As End of Financial Year fast approaches, now is the time for F&B businesses to prepare. Completing end of financial year tasks isn’t easy, But, with a few simple processes, your business can streamline the entire EOFY process.
EasyVend has put together a quick checklist to help your business speed up the EOFY process.
1. Prepare Financial Documents
A mistake that many businesses make at EOFY time is not having all their Financial Documents together. When this happens staff, tax agents and bookkeepers have to waste time locating important information – increasing both costs and stress-levels. To streamline the EOFY process, the first thing that your business needs to do s prepare key financial documents.
A few of the key financial documents that your businesses needs to prepare includes:
- Receipts for sales and purchases
- Records concerning tax returns, activity statements and employee super contributions
- Business Activity Statements (BAS)
- Single Touch Payroll (STP)
Having important financial documents ready to go will ultimately streamline the EOFY process. The more organised your business is the less stressed you will be, it’s that simple.
2. Collect your Tax Documents
One of the reasons why many businesses struggle with EOFY is because they have an inadequate Tax reporting process. To reduce time-spent on the EOFY process it is important that your business collects, and files all Tax documents.
The benefit of collecting and filing tax documents is it will help you make claims and deductions at tax time. Your business can easily note what you are looking to claim and most importantly have the correct supporting paperwork needed.
Some of the key Tax Documents your business should collect include:
- GST
- Taxable Payments Annual Report
- Deductions e.g. instant asset write-off scheme
Having a strong Tax recording system can save your business thousands at Tax time.
3. Do a Stock Take
It is important that your business completes an inventory stocktake prior to the June 30. The reason why your business needs to do an inventory take is it gives you the ability to identify any stock issues and adjust your records prior to the new financial year starting.
Along with this, completing an inventory stock take gives your business the ability to understand it’s current position. Your business can make strategic purchasing decisions that escalate growth for the coming year.
4. Complete Reconciliations
Reconciliations is a vital part of the EOFY process. A Reconciliation is when a business owner or bookkeeper compares a business’s actual yearly financial transactions against supporting documentation like bank statements.
Doing Reconciliations gives your business the opportunity to identify any discrepancies or errors before you submit your return to the taxation office.
5. Check Covid-19 Relief Packages
Covid-19 support packages such as JobKeeper and JobSaver may have a massive effect on your businesses tax return. Before your business submits your tax return It is important that you check the different Covid-19 Relief Packages and how they may relate to you. Some packages may not apply to your business, but you should check just to be sure. You may want to seek expert advice prior to submitting your return.
6. Know the Due Date
This is one is so important! Many businesses make the simple but costly mistake of submitting their tax return late. Submitting your return late results in heavy financial penalties. To reduce unnecessary fines, it’s recommended that you create a reminder on your primary devices like your phone and computer.
7. Prepare for Next Financial Year
Many businesses think the End of Financial Year is finished when you submit your return, but there’s more to it. After your business submits your return, it is important that you start planning for next financial year. Create different goals that you want your business to achieve in the coming year and most importantly implement processes that pushes your business forward.
Final Word,
The End of Financial Year can be an intimidating time for F&B businesses. However, there are ways to streamline the process and ultimately reduce stress. To simplify the EOFY process, businesses need to plan and have the right systems in place. The tips mentioned above will greatly assist your business for EOFY.
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About EasyVend
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EOFY Preparation Tips for Food & Beverage Businesses
Preparing for the end of the financial year is easier when you approach it as a sequence of tasks rather than a single deadline. For a food or beverage business, five areas deserve attention:
- Your financial records
- Your available deductions
- Your cash position
- Your stock
- Your supplier accounts
The end of the financial year falls on 30 June and presents particular challenges for food and beverage businesses. Completing these tasks in order helps reduce last-minute work. You manage perishable stock, work on narrow margins, and pay suppliers regardless of when customers pay.
Several tax and compliance rules have changed for the 2025–26 financial year. The super guarantee rate now sits at 12%, the final legislated increase. The $20,000 instant asset write-off still applies to businesses with turnover under $10 million. And Payday Super commences on 1 July 2026. Use the sections below as your end-of-financial-year checklist for your food business.
1. Clean Up Financial Records Before EOFY Deadlines
Cleaning up your financial records before EOFY means ensuring every sale, expense, invoice, and bank transaction has been recorded, categorised, and reconciled against your bank statements by 30 June. Your deductions and your tax return rest on these figures.
Begin with a bank reconciliation up to 30 June. This process often identifies discrepancies such as a supplier payment entered twice or an unmatched deposit.
Then account for any missing receipts, since the ATO requires records to be kept for five years and a deduction you cannot substantiate is one you may lose. If you employ staff, remember Single Touch Payroll, as employers are generally required to finalise STP by 14 July. Reconcile your GST as well, because some food items are GST-free and others are not, and incorrect GST coding throughout the year can take significant time to correct.
