Budgets and tax

Budgeting is a good way to avoid debt, promote saving, keep track of your financial goals and prepare for different life events.

This can be done through the use of spreadsheets, such as those on this website and it can also make it easier to collate all of your income and expenses for tax time.

Budget templates

There are different budget options in the downloads below to help you keep track of your expenses, keep you accountable and understand where all of your money is going.

Simple budget and Advanced budget by month

Use the budget page to estimate your expenses throughout the year. This will automatically be copied in the monthly tabs. Enter your actual expenses in the monthly tabs. You can work out your monthly expenses by reviewing your bank records or statements.

The variance column will let you know how you are tracking and if you are over or under your estimated budget.

Alternatively, you can use the individual monthly tabs if you prefer to budget from month to month.

Advanced long term budget

Enter your estimated expenses in the budget tab. You can change the actual figures in each yearly tab, especially as expenses may change from year to year.

In the 2022 tab, down the bottom in the green box, enter your end of month balance. If you use this template from a later date, enter your end of month balance in the month that you started. This will enable your estimated savings to be calculated and you will be able to view your long term savings in the Savings tab.

Income and deductions spreadsheet

Enter any work related expenses you may have in the expenses tab. Your quarterly expenses will be automatically calculated which is useful for businesses or sole traders who have to calculate quarterly Business Activity Statements (BAS) and estimate the amount of GST that they owe.

Enter your income by month in the income and GST tab. The GST on your income and expenses will be automatically calculated.

If you have expenses where you can not claim the GST, enter these in the orange section in the expenses tab.

You may have additional expenses that are not in this template which you can add if applicable.

Other useful templates and tools

There are other more comprehensive software and apps that you can use, for a fee, to keep track of your business expenses, such as MYOB. They link to your bank account and have other functions such as payroll, invoicing etc.

There's also a lot of useful information on budgeting on the Australian Government Moneysmart website.

You can also have a look at the Financial Advisors and Accountants page for more information on completing your tax return.