The New Financial Year Reset For Small Business Owners

EOFY is done. Take a breath! Before you dive into another busy year, now is the perfect time to stop and celebrate what you achieved. There’s no need to rush into the next goal or task on your to do lists. Instead, take a moment to review what happened, clean up any loose ends, and set your business up for a stronger year ahead.

Finish EOFY Properly

Before you move forward, make sure you’ve wrapped up the basics. A clean set of books makes every financial decision easier and gives you confidence your numbers are accurate.

• Reconcile your bank accounts
• Check payroll and super have been processed correctly
• Gather any missing receipts and invoices
• Review your subscriptions and any other ongoing expenses
• Complete a stock take (ideally this is done on June 30)

Need help ticking everything off? Our EOFY Checklist for Small Business Owners walks you through each step.

Review the Numbers

Once EOFY is complete, it’s time to understand how your business actually performed over the last 12 months. Revenue isn’t the only thing you should be across. Here’s a few key figures worth keeping an eye on:

• Revenue – and by income stream if you have more than one
• Profit
• Cash flow
• Expenses
• Outstanding debtors – your customers who haven’t paid you

Then ask yourself what worked well? Did anything feel harder than you expected? Where did money leak out of the business? What would you like to improve this year? Your numbers tell a story, so make sure you spend time reading it. You might spot opportunities, challenges, or patterns which can help shape your goals for the year ahead.

Check Whether Your Business Structure Still Fits

Businesses naturally grow and change. And this is a good thing! So if you’ve been through significant growth, built a team, or started taking on more risk, now could be a good time to review with your solicitor and accountant if your current business structure still suits your needs.

If you’re considering moving, or have already moved from sole trader to a company, the new financial year is a common time to do it. Don’t forget a new entity means a new accounting software file. This is one of the most common mistakes we see business owners make.

If you’ve recently moved from sole trader to company, read our guide on Updated Your Accounting Software correctly.

Build Better Financial Habits

The business owners who feel calm at EOFY aren’t scrambling in June, or trying to piece everything together when tax time rolls around. They’re following simple routines throughout the whole year.

If you feel like you can’t quite get your systems right, try habit stacking a financial task to something you already do regularly. Some examples you could try are:

• Check cash flow every Monday morning, followed by your favourite project to work on
• Review outstanding invoices every Friday, teamed up with a sweet treat to end the week
• Reconcile transactions, or send invoices through to your bookkeeper while having your morning coffee
• Review your reports on the first Monday of each month, right before treating yourself to a yummy lunch

Small habits create big improvements over time. For more ideas read our guide on Habit Stacking to Cement your Financial Routines.

Set Financial Goals for the New Financial Year

A new financial year is the perfect opportunity to decide where you’re headed. Clear financial goals give you something to work towards and help guide you. Don’t settle for ‘make more money’, or ‘be profitable’. Be specific. Consider setting goals around:

The clearer your goals, the easier it becomes to make decisions because you know where you’re headed.

Your New Financial Year Action Plan

If all this feels like a lot, don’t overthink it. Focus on one step at a time and use this simple action plan as your starting point.

This Week

This Month

This Quarter

EOFY is a checkpoint, not the finish line. Use the start of your new financial year to build stronger habits, make better decisions, and create a business easier to run, and more aligned with the life you want.

If you’re looking at your numbers and feeling unsure what they mean, or you know your bookkeeping and systems could use some attention, now is a great time to get support. A new financial year brings a fresh opportunity to build better habits, improve cash flow visibility, and make more confident business decisions.

If you’d like a bookkeeping team who helps you understand your numbers, streamline your processes and stay on top of your finances, book a discovery call and let’s chat.