EOFY reconciliation guide: How to reconcile your accounts before 30 June

Published Monday 24 August 2026

Table of contents

• What is account reconciliation and why does it matter at EOFY?
• When to start your EOFY reconciliation
• How to reconcile your bank accounts
• How to reconcile your GST and BAS
• How to reconcile payroll and superannuation
• How to reconcile credit cards and loans
• How to reconcile accounts receivable and accounts payable
• Common reconciliation mistakes and how to fix them
• How accounting software simplifies EOFY reconciliation
• Get your books EOFY-ready with Xero
• FAQs on reconciling accounts before EOFY

Key takeaways

• Reconciling your accounts before 30 June ensures your records match your bank statements, tax reports, and supplier invoices so you can lodge accurate returns and avoid ATO penalties.
• Start your end of financial year (EOFY) reconciliation four to six weeks before 30 June to leave time for chasing missing invoices, correcting errors, and meeting key deadlines like Single Touch Payroll (STP) finalisation on 14 July.
• Bank accounts, GST, payroll, superannuation, credit cards, and accounts receivable and payable all need reconciling; tackling them in a logical order saves time and reduces mistakes.
• Using accounting software with automatic bank feeds and transaction matching turns a multi-day manual process into something you can manage in hours.

What is account reconciliation and why does it matter at EOFY?

Account reconciliation is the process of comparing your business's financial records against external documents, such as bank statements, supplier invoices, and tax reports, to make sure everything matches. If a transaction appears in your bank statement but not in your accounting records, or vice versa, reconciliation helps you find and fix the gap.

At EOFY, reconciliation matters more than usual. The numbers in your books form the basis of your tax return, your Business Activity Statement (BAS) lodgement, and any reports you share with your accountant. If those numbers are wrong, you could underpay or overpay tax, miss deductions, or trigger an Australian Taxation Office (ATO) review. Getting your reconciliation right before 30 June gives you confidence that your records are accurate and complete.

Reconciliation also gives you a clearer picture of your cash flow. When your records are up to date, you can see exactly what you're owed, what you owe, and where your money is going. That's valuable information at any time of year, but it's especially useful when you're making decisions about tax planning, budgeting for the year ahead, or preparing for a conversation with your accountant.

What accounts need to be reconciled?

Most small businesses need to reconcile the following accounts before EOFY:

• Bank accounts: your everyday business transaction accounts and savings accounts
• Credit cards and loans: business credit cards, lines of credit, and hire purchase agreements
• GST: the Goods and Services Tax you've collected and paid, reported through your BAS
• Payroll: wages, PAYG withholding, and leave balances
• Superannuation: employer super contributions for each employee
• Accounts receivable: money your customers owe you
• Accounts payable: money you owe your suppliers

If you reconcile each of these areas systematically, you'll have a complete and accurate set of books by 30 June.

When to start your EOFY reconciliation

The best time to start your EOFY reconciliation is four to six weeks before 30 June. That gives you enough time to track down missing receipts, chase outstanding invoices, correct any errors, and still meet your deadlines without a last-minute scramble.

Here are the key dates to keep in mind for the 2026-27 financial year:

• 30 June 2027: This is the end of the financial year. All transactions up to this date need to be recorded and reconciled.
• 14 July 2027: This is the deadline to finalise your STP data with the ATO. Doing this confirms your employees' income statements are accurate for the year.
• 28 July 2027: Q4 super guarantee contributions are due. Since 1 July 2026, Payday Super has been in effect, requiring you to pay super alongside wages rather than quarterly.
• 31 October 2027: This is the tax return deadline for self-lodgers. If you use a registered tax agent, you may have a later due date.

If you leave reconciliation until the last week of June, you're far more likely to miss errors or run out of time to resolve discrepancies. Starting early also means your accountant or bookkeeper can review your records with enough lead time to lodge everything on schedule.

How to reconcile your bank accounts

Bank reconciliation is the foundation of your EOFY process. It involves comparing every transaction in your accounting records against your bank statements to make sure they match.

Here's how to work through it:

1. Download or access your bank statements. Get statements for every business bank account covering the full financial year (1 July to 30 June the following year). Most banks let you download these as CSV or PDF files from your online banking portal.
2. Compare each transaction. Go through your bank statement line by line and match each transaction to a corresponding entry in your accounting records. Look for the same date, amount, and description.
3. Identify unmatched transactions. Flag any transactions that appear in your bank statement but not in your records, or that appear in your records but not in your bank statement. Common causes include bank fees you haven't recorded, direct debits you've forgotten about, or deposits that haven't cleared yet.
4. Investigate and resolve differences. For each unmatched transaction, work out what happened. Did you forget to record an expense? Was a payment recorded twice? Is there a timing difference because a cheque hasn't cleared yet?
5. Record adjustments. Once you've identified the cause of each discrepancy, make the necessary adjustments in your accounting records. This might mean adding a missing transaction, deleting a duplicate, or correcting an amount.
6. Confirm the closing balance. After all adjustments, your accounting records should show the same closing balance as your bank statement for 30 June. If they don't match, go back and check for any remaining differences.

