The first of July has clicked over, last year’s books are closing, and for Australian business owners that means a clean slate and a fresh set of numbers to work with. It’s the business version of New Year’s Day, minus the hangover.
Here’s the catch. Most of us are so flat out running the business that a new financial year arrives and we react to it rather than plan for it. That’s a missed opportunity, and a costly one. The owners who treat the early weeks of a new financial year as a genuine planning window tend to spend the next twelve months in front, not chasing their tail. So before the new financial year gets away from you, here are six smart finance moves to make right now, while it’s young.
Why the start of the year beats the end
Every June, accountants across the country watch business owners scramble to buy gear, chase invoices and make decisions in a panic before 30 June. It’s stressful, and rushed money decisions are rarely good ones.
Planning at the start of a new financial year flips that on its head. You get twelve months to act instead of twelve days, you can time big purchases around cash flow rather than a tax deadline, and you make calm decisions with the full year in view. It also helps that the borrowing climate is friendlier than it has been. According to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Financial Stability Review, financial conditions for businesses have eased over the past year, with stronger competition among banks and non-bank lenders. In plain English, there are more funding options on the table heading into a new financial year than there were a while ago. The trick is having a plan for how to use them.
1. Review last year and set this year’s budget
You can’t plan forward without looking back. Pull up last year’s numbers and be honest about them. Where did the money actually go? Which months were tight? What did you spend on finance, and was it working for you? A quiet week at the start of a new financial year is the perfect time to do the sums properly rather than guessing.
From there, build a simple budget for the new financial year. Map out your expected income, your fixed costs, and the big-ticket items you know are coming. The Australian Government’s business.gov.au finance section has free templates and planning guidance worth using. A budget is not about restricting the business. It’s about knowing your numbers well enough to make confident calls when an opportunity or a problem shows up.
2. Plan your big purchases for the new financial year
If you know you’ll need a new ute, a bigger trailer, a piece of machinery or a fit-out this year, plan it now rather than letting it ambush your cash flow in the middle of a busy month. Mapping out when you’ll buy, and how you’ll pay for it, is one of the most valuable things you can do at the start of a new financial year.
This is where asset finance earns its keep. Rather than draining your bank account, equipment finance lets you spread the cost of a purchase over its useful life, while a business car loan does the same for vehicles. You get the gear working and earning now, and the repayments line up with the income it helps generate. As an accredited finance broker, we compare options across our lender panel to find a structure that suits your cash flow, and we’re paid by the lender, so there’s no cost to you for the help.
3. Get the instant asset write-off right
Here is where a lot of business owners, and frankly a lot of websites, get it wrong at the start of a new financial year, so pay attention because the detail matters.
For the 2025-26 year just gone, the $20,000 instant asset write-off is settled law. Eligible small businesses with turnover under $10 million could immediately deduct eligible assets costing less than $20,000, provided each asset was first used or installed ready for use by 30 June 2026.
For the new financial year, 2026-27, it is not so simple. The Government announced in the May 2026 Federal Budget that it intends to make the $20,000 threshold permanent from 1 July 2026. That is genuinely good news if it passes. But as things stand, it is an announcement, not law. The ATO’s own guidance states plainly that the measure is not yet law. The relevant legislation, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 2) Bill 2026, has been introduced to Parliament but had not passed at the time of writing. Until it does, the legislated fallback threshold for 2026-27 is just $1,000.
So the honest position for the new financial year is this: the $20,000 write-off is very likely, but not yet certain, and the timing of your purchase matters. Do not bank on the deduction until the law is settled, check the current status on the ATO website, and talk to your accountant before you buy, not after. We arrange the finance for the asset. Your accountant handles the tax treatment, and this is one to get professional advice on.
4. Decide whether to finance or pay cash
When a purchase comes up, the instinct for a lot of careful owners is to pay cash and avoid debt. It feels responsible, and a new financial year is a good moment to rethink it. But it is not always the smartest use of your money, and here’s why.
