Year-end close is the bookkeeper's annual checkpoint — every bank account reconciled, every transaction coded, the BAS data confirmed accurate, and the files ready for the tax agent. ReconLink is built around this workflow: the reconciliation engine, the coding interface, and the export tools are all designed to make the close process faster and more auditable than working through a general ledger manually. This guide walks through the complete year-end procedure.
Step 1 — Reconcile All Bank Accounts to 30 June
The first task is a complete bank reconciliation for every account: trading accounts, savings accounts, credit cards, loan accounts, and any lines of credit. ReconLink's reconciliation engine works from the transactions you've imported for each account — via CSV, Excel or PDF statement upload, or statements forwarded to the per-client email inbox.
For each account:
- Navigate to the client's account list and select the account
- Set the period end date to 30 June
- Confirm the closing balance per bank matches the statement balance — import the June bank statement if your latest upload has not captured the final day's transactions
- Check the unreconciled items list — any item showing as outstanding at 30 June requires resolution before the account is marked closed
Common year-end unreconciled items and how to handle them:
- Outstanding cheques: List by cheque number; confirm with the client whether the cheque has been presented. Cheques outstanding for more than 12 months should be reviewed for stale dating
- Deposits in transit: Confirm the bank received the deposit in early July; if not, investigate
- Bank errors: Raise with the bank immediately; document in the reconciliation notes
Once every item is accounted for, mark the reconciliation complete for the period. ReconLink timestamps the completion and locks the period from further coding changes.
Step 2 — Review Uncoded Transactions
A clean year-end requires zero uncoded transactions. ReconLink's transaction coding interface shows uncoded items in a dedicated queue. Work through these before considering the period closed.
Efficient workflow for the uncoded queue:
- Sort by amount descending — resolve large items first
- Use ReconLink's coding suggestion engine: for vendors the practice has coded before, the suggested code appears automatically
- For genuinely ambiguous transactions, flag and send to the client for clarification using the built-in comment thread
Bulk coding: Where the same vendor appears multiple times with the same uncoded status (e.g., a new supplier added mid-year), select all instances and apply the code once. ReconLink creates a coding rule for that vendor so future imports code automatically.
Do not leave any transaction coded to a suspense or holding account at year-end. If the purpose of a transaction is genuinely unresolvable, code it with a note and flag it explicitly for the tax agent.
Step 3 — Check BAS Data Accuracy
Before generating the final year-end BAS export, verify the underlying data:
GST review checklist:
- Confirm all imported bank statement transactions (from the per-client email inbox, or CSV/Excel/PDF statement upload) have been assigned a GST code
- Review the GST summary: total G1 (total sales), 1A (GST on sales), and 1B (GST credits) should be internally consistent
- Check for transactions coded with the wrong GST treatment — a common example is a bank fee coded as GST-inclusive rather than input-taxed
Payroll reconciliation (if payroll is processed outside ReconLink):
- Confirm the W1 (total wages) and W2 (amounts withheld) figures agree to the payroll system's year-end summary
- PAYG withholding remitted during the year should reconcile to the ATO's account for the entity
Capital vs. revenue coding: Confirm that capital expenditure items are not coded to expense accounts. Year-end is the time to review any large transactions coded to expenses — assets over the capitalisation threshold should be removed and added to the fixed asset register.
Step 4 — Generate the Year-End Reconciliation Report
Once all accounts are reconciled and all transactions are coded, generate the Reconciliation Summary Report from the Reports menu. This report shows:
- Each bank account and its reconciled balance at 30 June
- The number of transactions processed for the year
- Any items flagged for tax agent review
Export the report as a PDF and save it to the client's file. This document is the primary evidence of reconciliation completion.
The Transaction Detail Export (CSV format) provides the full transaction-level data with account codes and GST codes for each item. Tax agents working in tax return software can import this file directly.
Step 5 — Export the Final BAS Data
For the June quarter BAS (or the final monthly BAS of the financial year):
- Navigate to BAS Worksheets for the client
- Select the relevant period
- Review each field (G1 through G19, 1A, 1B, W1, W2) against the underlying transaction data
- Click Finalise Worksheet — this locks the BAS data for the period
- Export the BAS data as a CSV or PDF for lodgement or handover to the tax agent
Note: ReconLink does not lodge BAS directly with the ATO — that step is completed through the ATO's Business Portal, the tax agent's practice management software, or Standard Business Reporting (SBR)-enabled accounting software.
Step 6 — Archive the Year's Transaction Data
ReconLink retains transaction data per the practice's retention policy. For year-end, confirm the following are saved to the client's permanent file:
- Bank statements (PDF or CSV) for all 12 months
- Reconciliation reports for all periods
- Any imported statement files (CSV, Excel, or PDF bank statements received via the email inbox)
- The final BAS worksheet exports
- Any coding rule changes made during the year
Australian tax law requires records to be retained for 5 years from the date of lodgement of the relevant return (ITAA 1997 s 262A). For entities subject to the Corporations Act 2001, the retention period is 7 years from the end of the financial year to which the records relate.
Step 7 — Handover to the Tax Agent
A clean year-end handover package includes:
- Reconciliation Summary Report (PDF)
- Transaction Detail Export (CSV) — all accounts, full year
- BAS Worksheet exports — all periods
- Fixed asset register (external to ReconLink)
- Notes on judgement items, unusual transactions, or client-confirmed explanations
- List of any transactions still requiring tax agent input
With ReconLink, the reconciliation evidence is built into the platform and the export is a few clicks. Handing over a tidy, fully reconciled file is the marker of a professional bookkeeping practice — and it reduces tax agent preparation time, which clients notice.
Further Information
- ATO — Record Keeping for Business: ato.gov.au/record-keeping
- ITAA 1997 s 262A — retention of records
- Corporations Act 2001 s 286 — financial records retention
- ATO SBR — Standard Business Reporting for BAS lodgement
- ReconLink Help Centre: reconlink.com.au/help