Kitting Out a New Workshop Before 30 June: The Timing Call
Workshop Fit-Out Before 30 June (2026) | Switchboard Finance
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Workshop Fit-Out · EOFY Timing · Instant Asset Write-Off
Kitting Out a New Workshop Before 30 June: The Timing Call
The deadline is not only about spending before the end of the financial year. It is about which assets are installed and ready for use in time, and how you fund the fit-out so cash flow holds. Here is how the timing actually works for a first workshop.
Quick Answer
If you are fitting out a new workshop before the end of the financial year, timing each purchase matters as much as the amount you spend. The instant asset write-off rewards assets installed in time, so the smart move is sequencing buys against your fit-out funding.
What do you fit out before 30 June, and what can wait?
The split is simple to state and easy to get wrong: bring forward the assets that are genuinely ready to install before 30 June, and let the rest wait. The end of the financial year rewards what is in use, not what is on order, so a bench you can bolt down this month is treated very differently from a machine that lands in July.
Moving from a van or a leased corner into a first workshop usually means a long shopping list, and not all of it deserves the same urgency. The honest question is which items earn their place in this year's claim and which are better timed for next. From the funding side, what lenders actually look at first is whether that spend is planned and supported, or whether it is about to be pulled out of working cash in a single month.
The post beside this one, on the lender read of a first workshop loan, covers the purchase itself. Here the focus is narrower: the timing of the fit-out around the deadline.
Why the install date is the real deadline
The date that matters is the install date, not the order date or the invoice date. An asset has to be first used or installed ready for use by 30 June to count in this year's claim. That use-or-install test, not the date on the invoice, is why a late delivery can quietly push a deduction into the next financial year.
The current rule is settled. The $20,000 instant asset write-off is law for the 2025-26 income year, it applies on a per asset basis for small businesses with turnover under $10 million, and assets at or above that limit are pooled and depreciated instead, indicatively at 15 percent in the first year then 30 percent after that.
$20,000 is the instant asset write-off limit for the 2025-26 income year, for eligible assets first used or installed ready for use by 30 June 2026, for small businesses with aggregated turnover under $10 million, on a per asset basis.Australian Taxation Office, as at June 2026
Looking further out, the government has announced that a $20,000 instant asset write-off will become permanent from 1 July 2026 for businesses under the same turnover threshold. That is an announcement, not yet law, so the safe planning line is to treat the current-year claim as the certain one and read the ATO guidance as it stands when you buy.
Your run-up to 30 June, step by step
The cleanest run-ups follow a sequence rather than a scramble. Map the fit-out backwards from 30 June, get the long-lead items moving first, and line up funding before the buying starts so a cash-flow gap never dictates the timing for you. The plan below is the shape it usually takes, and it is the same logic mapped out in the tradie loan pack.
Your 30 June fit-out plan
How lenders read your fit-out funding
What lenders actually look at first is whether the fit-out is funded in a way that matches the asset, not just whether the money is there. A broad fit-out of benches, racking and trade-specific gear usually sits best under a business loan that funds the whole project, while a single identifiable machine or vehicle is often cleaner under a chattel mortgage. Splitting the spend across the right structures keeps each depreciating asset sensibly funded and your cash flow intact.
None of this needs to be worked out alone. A broker can structure the mix so the fit-out lands before the deadline and the repayments suit the season you are moving in.
Fit-out funding rarely travels alone, either. It usually sits alongside the working capital that carries the rest of a premises move, the deposit, the overlap rent and the first slow weeks, which we size in working capital for the move into a first workshop. Where the whole staged path from a van-based operation to an owned, fitted-out workshop fits together is laid out in our van-to-workshop finance guide.
A workshop fit-out before the end of the financial year is a timing exercise as much as a spending one. The write-off rewards assets that are installed and ready for use in time, the announced permanent version is not yet law, and the cleanest run-ups are the ones where funding is approved before the buying starts. Sequence the purchases, match them to the right loan structure, and the deadline works for you rather than against you.
Key takeaway: install before 30 June, fund before you spend, and confirm the tax timing with your accountant.Frequently Asked Questions
Before 30 June 2026, a small business can claim the instant asset write-off on eligible depreciating assets that are first used or installed ready for use by that date, with aggregated turnover under $10 million and the limit applied on a per asset basis. The figure is currently $20,000 for the 2025-26 income year, and assets at or above that limit are pooled and depreciated instead, indicatively at 15 percent then 30 percent. Your accountant confirms what qualifies for your situation, as this is general information from the ATO rather than tax advice.
A workshop fit-out can qualify for the instant asset write-off where the items are eligible depreciating assets, such as benches, racking and plant, that are first used or installed ready for use in time. Fixed building works and structural improvements are treated differently and usually fall outside the write-off. From the funding side, the fit-out spend is best matched to a sensible business loan structure rather than drawn from working cash.
The $20,000 instant asset write-off is not yet permanent. The government has announced a permanent $20,000 write-off from 1 July 2026 for businesses with turnover under $10 million, but that measure is not yet law, so the current rules run to 30 June 2026 as legislated. For now the safe approach is to treat the current-year claim as the certain one and plan any later purchases against the write-off rules that actually apply when you buy.
Whether a business loan or a chattel mortgage suits a fit-out depends on what you are buying. A chattel mortgage is typically used for an identifiable asset like a single machine or vehicle, while a broader fit-out of benches, racking and trade-specific gear often sits better under a business loan that funds the whole project. A chattel mortgage guide walks through where each one fits, and a broker can structure the mix.
If your equipment is not installed ready for use by 30 June, it does not qualify for the current-year instant asset write-off, because the deduction follows the install date rather than the order or invoice date. The cost rolls into the new financial year, where the announced permanent write-off is expected to apply once it becomes law. This is exactly why sequencing the fit-out and having funding ready early matters more than a last-minute order.
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