End of financial year is one of the busiest times of the year for small business owners. Reconciliations, tax planning, conversations with your accountant — there’s a lot happening before 30 June.
But EOFY is also one of the best times of the year to sort out your IT. The deadline creates a natural moment to review, tidy up, and make decisions you’ve been putting off. Some of those decisions may even be tax-deductible if you act before 30 June — worth a conversation with your accountant.
Here are six practical IT tasks worth ticking off before the end of the financial year.
1. Review and Remove Old Staff Access
When someone leaves your business, their access to systems should be removed on their last day. In practice, it often isn’t — or it’s done partially, leaving behind active accounts in Microsoft 365, cloud software, or file storage.
EOFY is a good time to audit who actually has access to your systems. Go through your Microsoft 365 user list, your accounting software (Xero, MYOB), any project management or CRM tools, and shared inboxes. Remove anyone who no longer works with you — including contractors who’ve finished up.
This takes 30–60 minutes and eliminates one of the most common security gaps we find when reviewing new clients’ environments.
2. Audit Your Microsoft 365 Licences
Are you paying for Microsoft 365 licences for people who’ve left? It happens more often than you’d think — a staff member leaves, their account is disabled, but the licence keeps renewing.
Log into your Microsoft 365 admin centre and check the user list against your current headcount. Remove any unused licences. While you’re there, check whether your current plan is still the right fit — if your team has grown, or if you’ve taken on clients in a regulated industry, it may be time to review whether Business Premium makes sense (see our separate post on that).
3. Test Your Backup
Most small businesses have some form of backup in place. Far fewer have actually confirmed it works.
A backup you haven’t tested is not a backup — it’s a hope. Before 30 June, do a test restore: pick a file or folder, restore it from your backup, and confirm it comes back correctly. If you can’t easily do this, or if you’re not sure what your backup actually covers, that’s worth investigating before something goes wrong.
If you’re a Magtech IT managed services client, backup verification is part of your regular service. If you’re not, and you’d like us to check yours, get in touch.
4. Review Your Software Subscriptions
EOFY is a natural time to look at what you’re paying for and whether you’re actually using it. Common culprits:
- Software licences for staff who’ve left
- Trial subscriptions that converted to paid and were forgotten
- Duplicate tools doing the same job (two project management platforms, two file storage services)
- Legacy software you’ve migrated away from but are still paying for
Go through your business credit card or bank statements for the last three months and list every recurring software subscription. You may be surprised what you find.
5. Consider Upgrading to Microsoft 365 Business Premium
If your team is on Business Basic or Standard, EOFY is a good time to look at whether Business Premium is worth the upgrade. It adds device management (Intune), enterprise endpoint protection (Defender for Business), Conditional Access, and advanced email security — features that matter significantly if you’re handling client data or working in a regulated industry.
The price difference is approximately $10–$15 per user per month. Actioned before 30 June, the cost may be deductible in this financial year — again, check with your accountant. We’ve written a full post on whether Business Premium is right for your business if you want more detail.
6. Assess End-of-Life Hardware
Is anyone on your team running a laptop that’s slow, unreliable, or struggling with Windows 11? EOFY is a practical time to plan hardware replacements — the purchase may be tax-deductible before 30 June, and it avoids the disruption of dealing with failing equipment at a busy time of year.
As a guide: if a device is more than four to five years old, regularly causes problems, or can’t run current operating systems properly, it’s worth replacing. We can assess your current devices and give you a clear recommendation.
Want Help Working Through the List?
If any of the above has flagged something you’re not sure about — or if you’d like someone to run through this checklist with you properly — book a free EOFY IT Review with Leo at Magtech IT.
We work with small businesses across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, and the Hunter Region. We’ll look at your access controls, licences, backup, and hardware in one straightforward conversation — no jargon, no sales pitch, just a clear picture of where things stand and what’s worth doing before 30 June.