Here's a quick example. Say your bank statement shows a closing balance of $15,420.50 on 30 June, but your accounting records show $15,320.50. The $100 difference could be a bank fee that was charged on 28 June but never recorded. Once you add that fee to your records, the balances match and your bank account is reconciled.

How to reconcile your GST and BAS

If your business is registered for GST, you need to make sure the GST you've reported on your BAS matches what's actually in your accounting records. Getting this wrong can lead to an incorrect BAS lodgement, which may result in penalties or an ATO audit.

Here's how to reconcile your GST:

1. Pull your GST report. Generate a GST summary or BAS report from your accounting software for the relevant period. This shows the total GST you've collected on sales and the total GST you've paid on purchases.
2. Check your GST codes. Review your transactions to make sure each one has the correct GST code applied. Common errors include coding a GST-free item as taxable, or forgetting to apply GST to a sale. The ATO provides a list of GST-free items and services to help you check.
3. Compare against your BAS. Match the totals on your GST report against the figures you've reported (or are about to report) on your BAS. If there's a difference, it usually means a transaction has been miscoded or missed.
4. Correct any errors. Adjust the GST codes on any miscoded transactions and re-run your GST report until the figures align with your BAS.
5. Review prior quarters. If you lodge BAS quarterly, check that your Q1, Q2, and Q3 lodgements were accurate. Any corrections for earlier quarters should be made before you lodge your Q4 BAS.

A common mistake is coding personal expenses as business expenses with GST credits. If you've accidentally claimed GST on a personal purchase, correct it now before lodging your final BAS for the year.

How to reconcile payroll and superannuation

Payroll reconciliation makes sure the wages you've paid match what's recorded in your payroll system, your accounting records, and your STP reports. With the STP finalisation deadline of 14 July 2027, getting this right is time-sensitive.

Follow these steps to reconcile your payroll:

1. Compare your payroll records to your bank statements. Check that every wage payment in your payroll system matches a corresponding bank transaction for the same amount and date.
2. Verify Pay As You Go (PAYG) withholding. Make sure the tax you've withheld from employees' wages matches what you've reported to the ATO through STP. Any discrepancies need to be corrected before you finalise your STP data on 14 July 2027.
3. Check leave balances. Review each employee's annual leave and personal leave balances to make sure they're accurate. Incorrect leave balances can create problems when employees take leave or when you process termination payments.
4. Reconcile superannuation. For the 2026-27 financial year, the super guarantee rate is 12% of each employee's ordinary time earnings. Check that you've calculated and paid the correct amount for every employee, every quarter. Your Q4 super payment is due by 28 July 2027.
5. Finalise STP. Once your payroll figures are reconciled, finalise your STP data through your payroll software. This generates the income statements your employees use to complete their own tax returns.

Keep in mind that Payday Super has been in effect since 1 July 2026, requiring you to pay super at the same time as wages rather than quarterly. Reconciling your payroll now is a good opportunity to confirm your processes are working correctly under the new rules.

How to reconcile credit cards and loans

Credit cards and loans are easy to overlook during EOFY reconciliation, but they're just as important as your bank accounts. Unreconciled credit card transactions can distort your expenses, and unreconciled loan balances can affect your financial position.

To reconcile your credit cards:

1. Download your credit card statements. Get statements for every business credit card for the full financial year.
2. Match each transaction. Compare each credit card transaction to your accounting records, just as you would with a bank statement. Look for purchases, refunds, interest charges, and fees.
3. Separate personal and business expenses. If you've used a business credit card for personal purchases (or vice versa), reclassify those transactions now. Personal expenses shouldn't appear as business deductions.
4. Confirm the closing balance. Your accounting records should show the same credit card balance as your statement on 30 June.

For loans, check that your accounting records reflect the correct outstanding balance as of 30 June. Make sure interest charges and repayments have been recorded accurately, and that the split between principal and interest is correct. Your lender's year-end statement is the best source for confirming these figures.

How to reconcile accounts receivable and accounts payable

Accounts receivable (money owed to you) and accounts payable (money you owe) are often where discrepancies hide. Reconciling these before EOFY ensures your profit and loss statement and balance sheet are accurate.

For accounts receivable:

1. Review your outstanding invoices. Run an aged receivables report and check every unpaid invoice. Is the customer still expected to pay? Has the payment already been received but not recorded?
2. Follow up on overdue invoices. Contact customers with overdue balances. The sooner you chase payment, the more likely you are to collect before 30 June.
3. Write off bad debts. If a customer is genuinely unable to pay and you've exhausted your collection efforts, you may need to write off the debt. This removes it from your receivables and records it as a bad debt expense. Consult your accountant to make sure you handle the GST and tax implications correctly.
4. Match payments to invoices. Make sure every payment you've received has been allocated to the correct invoice. Unallocated payments create confusion and make your receivables balance look higher than it actually is.

