A first appointment with a new accountant usually runs for about an hour, sometimes a little longer. When someone arrives with a shopping bag of crumpled receipts and a vague memory of “some interest from the bank,” a good forty minutes of that hour disappears into hunting for paperwork. That leaves maybe twenty minutes for the part people are actually paying for, which is someone experienced looking at the whole picture and spotting what’s been missed.

Nobody gets excited about gathering documents. The folder still decides how useful that first conversation turns out to be. Whether you’re booking in with an accountant Blackburn families have used for years or a firm across the other side of the city, what you bring through the door shapes the advice you walk out with.

Last Year’s Return Tells Them More Than You’d Expect

Bring your latest notice of assessment and a copy of last year’s tax return. It’s the fastest way for a new accountant to get a feel for your situation, because they can see what you claimed and spot anything that’s changed a lot since the year before. The ATO looks at that too. So if a deduction has suddenly doubled or disappeared, you’ll want a reason for it.

Changing firms? Your previous accountant can usually pass the file across once you’ve signed an authority. Or download it from myGov yourself in about five minutes.

Income Records, Including the Small Amounts

Most wages now land in myGov as a “tax ready” income statement, so that piece largely sorts itself out. The gaps tend to sit elsewhere:

• Bank interest, even from a savings account you barely touch
• Dividend statements, plus details of any shares or crypto sold during the year
• The annual summary from your property manager if you own a rental
• Payouts from Uber, Airtasker, Airbnb or Marketplace selling (platforms report much of this to the ATO directly)
• Overseas income, whether that’s a foreign pension or rent from a property abroad

Small amounts get left out because people assume they don’t count. The ATO’s data-matching rarely agrees, and an amended assessment over $180 of forgotten interest is an irritating letter to open in March.

Deductions Only Hold Up With Records Behind Them

An accountant can’t claim what you can’t support, no matter how legitimate the expense was. Bring the evidence along, not just a rough tally from memory:

• Receipts or bank statements for work-related purchases
• A record of the actual hours you worked from home, which the ATO’s fixed-rate method requires (an estimate won’t do)
• Your vehicle logbook, covering a continuous 12-week period, if you’re claiming car expenses that way
• A tax depreciation schedule for any investment property
• Donation receipts and income protection premium statements

The depreciation schedule is the one most often missing. A quantity surveyor’s report costs a few hundred dollars, and on a newer property the deductions it uncovers can make that a very easy decision.

Business Owners Should Bring Access, Not Printouts

If you use Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks, just give your accountant login access. It’s way faster than printing out reports. They can see how everything’s been coded, and that’s how they spot any problems. You’ll also want your ABN and GST details and your last few BAS lodgements. If you’ve got any loan or lease agreements for cars or equipment, bring those too, plus your payroll and super records if you have staff.

Operating through a trust or company adds one more item. Bring the trust deed or company constitution. Without the deed, an accountant can’t confirm that the distributions you’re planning are actually allowed, and that’s not a detail anyone wants to discover after lodgement.

Read also: 10 Reasons Every Business Needs An Accountant

Write Down What Changed This Year

Your paperwork won’t tell your accountant everything, so jot down anything big that’s happened this year. People often forget how much these things matter. Maybe you had a baby or went through a separation. Maybe you moved house, sold the family home or started a side business. An inheritance or retiring counts too. Each one can shift offsets, thresholds or capital gains outcomes. The meeting where someone mentions “oh, and we sold Mum’s unit” in the final five minutes is always the one that runs over.

Timing helps too. If your 2025-26 return hasn’t gone in yet, being added to a registered tax agent’s client list before 31 October generally gives you access to their later lodgment program. So pull the folder together this week, make a quick list of what’s changed, and get that first meeting booked before the month runs out.

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