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Brokers are being urged to help clients take advantage of the instant asset write-off scheme as the end of the financial year approaches.
National Australia Bank (NAB) executives have urged brokers to speak to clients and help them save money by using the instant asset write-off scheme.
During NAB’s Regional and Agri Webinar on Wednesday (11 June), senior leaders discussed how brokers can help regional business customers manage challenges, including the impact of tariffs and equipment financing.
As the end of the 2025 financial year nears, John Shillington, NAB’s head of commercial broker equipment finance for Victoria and Tasmania, described it as a critical time for brokers to work with clients and their tax advisers.
“There are lots of opportunities here where we can be supporting our customers and making sure they’re getting great advice to turn what was a good year into a great year,” Shillington said.
“It’s a really important time because it is in the run up to the end of the financial year that customers start to think about their tax planning, there’s a lot of paperwork and record keeping.
“But getting that [credit] advice is really important upfront, which they should be getting from their brokers.”
Before the end of June, Shillington advised all brokers to sit down with their clients to discuss their ambitions for the next year and how they can be better supported going forward.
Commenting on the instant asset write-off (IAWO) scheme, Shillington said that brokers still had time to help clients navigate the scheme in the final few weeks of the tax year.
He described the IAWO as a “really simple and easy, tax-effective strategy, where you could be adding to existing assets that the business already has on its balance sheet, or acquiring new assets into the business that sets them up”.
Shillington also flagged the need for equipment finance brokers to discuss with customers the option of setting up master equipment finance limits to make it easier for them to finance new assets.
“You can put master equipment finance limits in place for your customers based on what you think their needs might be,” he said.
“What that means is that that money is then available for them. So as those opportunities come up where they want to pick up that forklift, they want to grab that car, they want to take advantage of the opportunity, I know the client has already approved and it’s ready to go with you, as the broker.”
Ongoing challenges for regional Australia
Discussing the key issues for agricultural and regional businesses in Australia, Khan Horne, NAB executive for business regional and agribusiness, noted several headwinds impacting small businesses, including staff shortages and natural disasters. He also said that tariffs and the knock-on effect on trade were a growing challenge for agricultural and regional businesses to overcome.
In response, Horne said brokerages could diversify the geographical markets they serve and the products they offer.
“You just can’t tie yourself up to one domestic market or one export market… I think the good piece with brokers is that we’ve got an array of products… base [facilities], infrastructure finance, trade finance, which all our customers could access through brokers,” Horne said.
You can find out more about how brokers can help small businesses access relevant commercial finance in the May edition of The Adviser magazine, here.
[Related: Brokers reveal the new standard in broker-lender partnerships]
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