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Will this satisfy the ATO?

The fixed rate method needs a record of the actual hours you worked from home, kept at the time (PCG 2023/1). WFH Diary records your hours as they happen and keeps your answers about pauses and days. You still confirm that each day was work at home, and you are responsible for what you lodge. This is general information, not tax advice.

Is WFH Diary ATO approved?

No app is. The ATO doesn’t approve or certify record-keeping apps, and its own free tool is myDeductions. What the ATO checks is your records. For the fixed rate method it wants the actual hours you worked from home, recorded at the time. WFH Diary records those automatically, and you confirm each day.

Do I still need a WFH diary now there’s a $1,000 deduction?

From 2026–27 you get the higher of a $1,000 standard deduction or your itemised work expenses. To itemise more than $1,000 you need records, including your actual WFH hours. With no other expenses, that takes about 1,429 hours at 70c. You won’t know until June which is higher, so the diary keeps the option open.

Does it know if I worked from home or the office?

No. It knows when your Mac was in use, not where you were. Review asks you to confirm each day, and you can leave out any session that was at the office. Weekends and national public holidays with no activity are marked as no work for you.

I only just started. What about the months before?

Hours you didn’t record at the time are hard to claim under the fixed rate method, because estimates aren’t accepted. WFH Diary Pro can suggest past sessions from activity your Mac recorded, for you to check day by day. Treat them as a starting point, not a record, and check with a tax agent before claiming them.

Does my data leave my Mac?

Only through your own private iCloud, which only you can read. Nothing is sent to us. There are no third-party SDKs, analytics or crash reporting.

What if I use two Macs?

Sessions merge across all your Macs through iCloud. Overlapping time is counted once, so you never claim an hour twice.

How much does it cost?

Tracking, the diary, manual entries, the printable worksheet, bills, iCloud sync and your deduction estimate are free. WFH Diary Pro adds PDF and CSV reports for your return and Suggest past hours (suggestions from file activity that you check, marked added later), for A$14.99 a year or A$39.99 once.

What Mac do I need?

Any Mac running macOS 14 Sonoma or later. WFH Diary is a menu bar app from the Mac App Store. There’s no iPhone or Windows version yet.

What if the 70c rate changes?

Rates are stored by period, so old hours keep the rate that applied then (67c before 1 July 2024, 70c from then). We update the app when the ATO announces a change.

What permissions does it need?

Tracking needs nothing beyond the standard Mac sandbox, and notifications are optional. It never asks for screen recording, accessibility, the microphone, the camera, your location or your contacts.