Two year-ends, one owner: planning for 30 June and 31 March

Most business owners get one year-end to worry about. Trans-Tasman owners get two. Australia wraps up its income year on 30 June. New Zealand’s standard balance date is 31 March. If you run an entity in each country, that means two stocktakes, two sets of accounts, two rounds of tax returns and two fresh instalment cycles, a quarter of a year apart.

Mr thinks of it like hosting two birthday parties three months apart. Totally manageable, as long as you don’t plan the second one the night before.

Why the year-ends differ

The two countries simply chose different tax years. Australia’s income year runs from 1 July to 30 June, which is why Australians talk about “EOFY” in June. New Zealand’s standard tax year runs from 1 April to 31 March, which New Zealanders call the balance date. Some New Zealand businesses have a different balance date approved by Inland Revenue, but 31 March is the norm.

For a business in one country, that’s just background. For a group in both, it shapes the whole year.

What happens at each year-end?

Task	Australian entity (30 June)	New Zealand entity (31 March)
Stocktake	Late June	Late March
Write off bad debts and obsolete stock	Before 30 June	Before 31 March
Review asset purchases and depreciation	May and June	February and March
Final quarter’s GST	April–June BAS, due 28 July	February–March GST return, due 7 May
Income tax instalments restart	PAYG instalments with the quarterly BAS from October	Provisional tax (standard option) from 28 August
Annual accounts	Prepared after 30 June	Prepared after 31 March

The trans-Tasman owner’s calendar

Here’s how a year flows for an owner with one entity on each side, using standard settings:

• February to March: New Zealand year-end planning. Stocktake, review debtors, talk to your accountant about any last-minute decisions.
• 31 March: New Zealand balance date.
• April to May: New Zealand accounts begin. The March-period GST and third provisional tax instalment are due 7 May. The Australian January to March BAS is due 28 April.
• May to June: Australian year-end planning. Stocktake, asset purchases, debtor clean-up.
• 30 June: Australian year-end.
• July to August: Australian accounts begin. The April to June BAS is due 28 July. New Zealand’s first provisional tax instalment for the new year is due 28 August.
• September to October: both sets of accounts move toward completion; the July to September BAS is due 28 October.

For the full month-by-month view of every due date, see our tax due dates side by side guide.

Year-end bills and a slow quarter colliding? Mr’s people on each side look at tax-time and cash-flow funding case by case. Asking won’t touch your credit file. Choose your country and start a 60-second enquiry.

Five habits that make two year-ends easy

1. One combined calendar. Put both entities’ year-ends, GST dates, instalments and payroll deadlines in a single shared calendar, with reminders two weeks ahead.

2. A pre-year-end review for each entity. Six to eight weeks before each year-end, meet your accountant to go over expected profit, tax, stock and any big decisions. Doing this twice a year sounds like more work, but it spreads the thinking out.

3. A tax account per entity. Sweep GST, payroll money and a slice for income tax into a dedicated account for each entity, every time money comes in. Two year-ends are much calmer when each entity’s tax money is already set aside.

4. Clean inter-entity records. If your Australian and New Zealand entities trade with each other, keep proper invoices and agreements. Messy inter-company balances make year-end slower and can raise questions from tax offices and lenders alike.

5. A funding check-in before each busy window. Year-end is when accountants and lenders are busiest. If you’ll need funding for a seasonal peak, a tax bill or growth, start the conversation well before the rush.

The instalment overlap to watch

Both countries’ instalment systems generally work from your last result. After a good year, instalments rise. With two entities, that can create an overlap:

• In New Zealand, a strong year to 31 March can mean a terminal tax bill for that year and higher provisional tax for the next, starting 28 August.
• In Australia, a strong year to 30 June means a bigger tax return result and higher PAYG instalments from the next quarter.

If both entities had a strong year, the late-August to October window can get very busy. Our PAYG instalments vs provisional tax page explains the alternatives each country offers for matching instalments to actual income.

How lenders view a two-year-end group

Lenders like groups that are organised, and two year-ends are a great test of organisation. When you apply, they’ll usually want:

• the latest annual accounts for the borrowing entity;
• year-to-date management reports, especially if the year-end was months ago;
• a simple group diagram showing each entity and country;
• an explanation of any inter-entity loans or trading; and
• each entity’s tax position, ideally up to date in both countries.

Funding follows the borrowing entity and any property security. Unsecured and cash-flow facilities usually sit between $5,000 and $500,000, and property-secured ones between $20,000 and $5,000,000. Our where to apply page covers which side to start on.

Illustrative example

Illustrative only. A Darwin-based boat repairer has a New Zealand subsidiary in Whangārei. Each February the owner reviews the New Zealand company with his accountant; each May he reviews the Australian business. Both companies have separate tax accounts that receive a fixed percentage of every receipt. When a big refit contract lands in July, he already knows the New Zealand provisional tax due in August and the Australian BAS due in October, and he starts a funding conversation in June for materials, before the busy season starts.

What to discuss in each pre-year-end review

Six to eight weeks before each year-end, Mr suggests covering the same agenda for each entity, so nothing slips through:

• Expected profit for the year, and what it means for the final tax bill and next year’s instalments.
• Stock and work in progress: what’s slow-moving, what should be written down.
• Debtors: who’s overdue, what’s realistically collectable, what should be written off.
• Assets: purchases planned before or after year-end, and how they’ll be funded.
• Inter-entity balances between the Australian and New Zealand companies, and whether they’re properly documented.
• Tax position in each country, including any arrangement with the ATO or IRD.
• Funding needs for the next six months, especially around the busy windows.

Keep a one-page note of the decisions. Next time round, start the meeting by checking what happened.

A word on cash after each year-end

The months straight after each year-end are often the tightest. Accounting fees arrive, final GST periods fall due, and instalments reset to the new, higher level after a good year. Look at the quarter after each year-end in your forecast, not just the year-end itself, and keep a buffer for both.

Your two-year-end checklist

• Confirm each entity’s year-end and balance date.
• Build one shared calendar with both sets of dates.
• Book pre-year-end reviews eight weeks ahead of each.
• Set up a tax account per entity.
• Tidy inter-entity records quarterly.
• Start funding conversations before the busy windows.

Ready before the rush?

Two year-ends don’t have to mean double the stress. If you’d like funding sorted before the next busy window, start with a short enquiry: it carries no credit check, it isn’t scattered among lenders, and a human in the right country gives you a straight answer. Say clearly on the form which entity is borrowing, and you’ll be matched first time. Pick Australia or New Zealand and see if you qualify.