Tessa looked at the calendar and felt her stomach drop.

Eight weeks until June 30.

The books were... well, they weren't a complete disaster, but they weren't exactly ready for the accountant either.

Bank recs were current (mostly); invoices were getting sent (eventually); but when she opened Xero and thought about what needed to happen before EOFY, the list was overwhelming.

"We've got time" Mark said, not looking up from his phone.

"We've got eight weeks" Tessa replied. "And half of that's going to disappear in jobs and quotes and chasing payments. If we don't start now, we'll be scrambling in June."

She was right.

EOFY prep doesn't happen in the last week of June – it happens in May, when you've still got breathing room to fix things properly.

Here's your step-by-step guide to getting your Xero books EOFY-ready – so you can walk into June confident instead of panicked.

WHY MAY MATTERS FOR EOFY

Every year, people tell themselves they'll "sort the books in June."

And every year, June arrives and it’s chaos. Missing receipts. Unreconciled transactions. Expenses coded wrong. STP not finalised. The accountant asking questions you can't answer because you can't remember what happened in October.

May is when you get ahead of this.

You've got time to:

• Fix errors before they become disasters
• Chase missing information while people still remember
• Sort out your STP before the 14 July deadline
• Make decisions about deductions and timing
• Have a conversation with your accountant instead of a panic call

Every dollar you spend between now and June 30 either counts as this financial year or next financial year. If you don't know which dollars are which, you can't make smart decisions.

This is what "Make Every Dollar Count" means.
Know where your money's going.
Know what's deductible.
Know what's personal vs business.

YOUR MAY EOFY PREP CHECKLIST

Work through this over the next few weeks. Don't try to do it all in one weekend.

WEEK 1: GET CURRENT

1. Reconcile all bank accounts through to the end of April

Go to Accounting > Bank Accounts and reconcile every account right through to 30 April.

If you're behind, catch up now. Don't let unreconciled transactions pile up into June.

2. Check your bank feeds are working

Bank feeds sometimes disconnect without warning. Check every connected account is still pulling transactions automatically.

If something's broken, fix it now – don't discover it in June when you're trying to reconcile May.

3. Run a Profit & Loss for July-April

Go to Reports > Profit and Loss

Set the date range to 1 July 2025 – 30 April 2026.

Does it look right? Any categories that seem too high or too low? Any obvious coding errors?

Fix what you can see. Flag what needs investigating.

WEEK 2: REVIEW YOUR EXPENSES

4. Check for personal expenses coded as business

This is where most people trip up at EOFY.

Go through your expense transactions for the year. Look for:

• Weekend coffees that weren't client meetings
• Personal fuel purchases
• Meals that were just you grabbing lunch
• Shopping that wasn't work-related

If it's personal, remove it from your business expenses now. Better you catch it than the ATO.

5. Review your deductions

Are you claiming everything you're entitled to?

• Common missed deductions:
• Home office expenses (if you work from home)
• Mobile phone (work portion)
• Professional development and training
• Subscriptions and memberships
• Tools and equipment under the instant asset write-off threshold

6. Check your GST coding

Click through to your expense transactions. Make sure the GST codes are correct.

Common mistakes:

• Claiming GST on things that aren't GST-claimable (residential rent, some government fees)
• Wrong GST rate (should be 10%, not 15% or 0%)
• Capital purchases coded as regular expenses

Fix these now, before they hit your June BAS.

WEEK 3: ASSET REGISTER AND INVENTORY

7. Update your Fixed Asset Register

Go to Accounting > Fixed Assets

Check everything's current:

• Did you sell any equipment this year? Mark it as disposed.
• Did you scrap anything? Remove it from the register.
• Any new purchases over $1,000? Make sure they're recorded as assets, not expenses.

Your accountant will need this for depreciation calculations.

8. Do a stocktake (if you carry inventory)

If you've got materials, parts, or stock on hand, do a physical count in May.

Record what you've got. Adjust Xero to match reality.

Don't wait until 30 June when everything's shut down and you're trying to remember what was in the shed.

WEEK 4: PAYROLL AND STP

9. Review your employee records

Go through each employee in Xero. Check:

• Tax file numbers are correct
• Addresses are current
• Employment dates are accurate
• Super fund details are up to date

Errors here will cause problems when you finalise STP in July.

10. Check your year-to-date payroll figures

Run a Payroll Summary report for 1 July 2025 – current.

Do the wages, super, and PAYG amounts look sensible?

If something's off, investigate now. Don't wait until you're trying to finalise STP on 13 July.

11. Plan for STP finalisation

STP (Single Touch Payroll) finalisation is due 14 July 2026.

But the work starts now:

Make sure all pays for June are processed by 30 June

Any final pays for employees leaving need to be done correctly

Super for the June quarter needs to be calculated (and paid by 28 July)

Mark these dates in your calendar. Don't leave it until the last minute.

MAKE EVERY DOLLAR COUNT

Here's where the "Make Every Dollar Count" theme comes in.

Between now and 30 June, every purchase you make is a decision:

Does this expense count for FY26 or FY27?

If you need new equipment, new tools, office supplies – buying it before 30 June means you can claim it this financial year.

If you're close to a tax threshold, timing matters. Your accountant can help you decide whether to bring expenses forward or push them to July.

Is this dollar business or personal?

When you're running a family business, this gets blurry. The ute that drops the kids to school. The mobile phone you use for everything. The home office that's also the spare bedroom.

Get clear on what's what. Keep records. Track personal vs business use.

Every dollar you claim as a business expense needs to be defendable if the ATO asks.

Where is your household money going?

Your business might be profitable on paper, but if you're not paying yourself properly, what's the point?

Look at your owner's pay for the year. Have you been taking a regular wage? Or just grabbing cash when you need it and hoping there's enough?

If it's the latter, FY27 is the year to fix that. Set up Profit First. Pay yourself first. Make your household money count.

THE FINAL PUSH: JUNE

By the time June arrives, you want to be in maintenance mode, not panic mode.

Early June:

• Final bank reconciliations through 30 June
• Chase any outstanding invoices (get that cash in before year-end if you can)
• Process final pays for June

After 30 June:

Finalise STP by 14 July

• Pay June quarter super by 28 July
• Lodge your June BAS (if you're on quarterly reporting)
• Get your records to your accountant

If you've done the work in May, June is just ticking boxes – not scrambling to fix six months of mess.

Disclaimer: This information is general in nature and doesn't take your personal circumstances into account. Always seek professional advice for your specific situation.