Blog
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.
Eligibility
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6 min read
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.
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5 min read
Is 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.
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5 min read
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
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4 min read
Founder, 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.
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5 min read
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.
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5 min read
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.
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7 min read
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.
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5 min read
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.
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4 min read
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.
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5 min read
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
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4 min read
How 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.
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5 min read
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.