[ blog ] - field notes
R&D Tax Incentive, in plain English.
Guides for Australian software teams: who is eligible, what actually counts as R&D, how substantiation works, and why conservative claiming wins.
[ featured ] - start here
How much is the R&D Tax Incentive actually worth to a startup? (worked examples)
Worked examples of what the R&D Tax Incentive is worth to an Australian software startup at different stages, why the refundable offset is runway, when the cash actually arrives, and what shrinks the number in practice.
Read moreEligibility
[ 001 ] - 2 guidesIs your software company eligible for the R&D Tax Incentive? A 5-minute self-check
A plain-English self-check for Australian software companies. Four questions to see if your engineering work could qualify for the R&D Tax Incentive, what counts as real R&D, and roughly what it could be worth.
R&D Tax Incentive 2026: rates, thresholds and refunds explained simply
A plain-English guide to how the R&D Tax Incentive pays out in 2026: the refundable and non-refundable offsets, the turnover threshold that decides which one you get, the $20k minimum, and a worked example for a software company.
How it works
[ 002 ] - 7 guidesFounder, engineer, adviser: who does what in an R&D claim
An R&D Tax Incentive claim needs three roles: the engineer who knows the technical story, the founder who owns the numbers, and the registered adviser who reviews and lodges. Who does what, and where the tool fits.
From commits to claim in an hour: a walkthrough
A concrete, follow-along walkthrough of preparing an R&D claim from your GitHub history: connecting a repo, watching routine work get filtered, answering the interview about a real experiment, and ending with a substantiated package. Illustrative example, start to finish.
How to estimate R&D hours without a timesheet nightmare
Most software teams do not keep R&D timesheets. A defensible, documented estimation method anchored to your pull requests, using stratified sampling and extrapolation, that stays conservative and ties every hour to evidence.
The four-gate test, explained for engineers (not accountants)
A plain-English, engineer-focused walkthrough of the four-part core R&D activity test (s355-25): outcome unknown, systematic progression, new knowledge, and not excluded, with software examples of what passes and what fails.
Using your git history as R&D evidence: timestamps, PRs and the audit trail
Your git history is one of the strongest contemporaneous records you have for an R&D claim. What signals in PRs and commits point to genuine R&D, why timestamps matter, and where git evidence stops and attestation starts.
We prepare, your adviser lodges: how our process works end to end
A walkthrough of the whole process: from connecting a repository, through the free preview and the guided interview, to a substantiated package your registered adviser reviews and lodges. What you do, what we do, what they do.
What good R&D substantiation looks like (and what gets claims knocked back)
Substantiation is what separates a defensible R&D claim from a risky one. What the ATO actually wants to see, the contemporaneous records that hold up, and the common gaps that get software claims reduced or denied.
Trust
[ 003 ] - 2 guidesHow we keep your code and data secure
Handing a tool access to your source code and financial data is a real decision. How we connect to GitHub with scoped, short-lived access, how we separate each company's data, what we do and do not do with your code, and the insurance behind it.
Why \"maximise your claim\" advice is a liability, and what conservative claiming looks like
Maximising an R&D Tax Incentive claim feels like getting more, but an indefensible claim is a liability, not an asset. Why the incentive to over-claim exists, what it costs you, and what conservative, defensible claiming looks like in practice.