Newsletter - July 2026

Here's what's inside:

• Your new FY reset: How to make the most of FY 26-27 (+ accountant advice)

• The expenses most sole traders aren't claiming, and how you can get more back at tax time

• What's new in Rounded? Our KM tracker is live on iOS + more upgrades to make tax time easier

• More helpful resources for sole traders

⏰ Tax deadlines to keep in mind

If you're registered for GST and report quarterly, your next BAS is due July 28th (if you lodge yourself) or August 25 (with a registered tax agent). Here's how to get all the info you need in Rounded.

You can lodge your tax return now, but you might want to hold off a few weeks. Employer, bank, and government data can take time to flow through to your pre-fill. Lodging too early is the #1 cause of avoidable mistakes.

📅 Your new financial year reset

If you haven't yet, now's your time to review your business health.

• Set your goals for FY26–27. Even a rough revenue target or a "which clients do I want more of" note beats winging it.

• Review last year's numbers. What work/clients actually made you money? What ate hours of your week for not much return?

• Get your record-keeping sorted for the year ahead. If you're using Rounded, you've already got a head start 😉

Here's 4 simple things accountant Lauren Thiel recommends doing this month:

⚠️ Are you leaving money on the road?

For FY25-26, sole traders can claim up to $4,400 (88c per work kilometre, up to 5,000km) without receipts, or use the logbook method to claim the actual cost of their vehicle expenses. 

Didn't keep a record of your work-related trips?

You probably won't be able to claim these expenses on your next tax return, but you can start fresh for FY26-27 and claim more back next time. 

Here's everything you need to know about keeping a logbook as a sole trader, and how to decide which ATO method is best for your business.

Want an easier way to track every work trip? Trax is now live on iOS 🚘

1. Connect via Bluetooth or CarPlay.

Tracking starts automatically when your phone connects to your car, so you'll never miss a trip again.

(UPDATE: As of August 2026 Rounded Trax also offers motion detection as well as Bluetooth/Carplay connection)

2. Classify trips as business or personal.

Let Trax auto-classify your trips, or sort them yourself. Every trip captures exactly what the ATO needs: date, time, distance, and GPS route.

3. Make the most of your vehicle deductions.

Trax supports both the logbook method and cents per kilometre, so you can see which one gives you the bigger deduction.

4. Pairs perfectly with Rounded.

Connect Trax to Rounded and every business trip flows straight into your tax estimate. You can see all vehicle deductions under the new Deductions menu in Rounded.

Cofounder Grant on why we built Trax

Every existing solution asks the driver to do something: install hardware, open an app or remember to start or stop a trip.

We spent a long time watching people try those tools and give up because tracking was inaccurate and the data couldn’t be trusted.

Trax asks the driver to do nothing. It uses your car’s Bluetooth or CarPlay connection to know when you’re driving, logs the full GPS route automatically, and produces an ATO-compliant logbook without a single tap.

After 10 years of making tax simple for sole traders, we know how important trust and ease of use are when it comes to accounting, which are the two pillars Trax is built on.

What else is new in Rounded?

Our main app has also seen some upgrades in the last month. Here's what the team's been working on:

New tax summary page

See an overview of your tax estimate, PAYG instalments, and BAS for any financial year – in one place.

PAYG instalments are also no longer tied to a BAS for more accurate EOFY estimates.

Filter out expenses

You can now choose to exclude particular expense categories from your tax estimate and P&L report.

More control over your bank feeds

• Bank feed consents are now easily accessible from the main page

• Easily see any bank accounts with expired consents

• Lots of quality of life improvements

More helpful resources

From the Rounded team:

• Your step-by-step guide to lodging your sole trader tax return

• How to share your Rounded data with your accountant

• Should you register for GST for FY 26-27?

• Everything sole traders need to know about super

From the community:

• The Content Byte is going on break, but there's plenty of great eps to catch up on in the meantime

• Creative Plus Business: 8 simple ways to start strategic planning

• Was your business affected by the Telstra outage? You may be able to seek compensation.

• Earn less than $70k? Check out the ATO's Tax Help program

New to Rounded, or have questions?

• Sign up for our weekly Intro to Rounded masterclass

• Visit our Help Centre or reach out via in-app chat. You'll usually hear from a human in around 30 seconds.

• Got any features you'd like to request, or want to see what's coming up next? Check out our roadmap.