ATO myDeductions alternatives — for Australians who want more than a receipt log
myDeductions is free, official and built into the ATO app: a place for individuals to log work expenses, receipts and car trips, for sole traders to record income as well, and for the whole record to upload into your return at tax time. For a lot of people that is exactly enough. If you have started to want more — a bank feed categorised for you, GST and BAS tracked through the year, a clean handover to an accountant, or simply a system that survives past March — the six options below are set out honestly, including when staying put is the right call. myDeductions is Australia-only; AI2Fin also covers the UK, the US, Canada, India and more.
The six alternatives
Each one adds something myDeductions was never meant to do — and each asks you to give something up in return. Both are listed.
AI2Fin
Bank-feed categorisation with a free planAI2Fin reads your bank feed and categorises every transaction as it arrives, records a tax treatment against each one, surfaces likely deductions through the year, and keeps GST and BAS figures building up so tax time is a review rather than a reconstruction. It is an independent product, not affiliated with or endorsed by the ATO — and on its paid plans it exports deductions in the ATO myDeductions CSV layout, so the two can sit side by side rather than compete.
- Adds over myDeductions
- Automatic categorisation from real transactions, a tax treatment per line, GST/BAS tracking, a year-round view, and exports your accountant can work from.
- What you give up
- The built-in trip logbook and the direct upload path into myTax. AI2Fin exports; it does not lodge.
Best for: sole traders and freelancers who want deductions found for them from the bank feed, starting free.
A spreadsheet or bank CSV export
Free, flexible, entirely manualMost banks let you download transactions as a CSV, and a spreadsheet will hold as many columns as you care to add — category, GST, business-use share, a link to the receipt. It costs nothing and answers to no one, which is exactly why it appeals to people who have outgrown a phone log but are not ready to pay for software.
- Adds over myDeductions
- A full transaction history rather than only the items you remembered to log, plus whatever structure you want to build on top of it.
- What you give up
- Automation of any kind. Every category, every GST split and every deduction is your own work, and the discipline has to last all year.
Best for: people who enjoy running their own system and have the habit to keep it current.
Hnry
Pay-as-you-go tax with lodgement includedHnry is a payroll-style service for the Australian self-employed: client payments route through an Hnry account, tax is set aside as you are paid, and registered tax agents lodge your returns. It charges 1% +GST of the income paid into that account, capped at $1,500 +GST a year, with lodgement included.
- Adds over myDeductions
- The whole income side — tax withheld as you earn, returns and BAS lodged for you — which myDeductions never set out to cover.
- What you give up
- Zero cost, and income arriving in your own account. Hnry is a paid service built around its own account structure.
Best for: contractors and freelancers who want tax admin taken off their hands completely.
Rounded
Invoicing-first bookkeeping for sole tradersRounded is built for Australian sole traders and leads with invoicing and time tracking — quotes, recurring invoices and timesheets that become invoices — with bank feeds and automatic categorisation on its Pro tier. It runs $23.95–$29.95 AUD a month after a 14-day trial.
- Adds over myDeductions
- Client invoicing, time tracking and pre-filled BAS figures alongside the expense record.
- What you give up
- The free price and the ATO upload path. Rounded is a subscription, and it is aimed at businesses that bill clients rather than at employees claiming work expenses.
Best for: sole traders whose week centres on quoting, invoicing and billing by the hour.
Thriday
Business banking with bookkeeping built inThriday — now part of Tyro — bundles a transaction account with automated bookkeeping, invoicing and registered-tax-agent lodgement, so the admin happens where the money already moves. There is a free plan, automation from $29.95 AUD a month, and done-for-you tax lodgement from $880 AUD a year.
- Adds over myDeductions
- Bookkeeping that happens inside the bank account itself, plus an optional lodgement service on top.
- What you give up
- Your existing bank. The integration comes from opening a Thriday account and running your business money through it.
Best for: sole traders happy to open a new account to get banking and books in one place.
Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks
Full accounting suitesThe established accounting platforms — Xero, MYOB Business and QuickBooks Online — are complete double-entry systems with invoicing, payroll, reporting and large advisor networks, built to be shared with an accountant. All three are subscription-only in Australia: MYOB Business Lite runs from about $26 AUD a month, while Xero and QuickBooks publish trial and introductory pricing on their own sites.
- Adds over myDeductions
- A full general ledger, payroll, and the format most accountants and bookkeepers already work in every day.
- What you give up
- Simplicity and price. A suite built for growing businesses brings setup and monthly cost that a PAYG employee with a handful of receipts will never use.
Best for: businesses with staff, stock or an accountant who wants to work inside the ledger with you.
Based on publicly available information. Features and pricing change — verify directly with each provider before deciding. AI2Fin is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Australian Taxation Office.
Whichever record you keep, the rules on what counts as evidence are the same — see substantiation in the glossary, the guide to tax deductions, and how Fin records a tax treatment per transaction.
When staying with myDeductions is the right call
A credible guide says it plainly: for many Australians the free, official tool is the best one on this page.
- You are an employee claiming a handful of work expenses and one car — a free, official phone log is exactly the right size.
- You want your records to flow straight into myTax or to your registered tax agent through the ATO’s own upload path, with nothing in between.
- You do not run an ongoing business: no GST to track, no BAS to prepare, no client invoices.
- You would rather keep nothing but your deduction records in one place, and hand that place to the ATO itself.
A pairing is also worth considering: the ATO app for trips and on-the-go receipts, a bank-feed tool for everything else through the year. AI2Fin exports in the myDeductions CSV layout for exactly that reason.
myDeductions alternatives — common questions
Is there a free alternative to myDeductions?
Yes, in two shapes. A spreadsheet fed from your bank’s CSV export is free and completely manual. AI2Fin starts free too, and pairs automatic bank-feed categorisation with a myDeductions-style export on its paid plans, so you can keep the ATO app as the place your records finally land. Always confirm eligibility and record-keeping obligations with your accountant or the ATO.
Why would anyone move away from myDeductions when it is free?
Usually because their situation changed rather than because the app did. Starting a side business brings GST, BAS and a bank feed full of mixed transactions; a busy year makes remembering to log each receipt harder; an accountant asks for something more than an expense list. myDeductions was designed as an individual’s deduction record, and people outgrow that scope, not the tool.
Can I keep using myDeductions after moving to another tool?
Yes, and many people do. The ATO app stays useful for trips and on-the-go receipts, while a bookkeeping tool works the bank feed through the year. AI2Fin goes a step further and exports in the ATO myDeductions CSV layout, so the two records can be brought together rather than kept apart. Always confirm eligibility and record-keeping obligations with your accountant or the ATO.
Which myDeductions alternative tracks GST and BAS?
myDeductions is an individual deduction log and does not track GST or prepare a BAS. Of the options here, AI2Fin, Rounded, Thriday and the accounting suites all carry GST through the year and build BAS figures from it; Hnry has registered agents lodge the BAS for you as part of its service. A spreadsheet can do it too, if you keep the column up to date. Always confirm eligibility and record-keeping obligations with your accountant or the ATO.
Do myDeductions alternatives work outside Australia?
myDeductions is Australia-only, as an ATO product would be. Hnry, Rounded and Thriday are built for Australian sole traders. Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks sell in several countries, and AI2Fin covers Australia, the UK, the US, Canada, India and more — useful if your work or income crosses a border.
Will an alternative to myDeductions upload straight into myTax?
Generally no. The direct upload into myTax or to a registered tax agent comes from myDeductions being an official ATO tool, and none of the independent products replicate it. The software alternatives export files and reports for you or your accountant to lodge from; AI2Fin’s myDeductions-layout CSV is designed so that export can be brought back into the ATO app yourself. Always confirm eligibility and record-keeping obligations with your accountant or the ATO.
Let the bank feed do the logging — free
Keep the ATO app for what it does well. Start on the free plan and let Fin categorise the rest — no card required. Paid plans add bank feeds and the myDeductions export from US$23 a month.
Get 2Fin freeOr read the in-depth AI2Fin vs ATO myDeductions comparison, and all comparisons.