EOFY Conversations: Helping Your Clients Use the Instant Asset Write-Off

Your business clients are thinking about EOFY. Some of them are already asking about asset purchases. Others should be, but won't unless you bring it up first.

The $20,000 instant asset write-off is still in play for the 2025-26 financial year, but it expires on June 30. Unless the federal budget on May 12 extends or adjusts the threshold, it reverts to $1,000 on July 1. That makes the next eight weeks the window, and the conversation you have with clients now determines whether they take advantage of it or miss it entirely.

The write-off: what's actually on the table

The current threshold lets small businesses (aggregated turnover under $10 million) immediately deduct the full cost of any eligible asset under $20,000. It applies per asset, not in total, so a client buying three items at $18,000 each can write off all three in the same financial year.

For assets over $20,000, they still get tax benefits through the small business depreciation pool: 15% in the first year, 30% each year after that. It's not the same as an instant deduction, but it's still a meaningful reduction in taxable income, particularly for larger equipment, vehicles, and machinery financed over 3 to 5 years.

The key point for your clients: they don't need to pay cash to claim the write-off. Financed assets qualify. A client who finances a $19,500 piece of equipment today claims the full deduction this financial year while only having laid out the first month's repayment.

Why timing matters more than most accountants realise

Here's where most EOFY finance conversations go wrong: they happen too late.

The asset needs to be installed ready for use before June 30, not just ordered, not just approved. That means the finance needs to be arranged, settled, and the asset delivered and operational before the deadline.

Lead times blow out in the second half of June. Lender processing capacity tightens as EOFY applications pile up. Staff work longer hours and weekends to push deals through, but the volume is real. A deal that settles in 10 business days in April might take 15 to 20 in late June, if the lender can get to it at all.

The practical deadline for arranging finance isn't June 30. It's mid-May to early June for anything that needs to be delivered, installed, or registered before the cutoff.

If you're having EOFY conversations with clients in the last two weeks of June, you're already behind.

What this means for your practice

You already see the signals in your clients' financials. Maybe it's a tradie whose repair bills are climbing. A manufacturer whose machinery is depreciating past usefulness. A transport operator who needs to replace a truck before it becomes a liability.

These clients are going to spend the money eventually. The question is whether they spend it in a way that's tax-efficient, and whether you're the one who helps them see that.

The conversation framework

During BAS reviews or tax planning meetings (now through mid-May):

• "Are there any asset purchases you've been considering? The $20,000 instant write-off expires June 30. If you're going to buy, doing it before then makes a difference."
• "Your equipment maintenance costs have gone up. Have you looked at the numbers on replacing vs repairing?"
• "You mentioned wanting to upgrade your vehicle/machinery/tools. If we can get finance arranged in the next few weeks, you'll claim the full deduction in this financial year."

The key framing: you're not selling finance. You're identifying a tax outcome that's time-sensitive and helping the client act on it before the window closes.

What to tell clients about the process

1. Finance approval takes days, not weeks, for straightforward applications. But settlement, delivery, and installation add time.
2. They don't need to pay cash. Financed assets qualify for the write-off as long as the asset is installed ready for use by June 30.
3. The earlier they start, the more certainty they have. Late-June applications risk missing the deadline due to lender processing backlogs.
4. Multiple assets count. The $20,000 threshold is per asset. Three purchases at $18,000 each means $54,000 in immediate deductions.

The budget question

The federal budget lands on May 12. There's speculation the $20,000 threshold may be extended, increased, or restructured, but nothing is confirmed. The safe advice: plan as if June 30 is the deadline. If the budget extends it, your clients have more time. If it doesn't, they haven't missed the window.

What to do next

If you've got clients who could benefit from an asset purchase before EOFY, the time to have that conversation is now, not in June when everyone's scrambling.

Update, September 2026: the write-off did not expire. The 12 May 2026 Budget made the $20,000 instant asset write-off permanent from 1 July 2026 for small businesses with aggregated turnover under $10 million, and the ATO confirms the measure is now law (Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 2) Act 2026). The client conversations below still apply at every year end; the deadline framing no longer does.

For clients who need finance, Emu Money can turn around approvals quickly and has capacity across 50+ lenders. The earlier you refer, the more buffer your client has to get the asset delivered and installed before June 30.

Interested in setting up a referral pathway for your practice? Talk to Emu Money's partnerships team about how it works. It takes five minutes and there's no licence needed. Become a partner