work Ombudsman