Three weeks out from 30 June and most property investors I talk to are doing the same thing: digging through email folders for agent statements, opening last year's spreadsheet to remember where they left off, and quietly hoping their accountant will catch what they've missed.
This checklist is what I wish someone had handed me when I started. Eight things to do before 30 June, in the order I'd do them. None of it is theoretical — I run the same process across our own portfolio every year, and PropAlly exists because I got tired of doing it manually.
If you're staring at three different agent portals and a stale spreadsheet right now, you're the reason I built this. Lifetime Pro is free for the first 20 founding members — apply here if it sounds useful. Otherwise, just use the checklist.
1. Reconcile every agent statement against your bank
Most investors think this is what they've done if they've added up rent received. It isn't. The thing to actually reconcile is:
- Rent ledger (what the agency says was paid)
- Bank deposits (what actually hit your account)
- Statement fees (commission, leasing, marketing, repairs withheld)
The variance — and there's always a variance — is your real cash position. PropAlly's AI does this from forwarded PDFs in seconds; if you're doing it manually, set aside two hours per property and a strong coffee.
2. Update your depreciation schedule before your accountant asks for it
If you bought, renovated, or scrapped anything in 2025–26, your depreciation schedule is now wrong. Specifically:
- Div 40 (plant & equipment) — anything you replaced (oven, dishwasher, blinds, carpet) needs scrapping out and the new item adding in
- Div 43 (capital works) — any structural reno over $300 needs adding at the 2.5% / 4% rate against build cost
Your QS (Duo Tax, BMT, MCG) updates this for ~$200–$400, and the deduction recovered usually pays for it three times over. Don't wait — by mid-June every QS in AU is at capacity.
3. Sort repairs from improvements (this is where most claims get rejected)
The ATO's rule, plain English:
- Repair = restoring something to its original condition → immediate deduction (e.g. replacing broken roof tiles with the same tiles)
- Improvement = making it better than original → capital, depreciated over years (e.g. replacing tile roof with Colorbond)
The 86% audit-error stat the ATO publishes is mostly this line being drawn in the wrong place. If you painted the whole house after a tenant left, that's a repair. If you painted because the colour was dated, that's an improvement. Same paintbrush, different deduction.
4. Prepay interest if your cash position allows
If you've had a good year and the marginal tax rate hurts, prepaying up to 12 months of loan interest before 30 June brings forward the deduction. Talk to your broker — most variable-rate loans don't support this; fixed loans usually do. Before you pull the trigger, run the numbers through a negative gearing calculator so you can see exactly what the brought-forward deduction is worth at your marginal rate.
Two things to check:
- Your accountant is OK with the brought-forward deduction (it can push you into a different bracket if not modelled)
- The loan product actually permits it (not all do)
5. Check your land tax thresholds state-by-state
This is the one nobody talks about and everyone gets bitten by. Land tax is state-based, not federal, and the thresholds reset on different dates:
- QLD — $600K threshold, taxable value as at 30 June each year
- NSW — $1,075,000 threshold for 2026 (premium threshold $6,571,000), assessed 31 December
- VIC — $50K threshold (yes, fifty), assessed 31 December
- WA — $300K threshold, assessed 30 June
- SA — $755K threshold, assessed midnight 30 June
If you own across two or more states and weren't tracking aggregations, the bills can stack faster than your rent does. Re-check your aggregated land value before 30 June so there are no surprises in the post-EOFY assessment notices.
6. Catch up on smoke-alarm and pool-safety compliance
Every state has different rules and different inspection cycles. The ATO doesn't care, but your insurer does — a failed compliance inspection after a tenant claim is the fastest way to void cover. EOFY is a good forcing function to confirm:
- Smoke alarm batteries replaced or interconnected upgrades done (QLD interconnect deadline already passed for new tenancies — check NSW/VIC/SA cycles)
- Pool certificates current (every state different)
- Gas/electrical safety certificates within validity
7. Reconcile your bond evidence before any current tenants move out
Not strictly EOFY but the same headspace. If you're self-managing and a tenant is in their last 3 months, this is the moment to compile move-in photos, condition reports, and any maintenance receipts. A QCAT/NCAT/VCAT bond hearing is won by the party with documentation; PDFs in a folder beat memory every time.
8. Hand your accountant one folder, not twelve emails
The single biggest thing you can do to keep your accountant's fee down is to arrive in July with one organised pack:
- All agent statements (annual + monthly)
- All expense receipts categorised
- Depreciation schedule (updated per #2 above)
- Bank interest statements
- Land tax assessments
- Council rates and water charges
If you've been using a portfolio app this is one button. If you haven't, expect 3–6 hours of spreadsheet work between you and that folder.
The honest reason this checklist exists
I built PropAlly because I do the eight things above every year across our portfolio and I got sick of doing them in Excel. The app does items 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8 automatically (item 3 is judgment; item 4 is your broker). If you want to test the app, the founding-member beta is open until we hit 20: lifetime Pro free in exchange for 30 days of real use and a 30-min feedback call. Apply here.
Otherwise, copy the checklist into your notes and reuse it every year — that's also a win in my book.
— PropAlly, Brisbane
