It happens every year. June 30 sneaks up on you, and suddenly you’re frantically digging through drawers, searching your inbox for receipts, and handing your accountant a plastic bag full of paper with an apologetic smile. Sound familiar? You’re not alone. Let this year be different!
With EOFY just around the corner, now is the perfect time to get your home office and paperwork in order, not just so tax time runs more smoothly, but so you set yourself up with a system that works all year round.
Why EOFY organisation matters more than you think
Most people think of tax time as a once-a-year headache to push through. But the stress of EOFY is rarely about the tax itself, it’s about not being able to find what you need, when you need it.
Disorganised paperwork costs you time, money, and stress. You may miss deductions simply because you can’t locate the receipts. You spend hours reconstructing records that should have been filed months ago. And you pay your accountant (or yourself) for time that could have been avoided entirely, with a simple system in place. Getting organised before June 30 means a faster, cheaper, and far less stressful end of financial year for this time and every time after.
Start here: the EOFY paper audit
Before you can organise anything, you need to know what you’re working with. Set aside an hour, to gather every piece of paper in your home office from your desk, your drawers, your filing cabinet, that pile on the kitchen bench, and bring it all into one place.
Then sort it into three piles:
●EOFY relevant: Anything related to income, expenses, deductions, investments, or work-related purchases from this financial year
●Keep but file later: Documents you need to hold onto, but aren’t relevant to tax time (insurance policies, warranties, personal records)
●Shred or recycle: Anything outdated, duplicated, or no longer needed
This single step will immediately make the task feel more manageable – and may surprise you with how much you can let go of.
What to gather for your accountant
Whether you’re an employee, sole trader, or small business owner, having the right documents ready makes a world of difference. Here’s a general checklist to work from:
Income & employment
●Payment summaries or income statements from employers
●Any additional income like freelance work, rental income, dividends, interest
Deductions & expenses
●Receipts for work-related expenses (equipment, software, subscriptions, uniforms)
●Home office expenses, think internet, phone, electricity (if working from home)
●Vehicle logbook and fuel receipts, if you use your car for work
●Professional development, courses, or memberships related to your work
Investments & assets
●Bank statements and interest summaries
●Records of any shares bought or sold
●Records of any shares bought or sold
Private health & medicare
●Private health & medicare
●Any Medicare levy exemption details
Don’t worry if you’re missing some of this, your accountant can guide you on what’s most relevant to your situation. The goal is to gather what you have, so nothing gets left behind.
Setting up a simple paperwork system
Once you’ve sorted through your current pile, it’s the perfect time to set up a system that prevents the same chaos from happening next year. It doesn’t need to be complicated, in fact, the simpler it is, the more likely you are to stick with it.
The three-folder method is a great starting point:
- Action: things that need your attention right now (bills to pay, forms to complete)
- Reference: things you may need to look at again (insurance docs, warranties, lease agreements)
- Archive: things you must keep, but rarely access (previous tax returns, contracts, financial records)
Label these clearly and keep them somewhere visible and accessible. The key is processing paper regularly, even just five minutes at the end of each week, so it never builds into an overwhelming mountain again.
For tax-related documents specifically, create a dedicated folder (physical or digital) for the current financial year and make it a habit to drop receipts and records in throughout the year. By the time next June rolls around, everything is already in one place.
Don’t forget your digital paperwork
A huge amount of our financial life now lives online and digital clutter can be just as chaotic as paper clutter. Before EOFY, take some time to:
● Check your email for digital receipts and invoices and move them into a dedicated folder
● Download bank and credit card statements for the full financial year
● Organise your downloads folder: receipts and invoices often end up here and get buried
● Back everything up to a cloud service or external hard drive so nothing is lost
If you use accounting software like Xero, MYOB, or even a simple spreadsheet, make sure all your records are up to date before you hand anything over.
The home office refresh
While you’re at it, EOFY is a brilliant trigger for a broader home office reset. The same energy that drives you to sort your paperwork can carry you through tidying the whole space.
Clear your desk surface, purge any stationery you no longer use, sort through your bookshelves, and reassess your filing system. Starting the new financial year in a clean, organised office does wonders for your mindset and motivation, it feels like a genuine fresh start.
The end of the financial year is one of those deadlines that always arrives faster than expected. But a little bit of effort now sorting, filing, and setting up simple systems pays off far beyond June 30. Your future self will thank you.