For accounts payable:

1. Review your unpaid bills. Run an aged payables report and check every outstanding bill. Have any bills been paid but not recorded?
2. Check for duplicate entries. It's common to accidentally enter the same supplier invoice twice, especially if you receive invoices by email and in the post.
3. Confirm supplier balances. If you're unsure about a balance, contact your supplier and ask for a statement of account to compare against your records.

Cleaning up your receivables and payables before EOFY means your profit figures, cash flow forecasts, and tax calculations are all based on accurate data.

Common reconciliation mistakes and how to fix them

Even experienced business owners make reconciliation errors. Here are the most common mistakes and how to deal with them:

• Duplicate transactions: The same transaction gets entered twice, usually because it was recorded manually and then also imported from a bank feed. Fix this by deleting the duplicate entry and checking your import settings to prevent it from happening again.
• Missing transactions: A payment or receipt doesn't appear in your records at all. This often happens with cash transactions, direct debits, or bank fees. Check your bank statements carefully and add any missing entries.
• Incorrect GST codes: A transaction is coded as GST-inclusive when it should be GST-free, or vice versa. Run a GST exception report to find transactions with unusual or missing codes and correct them.
• Wrong account codes: An expense is recorded in the wrong category. For example, office supplies coded as travel. This won't affect your bank balance, but it will distort your profit and loss report and could affect your tax return.
• Timing differences: A payment is made on 30 June but doesn't appear in your bank account until 1 July. Note these as reconciling items and make sure they're recorded in the correct financial year.
• Personal expenses in business accounts: If you've accidentally paid for personal items from a business account, reclassify those transactions so they're not claimed as business deductions.

If you're finding errors you can't explain, or your accounts still won't balance after multiple attempts, it's a good idea to ask your accountant or bookkeeper for help. A fresh pair of eyes can often spot the issue quickly.

How accounting software simplifies EOFY reconciliation

Modern cloud accounting software takes much of the manual work out of reconciliation. Instead of downloading bank statements and comparing them line by line in a spreadsheet, you can let the software do the heavy lifting.

Here's how it helps:

• Automatic bank feeds: Your bank transactions are imported directly into your accounting software every day, so you're always working with current data. There's no need to manually download or upload statements. Learn more about how bank reconciliation works.
• Transaction matching: The software suggests matches between your bank transactions and your recorded invoices, bills, and expenses. You review and confirm each match, which is significantly faster than manual comparison.
• GST tracking: Transactions are automatically coded with the correct GST treatment based on the rules you've set up. This reduces coding errors and makes BAS preparation much simpler.
• Real-time reconciliation: Instead of waiting until EOFY to reconcile, you can reconcile daily or weekly. By the time 30 June arrives, most of your work is already done.
• Error detection: Many platforms flag potential issues like duplicate transactions, unreconciled items, and unusual amounts, helping you catch mistakes before they become problems.
• Payroll integration: Payroll data flows directly into your accounts, so wages, PAYG withholding, super contributions, and leave balances are always in sync.

If you're still reconciling manually using spreadsheets, EOFY is a good time to consider switching to cloud accounting software that automates the process. The time you save on reconciliation alone can free up hours every week to focus on running your business.

Get your books EOFY-ready with Xero

Xero's cloud accounting platform is built to make EOFY reconciliation faster and less stressful. With automatic bank feeds, one-step bank reconciliation, and real-time GST tracking, you can stay on top of your books throughout the year, not just at tax time.

Xero connects directly to your bank, imports transactions daily, and suggests matches so you can reconcile in minutes rather than hours. Built-in payroll keeps your wages, super, and STP data in one place, ready for finalisation. And with secure cloud storage through Hubdoc, your receipts, bills, and invoices are organised and accessible whenever you need them.

Whether you're doing your own bookkeeping or working with an accountant, Xero gives you the tools to keep your finances accurate and up to date year-round.

Ready to simplify your EOFY reconciliation? Get one month free.

FAQs on reconciling accounts before EOFY

Here are answers to common questions about reconciling your accounts before 30 June.

How long does EOFY reconciliation typically take for a small business?

If you've been reconciling monthly throughout the year, your EOFY reconciliation could take just a few hours. If you're catching up on 12 months at once, set aside one to two full days depending on transaction volume.

What records should you keep after completing your EOFY reconciliation?

The ATO requires you to keep financial records for at least five years from the date you lodge your tax return. Store your bank statements, reconciliation reports, BAS lodgements, and payroll summaries securely.

What happens if you don't reconcile before 30 June?

You risk lodging an inaccurate tax return or BAS, which could lead to penalties, overpaying or underpaying tax, or an ATO review. Unreconciled accounts also make it harder for your accountant to prepare your financials efficiently.

Do you need to reconcile if you use a tax agent?

Yes. Even if a tax agent prepares and lodges your tax return, you're responsible for making sure your records are accurate and complete. Reconciling before you hand your books over saves your agent time and can reduce your accounting fees.