Income and living expenses

Open Income in the sidebar and choose Add income. All income needs a legal owner, so add one first. Rent is not income here. It is recorded on its property.

1. Details. Received by is the legal owner who receives it. Name is what you call it. Category is Employment, Business, Investment, Government support or Other. Tax treatment is Taxable or Non-taxable Non-taxable Non-taxable income adds to cash received without counting toward income tax and HELP. .
2. Amount. Enter the amount of each payment and its Frequency: Weekly, Fortnightly, Monthly, Quarterly or Annual. For Employment, the field is Gross pay before tax.
3. When it applies. Starts is the first date the income applies. It opens on the date for new records, which is 1 July unless you change it on Setup.
4. Employer super, for Employment only. The next section explains it.

Add income saves it and returns to Income, or to Setup if you started there. The Mitchells, an example household we use to explain, record Emma's Share dividends as Investment, Taxable, $1,650 a quarter, from 1 July 2021.

Employment income asks for the Contribution method. Super guarantee minimum uses the rate set by law, which is 12% from 1 July 2025. A rate you record asks for the Employer rate in your employment arrangement. Not applicable means no employer super.

Employer-super eligible earnings Employer-super eligible earnings The part of each gross payment that earns employer super, usually pay for ordinary hours. Change it when only part does. starts as the whole gross pay. It is usually pay for ordinary hours. Lower it when only part of each payment earns super. It cannot be more than the gross pay.

Employer super is paid where the person's super contribution treatment sends it, so set that first. Until it is saved, the form says This recipient has no saved super contribution treatment, with Set super contribution treatment. That opens it and brings you back.

The income's page then shows Employer super: the Contribution rate, the Monthly and Annual amounts before contributions tax, and the account it is Paid into. Daniel's salary is $16,800 a month.

The working counts a full year of the amount recorded today, up to the super guarantee's yearly maximum on earnings. The money reaches his super account less 15% contributions tax.

Super stays there until a condition of release. The post what you can reach, and when explains when a retirement plan can draw on it.

Super contribution treatment, in the Income header, says where each person's contributions go. It lists people only, not companies, trusts or funds. Record the account first, as a super account under Other assets or a membership in the fund's SMSF records. A person with neither shows No solely owned individual super account or SMSF membership is recorded for this person.

For each person, choose:

• Where contributions go: No contributions, 100% to individual super, 100% to SMSF, or Split between both. A split asks for the SMSF share, and the rest goes to the individual account.
• The Individual super account or SMSF membership that receives them.
• Personal deductible a year: money paid in from bank cash and claimed as a tax deduction. It is taxed at 15% in super.
• Personal non-concessional a year: money paid in from after-tax cash, with no deduction and no contributions tax.

Daniel's contributions go 100% to his individual super, with a $5,000 personal deductible contribution a year. Emma's go 100% to the Mitchell Super Fund, as her membership.

Super has yearly limits, called caps. From 1 July 2026, the cap is $32,500 on contributions taxed in super and $130,000 on contributions made after tax. Add contribution cap treatment adds what cash forecasts and retirement plans use to test them.

• Carry-forward treatment: Use verified ATO history, which asks for the five years of ATO unused cap amounts, or Do not rely on carry-forward.
• Employer super above available cap: Block calculations, or Leave the excess out.
• Personal deductible contributions above available cap: Retain the excess in cash, or Move to non-concessional.
• The ATO total super balance at the last 30 June. It is not needed when you tick that every super interest is in these records, and their total is used.
• No non-concessional bring-forward arrangement is active, ticked when that is so.

Save super contribution treatment saves every person at once and says Super contribution treatment saved.

The header has Watch the guide, Super contribution treatment and Add income. Income position gives the Monthly income and Annual income in force today, before income tax and HELP. Where both kinds exist, it adds Taxable a year and Non-taxable a year.

Monthly income is $372,200 divided by 12, which is $31,017. With more than one income, a chart shows each as an average month. With more than one recipient, Monthly income by legal owner shows each one's total: Daniel $16,800, Emma $11,950 and the Mitchell Super Fund $2,267.

Income records has one card per income, with who receives it, the amount of each payment, the Annual figure and, for a job, the Employer super a month. Each card has End income, Edit and Record a new amount. With more than five, a search box finds one by name. Once one has ended, Show chooses Current income, Ended income or All income.

The yearly figure adds every payment that falls in this financial year, from 1 July to 30 June. Share dividends of $1,650 a quarter make four payments, $6,600. The monthly figure is the year divided by 12, $550.

When an amount changes during the year, the old amount counts up to the day before the new one starts, and the new one counts from then. The Mitchells' Health insurance has a record of $520 a month that ended on 31 August 2026, and a new one from 1 September 2026. The year counts two payments from the first and ten from the second.

Select a figure to see its working. Income figures are before income tax and HELP. Current cashflow shows pay after the tax withheld from it.

Open Living expenses in the sidebar and choose Add living expense. Every living expense needs a legal owner other than a self-managed super fund.

1. Details. Name is a clear name for the cost, such as Groceries and household.
2. Amount. Enter the amount of each payment and its Frequency.
3. When it applies. Starts opens on the date for new records.
4. Who pays. Add each legal owner who pays and their payment share. With more than one, choose Split equally or Custom. Shares must total exactly 100%.

A fund cannot pay a living expense. Record its costs as fund expenses in its SMSF records. Add living expense saves it and returns to Living expenses, or to Setup.

Living expense position gives the Monthly spending and Annual spending in force today. For the Mitchells they are $8,400 and $100,800.

With more than one expense, Spending mix lists each as an average month and its share. The Mitchells' largest is Groceries and household, $1,900 a month and 22.6% of the $8,400. With more than one payer, Monthly spending by legal owner splits the month by payment shares.

Living expense records has one card per expense, with who pays it, the Payment and the Annual figure. Each card has End living expense, Edit and Record a new amount. A record with an end date shows its dates and only Edit, such as School fees, 1 Sept 2026 to 31 Dec 2028.

When an amount changes, choose Record a new amount on the card or the record's page. The dialog says the current amount applies until the day before the new one starts. Enter the Amount and the date it Starts, which must be after the current one started. A pay rise can be dated ahead. The page then says New amount recorded.

The old amount stays in the history as an ended record. Daniel's salary was $15,200 a month from 1 July 2021, $16,000 from 1 July 2023 and $16,800 from 1 July 2025. Ended income lists his first two.

A living expense amount needs a newer figure 12 months after it starts. Setup then lists it in What to record as Amount recorded on a date needs a newer figure, with Record a new amount. Recording the same amount again confirms it is still current. Results still run, with a note.

To fix a mistake, use Edit instead. It changes the record over its whole period. Edit shows Details open and the other parts as closed panels with their answers, such as $16,800 a month for the Amount.

When an income or expense stops, choose End income or End living expense. Enter the last day it applies, which cannot be before it started. The page says Income ended. Once a record has ended, Edit shows Ends, to change or clear the date.

Delete income or Delete living expense, at the foot of Edit, asks first. Every result, past years included, then reads as if it was never received or paid. Deleting a new amount does not reopen the one before it.

A missing record is never read as zero. The page says what to add.

• With no legal owners, Income says All income needs a legal owner.
• With no records, the pages say No income yet or No living expenses yet, with the Add button.
• A job whose person has no super contribution treatment says No contribution destination. Planning cannot use that employer super until it is paid into a recorded account.
• What to record lists each record a result needs, such as Record current income, or where super contributions go.

Setup lists every record a result is waiting on. Records that need a newer figure lists every record that ages.