With the end of the financial year just weeks away, most business owners are heads-down managing day-to-day operations. But this is precisely the time to pause and take stock of how your business is actually performing — not just how it feels. A structured review of your key financial metrics now gives you the chance to fix problems, capture opportunities, and walk into the new financial year with a clear picture.

Gross profit margin

Start with your gross profit margin — the percentage of revenue left after you subtract the direct cost of delivering your product or service. If your margin is tracking below budget or below where it was at this point last year, something has changed. Either your prices haven’t kept up with rising input costs, your cost of goods has crept up without you noticing, or your sales mix has shifted toward lower-margin work. Any of these is worth investigating before they become a bigger problem in the new financial year.

Debtor days and cash flow

How long are your customers actually taking to pay you? Debtor days — the average number of days between issuing an invoice and receiving payment — is one of the clearest signals of cash flow health. If your debtor days have stretched out compared to the same period last year, you may have a growing pile of unpaid invoices quietly eroding your working capital. Now is a good time to identify your slow payers, review your payment terms, and consider whether your invoicing and follow-up process needs tightening. On the other side, check your creditor days too — are you paying your suppliers on time, or are there outstanding bills building up?

Revenue vs forecast and cash in the bank

Pull your year-to-date revenue and compare it directly against what you planned at the start of the year. If you’re tracking behind, ask why — is it a market issue, a pricing issue, or a specific client or product line underperforming? If you’re tracking ahead, consider whether your cost base has scaled appropriately, or whether there’s an opportunity to invest before 30 June. Then look at your bank balance right now compared to this time last year. Cash is the ultimate reality check — it doesn’t lie the way profit figures sometimes can.

End-of-year tax planning and write-offs

Before 30 June, this is also the window to consider whether there are any write-offs you should be taking — bad debts you’ve been holding onto, obsolete stock, or assets that are no longer in use. It’s also worth reviewing whether there are any asset purchases or prepayments that make sense to bring forward into this financial year. These decisions are worth running past your accountant rather than making on the fly — the tax implications vary depending on your business structure and current-year income.

The difference between planning and reacting

Businesses that review their numbers regularly — not just at tax time — consistently make better decisions. The metrics above aren’t just housekeeping; they’re the early warning system that tells you whether your business is on track or quietly drifting off course. Taking an hour now to work through these figures is one of the most valuable things you can do before the new financial year begins.

For years, the $20,000 instant asset write-off has been a lifeline for small businesses — letting you immediately deduct the full cost of eligible assets rather than writing them off gradually over multiple years. The only problem was the uncertainty. Each year, the question loomed: will it be extended again? That question has now been answered. The 2026 Federal Budget has made the $20,000 instant asset write-off permanent.

What this means for your business

From 1 July 2026, if your business has an annual turnover of less than $10 million, you can immediately deduct the full cost of any eligible business asset costing less than $20,000. This applies to assets purchased and first used (or installed ready for use) in your business before the end of the financial year.

Assets costing $20,000 or more can continue to be added to your small business simplified depreciation pool, where they are written off at 15% in the first year and 30% each year after that. The rules that previously prevented businesses from re-entering the simplified depreciation regime for five years after opting out will also continue to be suspended until 30 June 2027.

Why permanence matters

In past years, the write-off threshold changed multiple times and only ever existed as a temporary measure. This made planning difficult. Businesses were sometimes unsure whether to bring forward equipment purchases, or whether the write-off would still be in place when they finally committed. Making it permanent removes that uncertainty and lets you plan your capital expenditure with confidence.

If your business needs new equipment, tools, vehicles, technology, or other depreciating assets, you no longer need to time purchases around legislative renewal. You can buy what the business needs, when the business needs it — and claim the full deduction in the year of purchase.

Also from the Budget: monthly PAYG instalments

From 1 July 2027, small and medium businesses will be able to opt in to paying their PAYG income tax instalments on a monthly basis and to use ATO-approved calculations embedded directly in their accounting software to work out instalment amounts. This is designed to make tax payments better reflect real-time business activity, reducing the risk of large unexpected tax bills at lodgement time. This is an opt-in arrangement — you won’t be required to change unless you choose to.

The bottom line

The permanent instant asset write-off is one of the most practical budget measures in recent years for small business owners. If you have been holding off on equipment purchases while waiting for certainty, that certainty has now arrived.

Get in touch with us before 30 June to review your asset purchase plans and make the most of this permanent change.

Financial fraud perpetrated by abusive partners and family members has emerged as a deeply damaging form of economic abuse, particularly when victims are nominated as company directors without their knowledge or consent.

These fraudulent appointments can expose unsuspecting individuals to significant financial and legal liabilities  –  long after the abusive relationship has ended.

