What your EOFY statement doesn't tell you - but should
Your EOFY statement records the numbers, but it won't tell you whether your investment property is compliant, tax-efficient or performing as well as it could.
Your End of Financial Year (EOFY) statement has arrived. It’s tidy, it’s formatted, and it tells you exactly what came in and went out across the last 12 months. You forward it to your accountant, file it away, and consider the job done.
But your EOFY statement is a record of what happened. It has almost nothing to say about why it happened, whether it was good enough, or what’s quietly costing you money that doesn’t appear on the page anywhere.
Here are five things your EOFY statement doesn’t tell you but should.
1. The real cost of tenant turnover
If your property was re-let this year, your EOFY statement shows a letting fee. One line.
What it doesn’t capture is the full picture: advertising, make-good maintenance and cleaning between tenancies, downtime between leases, and the time invested in processing applications and onboarding a new tenant.
High turnover is often a signal worth investigating. Was the rent pitched too aggressively at renewal? Were maintenance requests slow?
The numbers don’t ask these questions. A good property manager should.
2. What your management fee is actually buying
Your management fee is a consistent deduction that’s easy to overlook. But your EOFY statement doesn’t tell you what it includes, and there’s enormous variation between property management agencies.
Some charge lower headline rates but add fees for inspections, lease renewals, maintenance coordination, or tribunal representation. Others charge a higher all-inclusive rate.
A good question to ask yourself is what am I getting for the fee that I’m paying?
Now is a good time to ask for a full breakdown of your management agreement and review any ad hoc fees charged during the year.
3. Whether your property is actually compliant right now
Your statement might show a smoke alarm compliance fee, but that doesn’t mean your property meets Queensland’s minimum housing standards, which fully rolled out to all existing tenancies in September 2024. These cover weatherproofing, functioning locks, adequate ventilation, and working fixtures throughout.
Non-compliance is a legal risk, not just a reputational one. Tenants can apply to QCAT for orders, request rent reductions, or terminate their lease. None of that shows up in your annual summary.
The right question to ask your property manager isn’t, “Were compliance costs paid?”, It’s, “Is my property compliant right now, and how do we know?”
4. Your depreciation position
Depreciation is one of the most valuable tax deductions available to property investors. Your property manager’s EOFY statement won’t touch it, because it falls outside their scope entirely.
If your property was built after 1985, you’re likely entitled to claim deductions for the building structure and plant and equipment (air conditioning units, carpet, hot water systems, and more).
A depreciation schedule typically costs $600–$900 and can generate thousands in deductions year after year.
If you don’t have one, or had renovation work done this year, talk to a quantity surveyor before your return is lodged.
5. What the market is doing right now
Your EOFY statement reflects last year’s rental income at last year’s rates. It says nothing about where the market sits today, whether your rent is competitive, or how your property is positioned heading into the new financial year.
South East Queensland has seen significant rental market movement in recent years. In some suburbs, rents that looked strong in 2025 are now at the lower end of the current range.
This is not because anything went wrong, but because the market shifted and rents weren’t adjusted in time.
If you haven’t had a formal rental appraisal in the last six months, now is the right time.
The statement is a starting point, not the whole story
Your EOFY statement is accurate as far as it goes. But as a tool for understanding the full health of your investment, it’s always going to be incomplete.
The best property managers don’t just generate the numbers; they help you understand what’s behind them.
