End of financial year checklist

Some of the yearly tasks you need to do as a small business owner may include:

• a summary of your income and expenses in a profit and loss statement
• conducting a stocktake – learn about stocktakes and assets on the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website
• summaries of your record of debtors and creditors
• collating records of asset purchases or expenditure on improvements (to calculate depreciation expense claims and for capital gains tax)
• completing and lodging your income tax returns
• lodging yearly reports or returns for different tax types such as:
  • pay as you go (PAYG) withholding, including finalising income statements for Single Touch Payroll
  • fringe benefits tax (FBT)
  • goods and services tax (GST).
• meeting superannuation requirements
• making digital copies of any paper records and backing them up.

For more information, visit the ATO website, call the ATO on 13 28 66, or talk to your tax professional.

You can claim deductions for most business expenses, as long as they directly relate to earning your income. For example, you may be able to claim deductions if your business:

• has set up a website
• has motor vehicle expenses
• uses diesel fuel
• operates at home
• has travel expenses
• uses machinery, tools or computers.

You must have records to prove the expenses that you claim as business deductions.

If you’re a sole trader, you can use the ATO app’s myDeductions tool to record your business income and expenses during the year.

Consider planning for the end of year by writing off any debtors or assets before the financial year ends to claim a tax deduction.

Check your tax agent is registered with the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB).

There are two main ways you can check registration:

• Search the TPB register.
• Look for the registered tax practitioner symbol on their website, stationery, brochures or business cards. The registered tax practitioner symbol includes the type of registration and their individual registration number.

Spend some time reviewing your finances by yourself, or with your accountant or bookkeeper.

Look at whether you met your targets and what you can do differently next financial year.

There are a number of scams that target small business around tax time. Common tax time scams include:

• tax refund scams – the scammer claims you’ve overpaid your taxes and are eligible for a refund. To get this refund, they claim that you need to pay a fee for administration or transfer costs.
• tax owed scams – the scammer claims you've underpaid your tax and need to repay it immediately. In order to make this payment, they ask for your credit or debit card details, or ask you to send money through a money transfer, or they may ask you to purchase iTunes cards and send them the details of the cards.

Take time to set yourself up for the year ahead. Regularly reviewing and updating your plans will help you to:

• remember your goals and priorities
• assess whether your strategies are working
• adapt to any changes in your environment
• make the most of new opportunities as they come your way
• prioritise and maximise your effort (work smarter, not harder).