End of financial year in NZ: a 31 March checklist for bookkeepers

In New Zealand nearly everything ends on the same day. With 31 March as the standard balance date, a bookkeeper’s whole client list reaches year end together, and the GST return for the March period lands five weeks later for most of them. That concentration is the challenge: the work per client is ordinary, but all of it arrives at once. This checklist is built to spread it. Each ledger area gets a task for March, a task for the day, and a task for April, so that by the time the accountant asks for the file it is already closed. Dates are Inland Revenue’s, linked in the Sources section.

The dates around year end

The 7 May date is worth a second look. GST returns are normally due on the 28th of the month after the period ends; the March period is one of two exceptions and gets until 7 May ^[3] . It is extra time, not a reason to start late, because the March return is the one the accountant will reconcile the year against.

Clients of a tax agent can have later income tax dates, and provisional tax has its own instalments. Both are set out in NZ tax deadlines.

Not every client is on 31 March. A business can apply to change its balance date, and Inland Revenue recognises particular dates for certain industries ^[1] . Check each client’s balance date at onboarding and keep it on file.

Area by area

Bank, cards, and loans

• March: reconcile to the end of February and clear old unreconciled items.
• 31 March: save every balance as at the day.
• April: reconcile to 31 March statements. Split loan repayments between interest and principal for the year. Keep the statements.

Receivables

• March: send statements and chase. Give the client and the accountant a list of debts unlikely to be collected, with the history of each, before the balance date so they can decide what to do about them.
• 31 March: record the last invoice number of the year.
• April: agree the aged receivables listing to the control account.

Payables and expenses

• March: send the missing-documents list and set the cut-off. See how to stop chasing client receipts.
• 31 March: list goods and services received but not yet invoiced.
• April: enter March-dated bills that arrive late, agree aged payables to the control account, and schedule accruals and prepayments with the basis for each.

Stock

• March: plan the count: date, counters, sheets, and the valuation method used last year.
• 31 March: count, and keep the signed sheets.
• April: adjust the ledger to the valuation.

GST

• March: check that the returns filed during the year agree to the GST account, period by period. Find differences now.
• April: prepare the return for the period ending 31 March and file by 7 May ^[3] . The steps are in how to do a GST return in NZ.
• After filing: the GST account at 31 March should equal the amount payable or refundable on that return, plus anything unpaid from earlier periods.

Payroll

• March: confirm the dates of the final pay runs and review leave balances.
• April: agree wages in the ledger to payroll for the year, and the PAYE account to amounts filed and paid. Note holiday pay owing at 31 March for the accountant.

Fixed assets

• March: review the register against what the business still owns.
• April: list additions with invoices and disposals with proceeds. Depreciation and write-off choices are the accountant’s; the rules are covered in how to claim equipment in New Zealand.

Owners

• March: tell the accountant the current balance of shareholder or owner accounts.
• April: analyse drawings and funds introduced for the year, with every entry explained. For sole traders, gather the records for home office and vehicle claims; see home office and vehicle claims.

Review and lock

Before the file goes to the accountant, read it as they will.

• Profit and loss against last year, with a note on every line that moved sharply.
• Balance sheet: every account agrees to a statement, a listing, or a schedule.
• Suspense and clearing accounts at zero.
• Entertainment coded so the claimable and non-claimable portions are separate.

Then lock the year. In Xero, set a lock date under Accounting settings, Financial settings; after that, users cannot add or edit transactions dated on or before it ^[4] . Ask the accountant for their year-end journals and post them before the final lock, so that the ledger’s closing balances are the ones in the filed accounts.

The pack for the accountant

One pack, indexed, sent once:

• Trial balance at 31 March from the locked ledger.
• Bank, card, and loan statements at 31 March with reconciliations.
• Aged receivables and payables.
• Stock count sheets and valuation.
• GST returns for the year and the GST account reconciliation.
• Payroll summary for the year and the PAYE reconciliation.
• Fixed asset additions and disposals with invoices.
• Accruals and prepayments schedules.
• Owner account analysis.
• A note of one-off events: new borrowing, asset sales, disputes, a change in what the business does.

How to make each schedule stand up is in workpapers and audit trail. How long records must be kept is in NZ record-keeping requirements.

Spreading the load across a client base

Because most clients share the date, sequence them deliberately.

• Do the March tasks in February for the clients with the cleanest books. They take the least time and clear the list.
• Start April with clients who file GST monthly, since their March return is due at the same time as everyone else’s but their books are usually the most current.
• Leave known problem files for last only if their GST return can still make 7 May. If not, they go first.
• Use one checklist for everyone, with a copy per client. The sequence is the month-end close process with the year-end additions above.

Where ExpenseFlow fits

Year end is lighter when purchases have been complete and correctly coded since April. ExpenseFlow captures bills and receipts as they arise, by upload, a per-client email address, or Google Drive, reads each line, and assigns an account and GST treatment using a New Zealand rule set. Entertainment that is only 50% claimable is split automatically into a claimable and a non-claimable line, each with its own tax code and account, so it does not have to be found and adjusted in April. Items wait in a review queue until a person approves them, then sync to Xero or QuickBooks Online. In Xero the source document is attached to the transaction.

ExpenseFlow does not file GST or income tax returns, post year-end adjustments, or prepare financial statements.