At its core, this type of fraud manipulates corporate and tax systems to weaponise company structures against victims. An abusive partner might register their victim as a director of a business under false pretences  –  using their personal details, forged signatures, or coercing them into signing paperwork without explanation. In some cases, the victim may genuinely be unaware that they have been listed as a director until they receive official notices about debts or penalties.

Once registered as a director, the victim becomes legally responsible for the company’s obligations, including tax liabilities, unpaid wages, employee superannuation, and other corporate debts. These responsibilities are not minor. They can include Director Penalty Notices, which make directors personally liable for unpaid company taxes such as GST and PAYG withholding. For an unsuspecting victim, receiving a demand to pay tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars for activities they never authorised or knew about can be devastating.

Consider a hypothetical scenario in which a woman is covertly appointed as a director by her partner. He controls all aspects of the business, makes financial decisions, and incurs debts, while she remains isolated from financial information. One day, she receives a notice from the tax office demanding payment for significant unpaid tax and associated penalties. She may not have signed any business documents that would clarify her involvement and had no access to the company’s bank accounts or records. She is left personally liable, scrambling to prove she neither managed nor benefited from the company.

The consequences of such fraud are far-reaching. Victims often face intense financial stress, litigation costs, damage to credit ratings, and in extreme cases, bankruptcy. These outcomes can persist for years  –  long after a relationship ends. The emotional toll is equally profound, as individuals confront not only legal battles but also the psychological burden of having their identity misused.

Beyond individual hardship, coerced directorship fraud undermines the integrity of corporate governance. Corporate and tax systems rely on accurate information about who manages and controls companies. When perpetrators exploit these systems, they erode trust and create loopholes that can be abused repeatedly.

Efforts to address this issue include policy proposals to strengthen consent requirements for director appointments, making it harder to register directors without clear, informed consent. Other suggested reforms focus on expanding legal defenses available to victims and extending timeframes to respond to enforcement actions like Director Penalty Notices. The goal is to ensure that individuals are not unfairly pursued for liabilities they did not incur.

For victims, early recognition and legal support are crucial. Professionals working with vulnerable individuals  –  including financial counsellors and legal advisers  –  increasingly recognise the signs of coerced directorships and other forms of economic abuse. As awareness grows, so does the call for stronger safeguards within corporate and tax frameworks to protect people from this hidden form of fraud.

When you’re running a business, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes in your financial reports that you may not think about day to day. 

One of the most important of these ideas is something called “going concern.” 

While it may sound technical, the concept is quite simple – and very relevant to your business.

Put plainly, a going concern means your business is expected to keep operating into the foreseeable future. It assumes you’ll continue trading as normal, paying your bills, meeting payroll, and growing your business, rather than needing to shut down or sell everything off in the near term. 

This assumption is a key foundation for how your financial statements are prepared and for how others assess your business’s health.

Why This Matters For Your Business

When your business is treated as a going concern, your financial reports are prepared with the expectation that you’ll continue operating. Assets like stock, equipment, or property are shown based on how they’re used in the business – not what they might be worth in a rushed sale. Likewise, liabilities are recorded with the understanding they’ll be paid over time from ongoing cash flow, not because the business is being wound up.

This approach gives a more accurate and practical picture of your business. It helps you, your bank, and any investors understand how the business is really performing and where it’s heading, rather than focusing on a worst-case scenario.

If a business is no longer considered a going concern, the story changes. Financial statements may need to reflect what would happen if the business had to close or restructure. Assets may be valued lower, and financial pressures become far more visible. This can affect lending arrangements, supplier relationships, and confidence in the business overall.

Signs Your Business May Be Under Pressure

There are certain warning signs that can put a business’s going-concern status at risk. These include ongoing losses that drain cash reserves, difficulty paying staff or suppliers on time, or trouble securing finance when it’s needed. Legal disputes, regulatory issues, or the loss of a key customer can also create uncertainty about the future.

As part of preparing your accounts, we’re required to consider whether any of these issues exist and could affect your ability to continue operating. If there are significant uncertainties, they must be clearly disclosed so everyone relying on your financials has a full picture.

How Does This Help You Make Better Decisions?

Understanding the going-concern concept isn’t about alarm bells – it’s about staying informed. Regularly reviewing cash flow, debt levels, and business risks helps identify issues early, when there’s still time to take action.

For lenders and investors, the going-concern assessment provides reassurance that your business is on a stable footing. As a business owner, you benefit from better planning, clearer conversations, and more confident decision-making.

Ultimately, going concern is about confidence in your business’s ability to keep moving forward – and making sure you have the right information to support that journey.

Ready to take control of your business’s financial health? Let’s review your accounts together and make sure your business is set up to keep moving forward with confidence. Contact us today to get started.