Before June 30th: Making Sure Everything Is Actually Organised

End of financial year is approaching, which means your accountant is about to come looking for your financial records. Before that happens, your business has some housekeeping to do - and I am not talking about vacuuming.

Getting your business house in order before EOFY is not about preparing tax documents. Your accountant handles that. It is about making sure everything your accountant needs is actually findable, that your documentation is coherent, and that the systems you have been running on all year actually make sense when someone else looks at them.

This is surprisingly hard. Most businesses run reasonably well on systems and knowledge that makes perfect sense to the people using them daily, but absolute chaos to anyone looking from the outside.

Where Is Everything Actually Stored?

This is the first question your accountant will ask, and the answer should not be "scattered across three different computers, two cloud services, and some papers in a drawer."

You need to know where your financial records actually live. Your invoices. Your receipts. Your bank statements. Your expense documentation. Your contracts. Your supplier agreements.

If this information is spread across multiple locations with no clear system, now is the time to consolidate it.

This does not need to be fancy. A single folder (digital or physical, preferably both) with logical subfolders is fine. The key is that everything is in one place and organised in a way that makes sense. Invoices in one folder. Receipts in another. Bank statements together. Contracts grouped logically.

Your accountant should be able to request "invoices from March" and you should be able to produce them within minutes, not hours of searching.

What Documentation Actually Exists?

You probably have some documentation. The question is whether you have all the documentation you actually need.

Do you have copies of every invoice you issued? If you have been accepting cash or card payments, are all those transactions documented? If you have made significant purchases or equipment investments, do you have receipts and proof of purchase?

More importantly - if someone other than you needed to understand a transaction, could they? Or would they need you to explain what something was for or why you spent money?

Your accountant will ask questions about transactions they do not understand. The fewer of these questions, the easier and faster your EOFY process will be. Better documentation now means fewer clarifications needed later.

Can Anyone Find What They Need?

Here is a practical test: if you were unavailable tomorrow and someone else needed to access your financial records, could they find them?

Not easily, or "probably" - actually find them. Could they access your cloud services? Do they know the passwords? Could they navigate your file system? Would they understand your naming conventions?

This is not just about EOFY preparation - it is about business sustainability. If critical information only lives in your head or is inaccessible to anyone else, your business becomes fragile.

Create simple documentation about where things are and how to access them. This might be as simple as a one-page document: "Financial records are stored in [location]. Bank statements are in [folder]. Invoices in [folder]." etc.

Passwords should be stored securely where someone you trust could access them if needed. Your accountant should be able to access everything they need without needing you to fetch files or explain your system.

Are Your Records Actually Current?

Throughout the year, you probably thought "I will update that later" or "I will log that transaction when I have time." Now is the time to actually do it.

Go through your records and make sure everything is up to date. If there are transactions you never logged or invoices you never filed properly, now is the time to get them in order.

Your accountant cannot work with incomplete or outdated records. The more complete and current your records are before they arrive, the smoother the process will be.

What About Your Banking?

Your bank records should match your internal records. If you have transactions in your bank account that you cannot account for, now is the time to investigate and document them.

Reconcile your accounts. Make sure your bank balance matches what your records say it should be. If there are discrepancies, figure out why and document the explanation.

This is tedious work, but it prevents major headaches when your accountant starts reviewing your finances.

Getting Your Business Systems Clear

If your accountant needs to understand how you run your business - what you charge customers, what your major expenses are, how you handle payments - that should be explainable clearly.

You do not need complex documentation. But you should be able to explain your business model in a way that makes sense. What do you provide? What are your main expenses? How do you get paid?

If your accountant asks questions about how your business operates and you have to spend time explaining it, you have not prepared properly. Clearer systems and documentation mean faster conversations and faster EOFY completion.

The Week Before

In the week before you hand everything to your accountant, do a final check:

• All documentation is organised and accessible

• Records are up to date

• You can explain any unusual or unclear transactions

• Passwords and access information is available

• Your accountant knows where to find everything

A little preparation now prevents chaos later. Your accountant will appreciate receiving organised, complete records. You will appreciate the faster turnaround and fewer follow-up questions.

EOFY does not have to be stressful. Getting your business house in order before your accountant arrives takes the stress out of the process and makes everyone's job easier.

Start today. Do not wait until the day before you meet with your accountant.