2. Identify Tax Deductions and Business Write-Off Opportunities
Food businesses can claim a wide range of deductions at EOFY, from everyday running costs through to larger equipment under the $20,000 instant asset write-off. The write-off allows an eligible small business, meaning one with turnover under $10 million, to deduct the full cost of an asset under $20,000 immediately, rather than depreciating it across several years.
Common deductions include
- Ingredients and stock
- Wages and super
- Rent and utilities
- Repairs
- Marketing
- Software
- Delivery costs
The $20,000 threshold applies per asset, so a $6,000 dishwasher, a $9,000 display fridge, and a $4,000 prep bench may each be claimed in full in the same year. For example, a $15,000 fridge installed ready for use in February, set against $200,000 of taxable income, reduces that figure to $185,000, reducing company tax by approximately $3,750 at a 25% company tax rate.
To qualify, the asset must be installed and ready for use by 30 June, not simply ordered or paid for. For example, a coffee machine plumbed in and operating on 28 June qualifies; the same machine still boxed on 30 June does not.
There is also a change ahead. The 2026–27 Federal Budget announced plans to make the $20,000 write-off permanent from 1 July 2026, though that is not yet law, so confirm any purchase made after 30 June with your accountant. The current rules appear on the ATO’s instant asset write-off page. Effective EOFY tax planning in the food industry means bringing forward purchases you had already intended to make, rather than spending solely to reduce tax.
3. Review Cash Flow and Outstanding Payments
Before EOFY, review your cash flow by following up overdue invoices, confirming what you owe your suppliers, and setting aside enough for your tax and super obligations. On narrow margins, a build-up of unpaid invoices at 30 June can create cash flow pressure in July despite a profitable financial year.
Prepare an aged receivables report and work through the overdue amounts, giving priority to customers sitting at 60 or 90 days. While you are there, address any genuinely bad debts, since a bad debt deduction can only be claimed if the debt is written off in your accounts before 30 June.
Super deserves close attention this year because Payday Super begins on 1 July 2026. From that date, you will pay super within seven business days of each payday rather than accumulating it for a quarterly run. The ATO’s guidance on paying super sets out the detail, and it is worth modelling the change now.
4. Complete Inventory Stocktakes and Supplier Reconciliation
A stocktake counts and values all the trading stock you hold at 30 June, which the ATO uses to help determine your taxable income. The closing stock figure directly affects your taxable income, so an overstated figure means paying tax on stock you do not actually hold.
As you count, set aside anything expired, short-dated, or obsolete. You may generally value trading stock at the lowest of its cost, market selling value, or replacement value, item by item. A pallet of short-dated product, for instance, can be valued at what it is realistically worth today, which lowers both your closing stock and your tax.
The inventory stocktake at EOFY is also the moment to reconcile supplier statements against what you actually received and were charged. A distributor carrying 300 lines might write down two expiring pallets and, in the same review, identify a delivery billed twice along with a quiet price increase. Counting hundreds of SKUs manually is time-consuming and prone to error. So inventory software that tracks stock in real time can reduce the stocktake to a straightforward verification
Frequently Asked Questions
How should food businesses prepare for EOFY?
Prepare by working through five steps before 30 June: reconcile your financial records, claim all eligible deductions, follow up overdue invoices, complete a stocktake, and reconcile your supplier accounts. Accurate records come first, as your food business tax deductions and your tax return depend on them.
Why is EOFY important for food and beverage businesses?
EOFY determines your taxable income, your tax liability, and your compliance position for the year, and it prompts a proper review of perishable stock and cash flow. On narrow margins, small errors such as overstated stock or missed deductions can carry a real cost.
What expenses can food businesses claim at EOFY?
Everyday deductions include ingredients and stock, wages and super, rent, utilities, cleaning, repairs, marketing, software, and delivery costs. In addition, eligible small businesses with turnover under $10 million can use the $20,000 instant asset write-off to deduct equipment such as fridges, ovens, or coffee machines immediately, provided each item costs under $20,000 and is installed ready for use by 30 June.
Why is inventory stocktake important before EOFY?
Your closing stock value directly affects your taxable income, so an inaccurate count means you either overpay tax or leave yourself exposed. A stocktake also identifies expired or slow-moving stock that you can value down to reduce taxable income, and it provides the opportunity to catch supplier overcharges and short deliveries.
How can businesses improve cash flow before EOFY?
Follow up overdue invoices, write off any genuinely bad debts before 30 June to claim the deduction, and set aside funds for tax and super in a separate account. With Payday Super commencing on 1 July 2026, super moves to every payday, so building that faster cycle into your planning now will help you avoid a shortfall later.