Cash in your business is working capital, and working capital is oxygen. Sink your reserves into a single big purchase and you leave nothing spare for a slow month, a late-paying customer or an opportunity that lands out of the blue. Financing the asset instead keeps that cash where it can flex, spreads the cost over the years the asset earns for you, and often makes the interest a deductible business expense. Our guide comparing secured and unsecured business loans walks through how to think it through. The point is not that debt is always right. It’s that paying cash is not automatically the safe option it feels like.
5. Get your cash flow sorted for the year ahead
Profit is a scoreboard. Cash flow is the game. Plenty of profitable businesses come unstuck simply because the money going out and the money coming in do not line up, and the start of a new financial year is the time to fix that before it bites.
Look at your cash cycle for the year ahead. Where are the lumpy months? When do big bills, tax and staff costs land? If your customers are slow to pay, invoice finance can turn unpaid invoices into working capital rather than leaving you waiting sixty days to get paid for work you’ve already done. If your income is seasonal or unpredictable, a business line of credit gives you a facility to draw on when things get tight and repay when they ease. Our guide to cash flow finance for small business covers the options in more detail. Sorting this in July means you’re not scrambling for funds in a panic later.
6. Tackle any tax debt before it grows
If you rolled into the new financial year owing the ATO, deal with it now rather than hoping it goes away. It won’t, and ATO interest charges compound daily, so a tax debt left to sit quietly gets more expensive every day you ignore it.
The ATO offers payment plans, and it is far better to engage early than to wait until they come looking. In some cases, refinancing a tax debt into a structured business loan can work out cheaper and give you a clear repayment path, though whether it stacks up depends entirely on your situation, so run the numbers carefully. If a tax bill or any business debt has you feeling the pressure, please read our warning about borrowing before taking on more finance, and speak to your accountant about the best way through.
Your new financial year checklist
- Review last year’s numbers honestly and set a simple budget for the year ahead.
- Plan your big purchases now, and decide how you’ll fund each one.
- Get the instant asset write-off right: the $20,000 threshold for 2026-27 is announced but not yet law, so confirm the status with the ATO and your accountant.
- Weigh financing against paying cash, and protect your working capital.
- Map your cash flow for the year and line up a facility before you need it.
- Deal with any ATO debt early, before interest compounds.
What if your business is already behind?
Maybe the new financial year hasn’t started the way you’d hoped. Cash is tight, last year knocked you around, or the tax bill is bigger than you feared. First, you’re in good company, plenty of solid businesses have rough patches, and it does not mean the business is broken. Second, doing nothing is the only move that makes it worse.
Start with your numbers so you know exactly where you stand, talk to your accountant, and reach out to the ATO early if you owe them, because they have far more flexibility for businesses that engage before things escalate. If finance is part of the answer, an honest broker will tell you when it stacks up and, just as importantly, when it doesn’t. That’s what a Best Interest Duty means in practice.
Final Thoughts
A new financial year is a genuine reset, and the businesses that use the first few weeks of a new financial year to plan rather than react are the ones that spend the next twelve months in control. You don’t need to action all six moves this week. Pick the one that matters most for your business, start there, and build from it. Sort your numbers, plan your purchases, protect your cash flow, and get the right finance in place before you need it, not in a panic when you do. Handle the start of the year well, and the rest of it gets a whole lot easier.
When you’re ready to plan the finance side, that’s where we come in. We compare options across our lender panel to find what genuinely suits your business, and we’re paid by the lender, so our help costs you nothing.
Disclaimer
The information in this article is general in nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not personal advice, tax advice, legal advice or a recommendation to apply for any product. Tax laws and thresholds can change, and some measures referred to here were not yet law at the time of writing, so confirm the current position with the ATO and seek independent financial, legal and tax advice before acting.
Get A Loan Finance Pty Ltd is not a lender. We are an accredited finance broker and work with a panel of lenders and finance providers. Product features, eligibility criteria and availability can change without notice, and all finance is subject to lender approval.
