What to Do in the New Financial Year Australia: $1M+ Business Owners Guide (July–September 2026)
- Leonie Martin
- 41 minutes ago
- 6 min read
The new financial year in Australia is not just a compliance reset. For businesses past $1 million in revenue, the first quarter of FY2027 is the most important planning window of the year.
Decisions made between July and September: about structure, owner pay, superannuation, and tax position, have a 12-month tail. Get them right and the year runs with visibility and control. Leave them until later and you're managing consequences rather than outcomes.
Here's what matters this quarter.
What to Do in the New Financial Year Australia: Key Deadlines July–September 2026
These are the dates that require action for most $1M+ businesses this quarter.
25 August 2026 Q4 FY2026 BAS due (quarterly lodgers).
If you're on a payment plan or have outstanding lodgements from last financial year, this is the time to get current. ATO interest and penalties compound quickly on overdue accounts.
28 August 2026 Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR)
The 2026 TPAR is due for businesses in the building and construction, cleaning, courier, information technology, and security industries that pay contractors. If your business engages contractors and you haven't lodged your TPAR for FY2026, this is the deadline
28 September 2026 Q1 FY2027 PAYG instalments due for most businesses on the instalment system.
Check your instalment amount reflects your current income — if the business has changed significantly from last year, you may be able to vary the instalment to avoid overpaying.
Payday Super — ongoing from 1 July 2026
Super must now be received by your employees' fund within 7 business days of each payday, not quarterly. If your payroll hasn't been updated for this, it needs to be addressed now.
What to action proactively this quarter
Beyond the compliance calendar, July to September is the window for the strategic moves that shape the rest of the year.
1. Review your structure before anything else
The start of a new financial year is the right time to ask whether your current structure is still fit for purpose. The entity that made sense at $500,000 may not be optimal at $1M or $2M.
Questions worth asking now:
Has your business grown significantly in FY2026? If revenue or profit has jumped, your structure may not be keeping pace.
Are you operating as a sole trader or in a simple company with no trust above it? If so, income splitting and distribution flexibility are limited.
When was your trust deed last reviewed? A deed that hasn't been updated in three or more years may have gaps — in beneficiaries, in trustee provisions, or in compliance with current law.
Do you have a corporate trustee? Individual trustees create personal liability exposure that a corporate trustee structure avoids.
Structure reviews are significantly easier to action at the start of a financial year than mid-year. If a restructure is needed, starting now gives maximum time to implement before the decisions of the next 12 months are made in the wrong entity.
2. Set your tax position for the year — now
Most businesses don't think about their tax position until April or May. By then, the options for managing it are limited.
July is the right time to model the year ahead:
What is the expected profit for FY2027?
What is the likely tax liability based on current structure and distribution strategy?
Are there prepayment, superannuation, or investment strategies that should be considered now rather than at year end?
What is the PAYG instalment rate and does it reflect current trading conditions?
A forward tax model doesn't need to be precise: it needs to be directional. Knowing roughly what the tax liability looks like in July means you have 12 months to manage it rather than four weeks.
3. Sort out owner pay for the year
Owner pay is one of the most common sources of structural inefficiency in $1M+ businesses. Many business owners are still drawing money in a way that made sense when the business was smaller: irregular drawings, no documented salary, no clarity on the split between salary, trust distributions, and dividends.
At the start of a new financial year, set the owner pay strategy properly:
What is the optimal salary or director fee for FY2027, taking into account personal marginal rates and superannuation?
If operating through a trust, what is the planned distribution strategy and who are the likely beneficiaries?
Is superannuation being maximised? The concessional contributions cap for FY2027 is $32,500. If you have unused cap from prior years, catch-up contributions may be available.
Is there a Division 7A loan account that needs to be managed this year?
Getting owner pay right at the start of the year avoids the scramble at year end when the options are more limited and the tax cost is already locked in.
4. Check your Xero is set up for the year
A new financial year is the right time to make sure your accounting software is working properly, not just recording transactions, but giving you visibility over the business.
Key things to check:
Financial year settings updated in Xero
Payroll updated for Payday Super and any wage changes from 1 July
Chart of accounts reflects the current structure of the business
Management reporting is set up to show profit, cash flow, and tax position in a format that's actually useful
Bank feeds are connected and reconciled
If you're looking at Xero and seeing numbers but not insight, the setup needs attention.
5. Payday super — confirm your payroll is compliant
From 1 July 2026, superannuation must be paid on the same schedule as wages — not quarterly. This is a significant change for many businesses that have been paying super quarterly.
What to do this quarter:
Confirm your payroll software has been updated to calculate and pay super with each pay run
Check with your super fund or clearing house that the payment frequency has changed
Review your cash flow: paying super fortnightly or monthly rather than quarterly has a real cash impact that needs to be planned for
Confirm you are not at risk of a Superannuation Guarantee Charge for Q4 FY2026 — the final quarter under the old rules
The ATO has flagged payday super compliance as a priority area. Getting it right in July avoids penalties that can be significant.
6. Review your insurances and asset protection
The start of a financial year is the right time to make sure personal and business assets are protected appropriately. For $1M+ businesses this typically means:
Business insurance reviewed and updated for current revenue and asset values
Personal life and income protection insurance reviewed — particularly if drawings or salary structure has changed
Asset holding structure confirmed — are business assets sitting in the trading entity or held separately?
Estate planning documents reviewed if there have been changes in personal circumstances
Asset protection is not a set-and-forget exercise. As the business grows, the exposure grows — and the structure needs to keep up.
The question to ask yourself this quarter
Most business owners approaching July are focused on lodgements, BAS, and getting through the compliance calendar.
The more important question is whether the next 12 months are set up to run well — not just to comply.
If you don't have a clear picture of your tax position, your owner pay strategy, and whether your structure still fits, this quarter is the time to get that clarity. Leaving it until later doesn't make it easier — it just reduces your options.
The $1M Profit Tax Resetâ„¢
If this quarter has surfaced questions you don't have clear answers to, the $1M Profit Tax Reset is designed for exactly that situation.
It is a 90-day hands-on engagement across three stages — Expose Leaks, Reset Strategy, Lock in Profit — where HelloLedger works directly inside your business to implement the changes that need to be made.
By the end of 90 days you will know where profit is leaking, what your tax position looks like for the year, and what needs to change. Not a report. Actual implementation.
The $1M Profit Tax Resetâ„¢ is limited to 5 businesses per quarter.
If your business is past $1M and you're done guessing your tax position, this is where it changes. Book a 15-minute discovery call with Leonie to find out if you qualify.
This post is updated each quarter. Last updated: July 2026.
HelloLedger is an online Australian accounting firm specialising in proactive tax planning, advisory, and SMSF services for Australian businesses with $1M+ revenue.
Leonie Martin CPA | HelloLedger Pty Ltd is a registered tax agent.