An EOFY business checklist is the short list of decisions you need to settle before 30 June: which equipment to buy and when, how the GST on it is claimed, whether the instant asset write-off applies to your business this year, and whether your finance is structured so the deduction actually lands in the year you want it. Most of that work happens months earlier than people think.
The single most common EOFY mistake is treating it as a June activity. An asset has to be installed and ready for use by 30 June to be written off in that year, and finance approvals, deliveries and installations do not compress into the last fortnight. If you are reading this outside June, you are reading it at the right time.
Start with the question that is not about tax
Buying equipment you did not need in order to claim a deduction is a way of turning a dollar into roughly sixty or seventy cents, depending on your rate. The deduction reduces tax; it does not refund the purchase. Every EOFY conversation should start by confirming the asset earns its place operationally, and only then move to timing.
The genuine EOFY question is narrower: given that you were going to replace the ute, the excavator or the practice imaging unit within the next twelve months anyway, is it better to do it before 30 June or after? That is a real decision with a real answer.
The instant asset write-off, without the numbers
The instant asset write-off lets an eligible business claim an immediate deduction for the business portion of an eligible asset in the year it is first used or installed ready for use, rather than depreciating it over several years. The threshold amount, the aggregated-turnover limit and the eligibility window are all set by legislation and have changed repeatedly over the past decade, often late in the financial year.
That volatility is the practical point. Anyone quoting you a threshold figure from an article, including this one, is quoting a number that may have moved. Confirm the current threshold and eligibility with your accountant or on the ATO website before you commit to a purchase date, and get it in writing if the decision is large enough to matter.
Two mechanical details do stay stable. The threshold applies per asset, not per business, so several qualifying assets can each be claimed. And the asset must be installed ready for use by 30 June, not merely ordered or paid for, which is where the timing pressure comes from.
How GST works on a financed asset
This is where the choice of finance product does real work. Under a chattel mortgage, you are the owner of the asset from settlement, so for a business registered for GST on an accruals basis the full GST credit on the purchase price is generally claimable in the BAS period in which you take delivery, even though you are repaying the finance over several years. The repayments themselves carry no GST, because the interest component is input taxed.
Under a lease, the structure is different: the lender owns the asset and you claim GST on each rental payment as it is made, spread across the term rather than claimed up front. Neither is universally better, but the cash-flow shapes are very different, and the difference is largest in the first BAS after purchase. Chattel mortgage vs hire purchase vs finance lease sets the three products side by side.
If you account for GST on a cash basis, the timing changes again. This is worth a five-minute call with your accountant rather than an assumption, because a large GST credit landing one quarter earlier or later can be the difference between a comfortable July and a tight one.
The checklist itself
Review the asset register. Identify what is genuinely at the end of its useful life, what is under-utilised and could be sold, and what is fully depreciated but still earning. Disposals have tax consequences too, and a balancing adjustment on a sold asset can surprise you.
Confirm eligibility early. Aggregated turnover, the asset type and whether the asset is new or second-hand all affect what you can claim. Ask the question in March, not June.
Get finance pre-approved before you negotiate. Approval, documentation and settlement take time, and a supplier who knows your finance is in place negotiates differently from one who suspects it is not.
Check delivery and installation lead times in writing. For anything that needs commissioning, installation or a fit-out, the ready-for-use test is the binding constraint, not the invoice date.
Reconcile your debtors. EOFY is the natural moment to write off genuinely bad debts and to look honestly at the ageing of the rest.
Review your finance structure, not just your finance rate. Balloon or residual amounts falling due, facilities coming up for annual review, and personal guarantees you gave three years ago on a much smaller business are all worth a look once a year, and this is the year's natural checkpoint.
The cash flow trap
A deduction arrives at tax time. The equipment has to be paid for now. Businesses that buy heavily in June sometimes spend July and August short of working capital, having converted liquid cash into an illiquid asset for a tax benefit that arrives months later. Financing the asset rather than paying cash usually solves this, as does making sure the working capital facility behind the business is sized for the post-purchase position rather than the pre-purchase one. If the seasonal shape of your year is the real issue, what is working capital covers how to measure it properly.
Where to from here
We arrange asset and equipment finance across our whole lender panel, including the specialist funders that move fastest when a 30 June install date is tight. There are no fees to clients; the lender pays us a commission when the finance settles. If you want the finance side sorted before the deadline compresses your options, book a 20-minute brief.
This article is general information, not tax advice. Confirm current thresholds, eligibility and treatment with your accountant or the ATO before acting.
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