Eternity Group

Accounting · Tax planning

Tax planning for business owners

A pre-year-end review of profit, drawings, salary versus dividends, structure and the lending impact of how you take income — so decisions are made while you can still act on them, not reconstructed after 30 June. This is a strategy and review process, not a guaranteed reduction in tax.

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Eternity Group Accountants is a registered tax agent (TPB 25523469). Information on this page is general in nature and does not constitute personal tax advice. Before acting, consider whether the information is appropriate to your circumstances and seek advice from a qualified tax professional.

Who it’s for

A planning conversation before the year closes, not a post-mortem after it.

We work with directors and owners who want to understand their tax position early and make decisions with the full picture in view — including how those decisions read to a lender.

Owners with a profitable year

If trading is up, the decisions you make before 30 June can shape your position. We review the numbers while there is still time to act on the options available for your circumstances.

Directors taking money out

How you draw income — salary, dividends, trust distributions or a loan account — has tax and cash-flow consequences. We map the trade-offs rather than leaving them to be reconstructed at lodgement.

Business tax accountant

Owners planning to borrow

The way profit is taken affects what a lender sees. If a purchase or refinance is on the horizon, we factor lending into the planning conversation early so the two do not pull against each other.

Accounting & lending

Businesses outgrowing their structure

Growth can mean your current entity no longer fits. A planning review is the natural point to flag whether a structure question is worth proper, separate advice.

Business structure advice

What we review

The levers we look at in a planning review.

A review is a strategy and issue-spotting process, not a guaranteed reduction in tax. These are the decisions that genuinely matter for a business owner — covered while there is still time to act.

Profit & tax estimate

Year-to-date figures · projected position

We estimate your taxable position before year-end using year-to-date figures, so the conversation rests on real numbers rather than guesswork at lodgement — and you can see where the year is heading.

Salary vs dividends

Franking · company rate · marginal rates

For company owners we review the mix of salary, dividends and superannuation, weighing franking credits, the company tax rate and your personal marginal rates against your cash-flow needs.

Drawings & Division 7A

Loan accounts · complying agreements

We check how money has been taken out and whether loan accounts need a complying agreement or repayment, so a Division 7A deemed-dividend issue does not surprise you after the year has closed.

Cash flow & PAYG

Instalments · timing · set-asides

We look at PAYG instalments, the timing of expenses and what you will need to set aside, so a tax bill is planned for in advance rather than landing as a shock to cash flow.

Superannuation timing

Concessional caps · payment timing

We consider concessional contribution caps and the timing of payments, where contributing may suit your circumstances — always confirmed against the current caps for the relevant income year.

Structure & lending lens

Entity fit · borrowing impact

We flag whether your structure still fits and how the way you take income reads to a lender, so finance plans and tax plans are built with both in view. Deeper questions route to structure advice.

Accounting and lending under one roof

Why the way you take profit deserves a finance lens.

Most tax planning looks only at the tax line. For a business owner that is half the picture. The way you take profit out of your business — as salary, dividends, trust distributions or a loan account — does not just affect this year’s tax. It also shapes the income a lender will assess when you apply to borrow, because lenders generally count the income you actually draw and declare, not profit retained inside the company.

Because we provide both accounting and finance through accounting and lending under one roof, we can flag where a tax decision might quietly reduce your borrowing power, or where a borrowing plan might pull against your tax strategy. That does not mean either side dictates the other — it means you decide with both in view. Any loan still depends on the lender’s assessment, their lending criteria and your circumstances, so we plan around that reality rather than assume an outcome.

If your needs are broader than business-owner planning, our general tax planning service covers individuals and investors too, and a Virtual CFO engagement can keep this rhythm going across the year rather than once before 30 June.

What to watch

Common traps in business-owner tax planning.

A handful of avoidable mistakes account for most of the value a review adds. These are the ones we watch for so they are caught while there is still time to fix them.

Leaving it until after 30 June

Most planning levers only work before year-end. Once the year has closed, the options narrow to reporting what already happened rather than shaping it — which is reporting, not planning.

Stripping income to cut tax

Taking less salary or fewer dividends may lower this year’s tax, but it can also shrink the income a lender will assess. We weigh both sides, not just the tax line, before any decision.

Informal loan accounts

Money moving between you and the company without a complying agreement can trigger deemed dividends under Division 7A. We catch this while it can still be addressed, not at lodgement.

Chasing deductions for their own sake

Spending a dollar to save a portion of it in tax is rarely a win. We focus on decisions that make commercial sense first and are tax-aware second — never the other way around.

How it works

A clear, document-driven planning review.

The same sequence whatever your structure. You always know what we are reviewing, what it will cost, and which actions are yours before the year closes.

Get the numbers current

We make sure your bookkeeping is up to date and reconciled, across the relevant entities, so the planning review starts from figures you can rely on rather than a stale trial balance.

Estimate the position

We project your taxable income and tax for the year, entity by entity, so you can see where things are heading with time still left to act on what we find.

Review the options

We talk through remuneration, drawings, superannuation, timing and structure — explaining the trade-offs in plain English for your situation, including the lending implications of each.

Agree the actions

We document the steps that suit you, who does what, and the deadlines, so nothing slips before 30 June or lodgement. The review becomes a short, dated action list you can follow.

Frequently asked questions

Business-owner tax planning — common questions.

It is a structured review carried out before the end of the financial year, while there is still time to make decisions. We estimate your likely taxable income across the relevant entities, then look at the levers available — how you take income, the timing of expenses and contributions, and whether your structure still fits. It is a strategy and review process, not a guaranteed reduction in tax. The aim is to make informed, commercially sensible decisions for your circumstances rather than reconstructing the year after 30 June, by which point the practical options have largely closed.

Eternity Group Accountants is a registered tax agent (TPB 25523469); the principal is a Chartered Accountant (CA ANZ 266544). The information on this page is general in nature, does not constitute personal tax advice, and does not take into account your specific circumstances. Tax planning is a review and strategy process, not a guaranteed reduction in tax. Outcomes depend on the facts of your situation and the current law for the relevant income year. Where lending is mentioned, any loan depends on the lender’s assessment, lending criteria and your circumstances.

Related

Planning that connects tax, structure and lending

A business-owner review routes naturally into the engagements around it. Pick the piece you need — or start with a planning review and we will decide together.