Planning starts with the decisions still open: what the year is likely to look like, what is coming, and what can still change. Some decisions need to happen before 30 June; others can be addressed when we prepare the return. The useful part of planning is knowing which is which, and acting on the ones that cannot wait.
Real planning is done throughout the year. Distributions modelled before they are declared. Timing decisions on asset purchases, concessional caps, structure changes, all considered with enough runway to act on them.
We treat planning as a distinct piece of work from compliance. Same team, same tools, different purpose. Compliance reports what happened. Planning shapes what happens next.
What’s included
A year-round engagement, not a June conversation.
Decided before the year demands it.
Mid-year position review
A checkpoint in February or March to forecast the current-year position, flag surprises, and plan the run to 30 June.
Entity and distribution planning
For groups with companies, trusts and individuals, we model distribution and remuneration strategies across the whole structure before decisions are locked in.
Concessional and timing decisions
Super contributions, asset purchases, prepayments, deferrals. Each considered with cash flow, caps, and long-term intent in mind, rather than in isolation.
Capital gains and disposal strategy
Timing, structure and exemptions around sales of property, shares, or business interests. The planning around a disposal can matter as much as the transaction itself.
Year-end checklist and scenarios
Before 30 June, we run the numbers under two or three realistic scenarios and agree the actions, so nothing important is left to the last week.
Post year-end review
A final walk-through after 30 June to compare what actually happened against what was planned, and feed the lessons into the following year.
Who it’s for
Profitable businesses and growing individuals.
Tax planning matters most when your income is materially different from last year, when your structure is changing, or when a one-off event such as a sale, distribution, or super contribution is coming up. If the number on the return is a surprise every year, planning is the fix.
For most clients, planning sits alongside compliance as part of an annual engagement. It works best that way: same people, shared context, no handover between firms.
How we approach it
Baseline. Model. Decide.
- 01
Set the baseline
At engagement we take your latest Xero position, year-to-date, and run it against your last lodged return to establish where you actually are. Everything else builds from that baseline.
- 02
Model the year
We model the remaining months of the year under current trajectory, and layer in decisions you are considering: super, asset purchases, distributions, and timing. You see the tax outcome of each before committing.
- 03
Decide and execute
We agree the actions, write them up, and help you execute. Whether that means a super contribution, a trust distribution minute, a debit loan conversation, or a deferred disposal, the follow-through is part of the engagement.
From our work
Three options before 30 June
Based on real jobs and typical situations. Names, figures and details changed.
The situation
A couple, both earning wages, with a small family trust that had losses carried forward from earlier years and had just had a better year. They came to us before the end of the financial year wanting to know whether anything was worth doing before 30 June.
What we did
- Built their full-year position from payroll data, ATO records and the trust's year-to-date figures.
- Found unused concessional super contribution room from earlier years, the oldest of which would be lost on 30 June.
- Set out three contribution levels side by side. For each, we showed the cash it needed, the tax effect and the change to their expected refund, so they could choose what their cash flow allowed.
- Confirmed the trust's income for the year was absorbed by its own carried-forward losses, so nothing extra would land in their hands that year.
- Put the question of keeping or winding up the trust on the table, with the numbers behind each option, rather than leaving it for another year.
Why it mattered
At the highest contribution level the modelled refund was substantially larger than the starting estimate, and part of the difference came from contribution room that would otherwise have expired a few weeks later. Which level they chose was their call. The point was that they made it before 30 June, with the trade-offs in front of them, rather than finding out after the return was done.
Technical note
Unused concessional cap amounts can be carried forward for up to five years if the person's total super balance was under the carry-forward threshold at the previous 30 June. The oldest year's room expires first, so timing matters. A personal contribution claimed as a deduction also needs a valid notice of intent, acknowledged by the fund, before the return is lodged. Personal advice on super strategy beyond the tax effect is for a licensed financial adviser.
FAQ
Common questions.
If yours isn’t here, ask it on the first call. Thirty minutes, no fee.
When should we be doing tax planning?
As early as possible. Most opportunities require runway to act on: super contributions, structure changes, asset timing, and instalment variations. If you are thinking about it in June for a 30 June year-end, you have already lost most of the useful options.
What is the difference between tax planning and advice on a single transaction?
Tax planning is ongoing. It looks at your full year and multi-year position. Specific transaction advice is a point-in-time engagement for something like a business sale, a property disposal, or a restructure. Both sit within our advisory work, and often flow into each other.
Can I do tax planning without moving compliance across?
Yes. Most clients bundle them because the data is already prepared and the context is shared, but if you have your own compliance accountant and want planning only, we will scope it as a standalone engagement.
Will you recommend aggressive strategies?
No. We plan within the rules, using concessions and structures the law explicitly provides for. We will not suggest something that relies on an uncertain interpretation, an aggressive position, or a strategy designed to be hidden from the ATO. Good planning does not need it.
Do you handle planning for trusts and family groups?
Yes, including distribution strategy, streaming where it is available and appropriate, and coordination across the family group so the planning is consistent rather than piecemeal.
Related
Where this usually leads.
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