Keep good records of your expenditure

Keeping good records of your expenses is essential to building wealth. For example, keeping your purchase receipts is critical for recording any claimable tax deductions.

Keeping your receipts in good condition is also important. In an audit, the ATO could dismiss any claims where your receipts are crumpled, faded or slightly illegible.

It is your responsibility to keep your receipts in good order and document your purchases.

Implementation and cost

• When you make a purchase, use a spend tracking app to photograph and record your receipt. This can automatically store a photograph of your receipt and enter the details into an expense column in your budgeting software. Keep a hard copy of your receipts in a box or folder. Check your app to ensure the details were recorded correctly.
• If you don’t like technology, keep your receipts in a box and record the details on paper.
• When making purchases online or larger purchases, ensure the retailer provides you with a tax receipt. Add these to your tracking app and create a folder on your computer for saved online tax receipts.