Most Melbourne business owners begin the new financial year the same way they ended the last one — busy, slightly behind, and intending to get on top of things soon.
The businesses that start FY26 on genuinely better ground do something different. They use the first week of July deliberately — to review what the year just finished taught them, to put the right structures and systems in place, and to make decisions before the momentum of the new year makes those decisions feel less urgent.
This is a practical guide to what that looks like — for sole traders, small businesses, and growing operations across Footscray, Melbourne, and Victoria.
Step 1: Update Your Cash Flow Forecast With FY25 Actuals
If you built a budget or forecast last year, 1 July is the moment to open it and update it with what actually happened. Where were the gaps? Where did revenue come in above or below expectation? Which costs ran over?
A FY26 forecast built on FY25 actuals is materially more useful than one built on optimistic assumptions. For Melbourne small businesses managing tight cash flow, the monthly view matters most — it shows you where cash will be under pressure before the pressure arrives, and gives you time to act.
A practical FY26 cash flow forecast should include:
- Projected monthly revenue by income stream
- Fixed costs — rent, payroll, insurance, subscriptions
- Variable costs — materials, contractor fees, commissions
- Tax obligations by quarter — BAS, PAYG instalments, super
- Planned capital expenditure or investment
If you have never built a forecast, the first week of July is the easiest starting point. The data from the year just finished gives you a realistic base. An accountant or business adviser can help you build a version that is genuinely useful, not just a spreadsheet exercise.
Step 2: Review Your Business Structure
Business structures are almost always set up once and revisited too rarely. A sole trader arrangement established at $100,000 in annual revenue may be entirely inappropriate — from a tax, liability, or asset protection perspective — at $400,000 or $600,000.
For Victorian business owners, the start of the financial year is the cleanest moment to make structural changes. Incorporating, restructuring, or setting up a trust mid-year creates accounting and tax complexity that is avoidable if the change is made at 1 July.
Signs that a structure review is overdue:
- Revenue or profitability has grown significantly since the structure was established
- You are holding significant assets — property, equipment, IP — in your own name
- You have a business partner but no formal structure governing the relationship
- Your tax outcomes have increased significantly and you have not reviewed whether they can be managed differently
- You are planning to bring on investors, employees, or expand into new markets
Step 3: Update Payroll for FY26 Changes
The super guarantee rate increases incrementally under Australian law, and new rates take effect from 1 July each year. Update your payroll system on day one of the new financial year — not in August when a compliance issue alerts you to the change.
Also confirm from 1 July: minimum wage changes, any relevant award rate adjustments, and whether any employee entitlement accruals reset or carry forward under your arrangements.
For Melbourne small businesses with employees in Footscray and Melbourne's west, payroll compliance is an area where errors compound quickly and cost more to fix than to prevent.
Step 4: Review Key Contracts and Agreements
The start of the financial year is a natural prompt to check what agreements are in place, which ones are coming up for renewal, and which ones no longer reflect how the business operates.
The most frequently overlooked areas for Melbourne small businesses:
- Client service agreements — do they reflect your current pricing, scope, and terms?
- Contractor arrangements — are any running informally without a written agreement?
- Supplier contracts — do any auto-renew within the next 90 days?
- Lease or premises agreements — are there rent reviews or option dates approaching?
Step 5: Put Proper Financial Oversight in Place
The businesses across Melbourne and Victoria that make the best decisions throughout the year — about hiring, pricing, investment, and growth — almost always have one thing others do not: someone watching the numbers regularly, with a forward view as well as a backward one.
If your current setup is bookkeeping-only with an annual accountant visit, consider whether adding a regular advisory conversation — quarterly is enough for most Melbourne small businesses — would give you the forward visibility to make better decisions throughout FY26.
The cost of one avoidable decision — a hire that was wrong, a pricing move that was not supported by the numbers, a cash flow problem that arrived as a surprise — almost always exceeds the cost of quarterly advisory input.
Step 6: Book Four Review Points for FY26
Before the first week of July ends, put four dates in the calendar — September, December, March, June. Each is a quarterly financial review: performance against forecast, key decisions for the next quarter, anything that needs attention before the next period closes.
The businesses in Melbourne's west that consistently perform well financially are not the ones with the most sophisticated systems. They are the ones that make time, regularly, to look at where they are and where they are heading.
How Phan Campbell & Associates Can Help
Our accounting and business advisory team at Phan Campbell & Associates in Footscray works with small and medium businesses across Melbourne and Victoria to start the financial year on better ground. Whether you need to review your structure, build a practical forecast, get bookkeeping in order, or simply have a clear conversation about what would actually make FY26 better than FY25 — we are available to help.
Contact us in July. The window to set the year up well is now.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What should Melbourne business owners do on 1 July?
Update cash flow forecasts with FY25 actuals, review business structure, check key contracts, confirm super guarantee rate changes, and book a mid-year check-in with your accountant or adviser.
2. Is the start of the financial year a good time to change business structure in Victoria?
Yes. Structural changes are cleanest at the start of the year. Changes made mid-year create accounting and tax complexity that is avoidable with better timing.
3. What is a good cash flow forecast for a small Melbourne business?
A practical forecast projects monthly revenue and expenses for 12 months, includes tax obligations by quarter, accounts for seasonal variations, and is reviewed and updated quarterly. It needs to be realistic and used — not elaborate.
4. How do I find a business adviser in Footscray or Melbourne's west?
Phan Campbell & Associates is based in Footscray and provides business advisory, accounting, and bookkeeping services to small and medium businesses across Melbourne and Victoria.
5. What are the super guarantee rate changes for FY26?
Confirm the current rate for FY26 with your accountant and update your payroll system at the start of July to ensure compliance from day one of the new financial year.