The Year-End Timeline — Start in May, Not July
Most Australian businesses hand their bookkeeper a chaotic file in August and wonder why the accountant bill is high. The right approach starts 6 weeks before 30 June:
| When | What Your Indian Bookkeeper Does | What You Do |
|---|---|---|
| 15 May | File review — flags any transactions needing clarification before 30 June | Review flagged items, provide answers |
| 31 May | April + May fully reconciled and coded. No outstanding items. | Approve April + May reports |
| Early June | Sends pre-June 30 checklist — super contributions, prepaid expenses, bad debts to write off | Discuss with your accountant, give go-ahead |
| 25 June | Pre-30 June actions processed (super payments initiated, prepayments entered) | Confirm super cleared in bank before 30 June |
| 30 June | Stock take reminder sent if applicable | Count and submit inventory on hand |
| 7 July | June bank feeds reconciled, all June transactions coded | Approve any queries |
| 15 July | June BAS prepared and sent for review. Payroll YTD reconciliation complete. | Lodge June BAS, review payroll |
| 31 July | Year-end workpapers complete — sent to your Australian accountant | Forward workpapers to accountant |
What Your Indian Bookkeeper Prepares at Year End
1. Bank Reconciliation to 30 June
All bank accounts, credit cards, and loan accounts reconciled to 30 June. Every transaction coded. No unmatched items. The Xero bank balance for each account matches the 30 June bank statement to the cent. This is the foundation — nothing else is reliable if the bank rec is not clean.
2. Payroll Year-to-Date Reconciliation
The most scrutinised area at tax time. Your bookkeeper reconciles:
- Total gross wages per employee — Xero payroll summary vs payslips issued
- PAYG withholding — total withheld vs total paid to ATO (via BAS or IAS)
- Superannuation — total accrued vs total cleared in the bank before 30 June. Super must be received by the fund by 30 June to be deductible this year — not just initiated
- STP year-to-date — Xero's STP figures match the payroll activity summary report exactly
- Leave balances — annual leave and long service leave accrued per employee, matching HR records
3. Accounts Receivable — Debtors List
A clean aged debtors list as at 30 June. Your bookkeeper flags:
- Invoices over 90 days — are they collectable? Should any be written off as bad debts before 30 June for a tax deduction?
- Any credit notes that need to be issued
- Disputed invoices that may need adjustment
4. Accounts Payable — Creditors List
All supplier invoices entered and coded. Any June invoices received in early July that relate to June work are accrued in the June accounts (accrual basis). Your accountant needs to know what is owed as at 30 June — not just what has been paid.
5. Fixed Asset Register
Updated for the full year — every asset purchased during the year added (from purchase invoices), any disposals removed (sale proceeds coded), and depreciation calculated using the method your accountant has selected (diminishing value or prime cost). The closing value per the register should tie to the balance sheet.
6. Inventory on Hand (if applicable)
If your business carries stock, a physical stocktake at 30 June is required. You conduct the count; your bookkeeper enters the value in Xero and reconciles any variance between the system balance and the physical count. The COGS figure in the P&L depends on opening stock + purchases − closing stock — so an accurate count is essential for correct gross margin reporting.
7. June BAS
The June BAS (or April–June quarterly BAS) is prepared from the fully reconciled June accounts. Your bookkeeper sends the draft for your review. You lodge via the ATO Business Portal, or your tax agent lodges it.
What Goes to Your Australian Accountant
- ☑ Trial balance as at 30 June (Xero export)
- ☑ Bank reconciliation confirmation — all accounts balanced to 30 June
- ☑ Debtors aged list — with bad debt write-off recommendations
- ☑ Creditors aged list — including June accruals
- ☑ Payroll summary — gross wages, PAYG, super per employee
- ☑ STP reconciliation — YTD figures match payroll summary
- ☑ Fixed asset register — opening balance, additions, disposals, depreciation, closing value
- ☑ Inventory on hand schedule (if applicable)
- ☑ Prepaid expenses and accruals schedule
- ☑ Loan account reconciliation (if any)
- ☑ June BAS filed and ATO-accepted confirmation
- ☑ Summary notes — any unusual items, transactions requiring accountant judgement
A complete workpapers package means your accountant can go straight to tax return preparation — no requests for missing information, no cleanup time billed at accountant rates. Most Australian accountants charge A$150–A$350/hr — every hour saved on cleanup is real money.
Pre-June 30 Actions Worth Doing Every Year
Discuss these with your Australian accountant before 30 June — your Indian bookkeeper implements whatever is agreed:
- Superannuation contributions — make and clear before 30 June to claim a deduction this year. Super must be received by the fund before 30 June. Allow 3–5 business days for clearance
- Prepay expenses — small businesses can prepay up to 12 months of expenses (insurance, rent, subscriptions) and claim a deduction this year under the 12-month rule
- Write off bad debts — if you have invoices over 12 months old that are not collectible, write them off before 30 June for a GST credit and income tax deduction
- Purchase equipment — if you need new equipment, purchasing before 30 June may qualify for immediate deduction under the small business instant asset write-off (confirm threshold with your accountant)
- Director/trustee resolutions — if your business distributes trust income or pays a director bonus, the resolution must be made before 30 June
For more on the ongoing compliance picture, see our ATO compliance guide and our monthly review guide for keeping the file clean all year so June 30 is not a scramble.
Written by Sharma Jyoti, CA (ICAI) — Founder, Sharma Jyoti and Co. We are an ICAI-registered Chartered Accountant firm providing outsourced bookkeeping and accounting services to Australian, US, UK and Canadian businesses. Learn more about our firm →
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