As the financial year winds down, many business owners find themselves in familiar territory: busy, stretched, and focused on everything except tax planning. The assumption is that there will be time to sort it all out later—perhaps when the tax return is due. After all, isn’t that when tax decisions are made?
Unfortunately, that belief costs businesses more than they realise. By the time most owners sit down with their accountant to prepare their tax return, the planning window has long since closed. What could have been optimised, adjusted, or strategically structured before 30 June is now fixed in place. And the only thing left to do is calculate the outcome.
Inaction in the lead-up to EOFY is rarely intentional. It’s usually the result of being time-poor, reactive, or simply unclear about what planning could achieve. But even if the ATO hasn’t come calling yet, the financial cost of doing nothing quietly compounds in the background.
Why Inaction Is More Expensive Than It Looks
The absence of a decision is still a decision—it just comes without a strategy. Business owners who take a passive approach to year-end often miss opportunities not because they’re doing the wrong thing, but because they’re not doing anything at all.
Without a tax planning process in place, businesses can end up:
Paying more tax than necessary, simply due to poor timing or missed deductions
Making last-minute payments from cash reserves that were already under pressure
Failing to structure drawings, dividends, or profit allocations in the most tax-effective way
Delaying investment or growth decisions because the financial picture is unclear
These issues don’t always show up immediately. But over time, the cumulative effect of inaction can mean tens—or even hundreds—of thousands of dollars lost to tax, inefficiency, and missed momentum.
EOFY Is Not Just an Accounting Deadline
One of the most common misconceptions is that EOFY is simply a line in the sand for the accountant to sort out. But the real value of EOFY lies in what happens before it.
The months leading up to 30 June present a rare opportunity to step back and look at the full financial picture with a planning lens, not just a compliance one. This is the time to adjust, refine, and take control of outcomes while there’s still time to make meaningful decisions.
Tax planning isn’t about finding clever tricks or racing to bring forward expenses in the final week of June. It’s about understanding your financial position early enough to make deliberate choices—not reactive ones.
By the time most business owners sit down to prepare their tax return, the planning window has long since closed.
Planning Is About Clarity, Not Just Savings
Tax planning isn’t about reacting at the last minute—it’s about taking control early enough to make deliberate decisions.
Tax planning is often sold as a way to pay less tax—and yes, a well-thought-out strategy can certainly lead to savings. But its true value goes beyond that.
Good planning offers clarity. It removes guesswork. It gives business owners visibility and control over their financial outcomes, and ensures there are no surprises when the final figures come in. It’s about choosing how tax fits into your broader financial strategy, not just treating it as a necessary evil that arrives once a year.
Planning also helps business owners reclaim headspace. Instead of carrying the quiet stress of “I hope we’re okay,” they get to operate from a position of confidence, knowing that the key elements have already been handled with intention.
Final Thought
Tax planning is often invisible when it’s done well—which is perhaps why so many business owners overlook its importance. But what they don’t see is the cost of silence. The cost of assuming the tax return will be the moment everything can be fixed. The cost of doing nothing before 30 June and hoping it will all work itself out later.
As the end of the financial year approaches, business owners don’t need to work harder—they just need to act earlier. Because the most expensive advice you’ll never get isn’t bad advice.
It’s the advice you never asked for in time.