By Hamish Williams

It’s that time of the year again where we all dive frantically through our receipts and try to reconcile our expenditure as the June 30 deadline barrels towards us like a freight train of worried accountants.

The entire process becomes a reactive one where we tread the fine line between desperately trying to claim what we’re eligible for while not sending our finance team into a panic.

With a little bit of knowhow however, the end of financial year doesn’t need to be seen as your annual battle with your accountant and the harrowed finance department as there are actually plenty of smart and legal ways to ensure you get the most from the process.

With a small tweak in your outlook and attitude, the process can also be seen as an ideal time to cement some of your people and personal development strategies for the year ahead.

Whether you’re developing a team or simply developing your own skill set as an individual, it’s worth discussing with your financial advisor what kind of expenditure on training courses and qualifications could be tax deductible, as this is one of the most valuable investments you can make for improving business performance.

While performance management discussions tend to happen around the end of the calendar year, it’s always worthwhile having a midyear catchup with team members to see how they’re progressing against not only their KPIs but also their development opportunities.

These discussions could be the perfect opportunity to determine the knowledge gaps or development needs of your staff so you can make plans to equip them with the latest training and qualifications.

Having these discussions prior to the end of the financial year is an ideal time as you can potentially pre-purchase some eligible training and qualifications from education providers, even if the training isn’t taking place immediately.

Similarly, the end of the financial year is the ideal time to think about the knowledge and training that can get you ahead in your own career or business.

If financial constraints have been a hindrance on your decision to upskill yourself or finally embark on that long overdue graduate qualification, why not pay for it now and claim it on your end of financial year returns if the course is eligible.

The Australian Institute of Management understands that while the end of financial year is inherently a time of stress for many of us, AIM is taking the sting out of the process by making it easy for individuals, businesses and organisations to cover off some of their education and development budgets.

Our training advisors can advise on the best programs to suit your or your team’s development needs, we can assess your career experience and determine a qualification to push your career to the next level and our customised solutions team can assess the training needs of your organisation and tailor high quality training delivery that ensures organisational goals are guaranteed.