Free tool · FY 2026–27
How much of this invoice is actually yours?
Type in the invoice, tell us roughly what your year looks like, and get a set-aside figure with the working. Bilbee does a version of this on every payment, from your real books and the whole year's position. Here it's a one-off, with your inputs.
Bilbee works this out from your real books and shows it every time you record a payment. Your running set-aside total counts instalments you've already paid.
The working, in three lines
Your invoice is taxed at the rate that applies to the next dollars you earn this year, not the average across the whole year, so the same $2,000 invoice costs more in tax in a good year than in a quiet one. On top of income tax there's the Medicare levy (2%, once you're over the low-income threshold) and, if you have a study debt, the HELP repayment at the rate for your income band. If you're registered for GST, one-eleventh of what the client pays was never yours. It's the ATO's, and it goes on your BAS.
A day-job salary matters because it uses up the lower brackets first. Freelance income on top of a salary is taxed from where the salary left off.
Where the real answer differs
Your deductions. Every dollar of deductible expenses lowers taxable profit. The tool asks for profit after expenses, but your real figure moves all year.
What's already been paid. PAYG withheld from a salary, and PAYG instalments the ATO has you on, both count against the bill. Bilbee nets these off; this tool can't.
Offsets and thresholds you might get. The small business income tax offset, the family Medicare threshold, private hospital cover and the surcharge. The whole-of-return estimate in Bilbee handles them; this page keeps it simple.
PAYG instalments and the next BAS
Why the ATO starts asking for money in advance.
Once a return shows $4,000 or more of business and investment income and $1,000 or more of tax to pay, the ATO usually puts you on PAYG instalments: quarterly prepayments of the coming year's tax, based on last year. It arrives as a letter, a myGov message or an SMS. It isn't extra tax; it's the same tax, earlier. Record each one in Bilbee and the set-aside drops to match.
When the BAS is due.
Quarterly lodgers: 28 October, 28 February, 28 April and 28 July, with two extra weeks for most online lodgements, except the October–December quarter, which is due 28 February. If a date falls on a weekend or public holiday, it moves to the next business day.
Sources: ATO: PAYG instalments, starting · ATO: due dates for lodging and paying your BAS
Questions about setting money aside
Is 30% a good rule of thumb?
It's a common one and it's usually wrong in one direction or the other. Under about $45,000 of taxable income you'd be putting away far too much; with a day job pushing you into the 37% bracket you'd be putting away too little. Use the calculator, or better, a running estimate.
Where should I put the money?
Somewhere you won't spend it. A separate savings account in your own name is what most people do. Bilbee never asks you to move it into an account we control. The figure is an estimate, and the account is yours.
Does this include super?
No. Nobody pays super for a sole trader, and it isn't a tax, so it's not in this figure. It's worth setting some aside for anyway; Bilbee tracks contributions against the cap.
What if I'm under the tax-free threshold?
Then the income tax line is zero and the Medicare levy likely is too. If you're registered for GST, the GST line still applies. GST doesn't care about your income.