Most tax is decided before 30 June and discovered in October. A planning meeting moves the discovery forward: we work out where the year is landing, show you the lawful options with their dollar effect, and leave you with a written plan and the dates each step must happen by. It takes about an hour. The fee is fixed, quoted first, and deductible.
Who it's for
- Sole traders and partnerships with a profitable year
- Companies deciding on wages, dividends, super and Division 7A
- Family trusts that must resolve distributions by 30 June
- Anyone planning to buy or sell a business or an asset
- Property investors facing the 1 July 2027 changes
- Employees with a large bonus, redundancy or capital gain this year
- Primary producers using averaging or farm management deposits
- Businesses with employees ahead of Payday Super and STP finalisation
What happens
- Before the meeting: you send the figures (or we pull them from your bookkeeping), your plans for the rest of the year, and your questions.
- Position and estimate: we project income and expenses to 30 June and estimate the tax — against instalments already paid, so you know whether there's a bill or a refund coming.
- The options: each lever that applies to you, with the dollar effect and the cash cost — super, timing, assets, prepayments, structure, distributions, loans — and the ones that don't apply, so you stop wondering.
- The decisions: you choose. Where an option needs licensed financial or credit advice, we say so.
- The written plan: actions, who does each, and the deadline — usually within two business days of the meeting.
- Follow-through: we diarise the deadlines and check in before 30 June on anything that has to clear a fund or be signed.
What you walk away with
A tax estimate
Projected taxable income and tax for the year, compared with instalments paid, for each entity.
The option sheet
Every lever that applies, with its saving and its cost, and the ones ruled out and why.
A dated action plan
What to do, by when, by whom — in writing, so nothing depends on memory in the last week of June.
A heads-up on next year
Instalments, the 1 July 2027 changes, structure questions to settle at 1 July rather than mid-year.
The levers we look at
Income and expense timing, the 12-month prepayment rule, the $20,000 instant asset write-off and the small business pool, bad debts and stock, employee and personal super within the $32,500 cap and carry-forward, trust distribution resolutions and section 100A, Division 7A loans and franking, FBT and vehicles, PAYG instalment variations, structure and the timing of any change, capital gains and losses and the 1 July 2027 split, and the records that substantiate each claim. The full list is on the EOFY tax planning checklist.
What it is not
It is not a scheme, and it is not financial advice. Everything on the option sheet is a lawful use of the rules with real commercial substance. We will not recommend spending money purely for a deduction, and we will not tell you which super fund or investment to choose — a licensed adviser does that, and we can introduce one. Our guide to who does what explains the boundary.
Fees
Fixed, quoted before we start and based on the number of entities and the complexity. The fee is deductible as a cost of managing your tax affairs. Clients on a monthly bookkeeping or compliance package often have the planning meeting included — ask. See how our fees work.
Frequently asked
When is the best time for the meeting?
April to early June. By then the year's shape is clear and there is still time to act — super has to reach the fund, assets have to be installed, resolutions have to be signed, all by 30 June. For FBT the equivalent window is February to March. We also run planning meetings at other times for one-off events: a business sale, a property sale, a change of structure.
What does it cost?
A fixed fee quoted before we start, based on the complexity: a sole trader with one business is at the lower end; a group with a company, a trust and investment property takes longer. The fee is tax deductible as a cost of managing your tax affairs. Existing clients on a monthly package often have it included — ask.
What do I need to bring?
Books up to date to the end of the latest month (if we do your bookkeeping, nothing), your expected income and major expenses to 30 June, any planned purchases or sales, your current super balance and contributions this year, and last year's return if we did not prepare it. A short checklist comes with the booking confirmation.
Is this financial advice?
No. We set out the tax consequences of each option in numbers. Whether to put money into super, buy an asset or take on debt is a financial decision; where it needs licensed financial product or credit advice we say so and can introduce an independent adviser. SMT Accounting does not hold an Australian financial services licence.
Can we do it by video?
Yes — most planning meetings are by Zoom or Teams with the screen shared. We send the written plan afterwards. In person at Shepparton North is available by appointment.
What if I just want the tax estimate?
That's the first part of the meeting, and for a simple position the calculators on this site will get you close for free. The value of the meeting is the second half: the options that apply to you, the ones that don't, and a plan with dates.
SMT Accounting Pty Ltd, registered tax agent 26266813. General information, not advice. We do not hold an Australian financial services licence or credit licence.