The ATO expects a content creator running a business to keep records of every transaction that affects their tax, generally for five years, unaltered, in English or easy to convert, and ready to hand over if asked. In practice that means monthly platform statements, payout and bank records, brand contracts and invoices, a log of gifted products at their value, supplier receipts with notes on any private use, an asset register, and a car logbook if you claim car costs. Some records must be kept longer than five years, such as equipment records, which run until five years after you dispose of the item.
This page sets out what to keep and for how long, using ATO pages checked on 2 October 2026, and gives you a folder system to hold it. Two neighbouring jobs live elsewhere: matching each platform statement to its payout is covered in our OnlyFans earnings tracker template, and protecting the content files themselves is covered in our guide to backing up OnlyFans content.
The ATO's five rules, translated for creator income
The ATO's overview of record-keeping rules for business lists five rules that apply to most business records. Here is what each one means when your income arrives through platforms, brands and fans.
| ATO rule | How it applies to creator records |
|---|---|
| Keep records of starting, running, changing and closing the business | That includes the month you started posting for money, every platform you joined or left, and the paperwork when you switch to a company or stop |
| Records must not be changed and must be protected from damage | Save each statement exactly as downloaded and do your working in a copy; keep enough to rebuild your figures if you change apps |
| Keep most records for 5 years | Count from when you made or received the record, or completed the transaction, whichever is later, and note any record that needs longer |
| Be able to show records when asked | If files sit behind passwords or encryption, you must be able to give access, and data should export to a standard format such as Excel or CSV |
| Records in English or easily converted to English | A receipt from an overseas supplier may be in that country's language, but expect to supply a certified translation if the ATO asks for it |
The translation point comes from the ATO's page for individuals, Records you need to keep, which allows documents in the language of the country where an overseas expense was incurred and points to translators accredited by NAATI if a translation is needed. That page also sets the clock for individuals: written evidence is kept for five years from the date you lodge the return, longer where you claim depreciation, hold an asset with capital gains consequences, or are in a dispute with the ATO. In its section on work-related expenses it adds that a bank or credit card statement on its own is not written evidence, because it does not come from the supplier, so keep the supplier's receipt even when the card statement shows the purchase.
What counts as a record for platform income
The ATO's list of what to include in your business's assessable income has a section on online activities that reads like a creator's statement: fees from clients to watch you perform online or view personalised content you create for them, creator payments and advertising revenue, subscription fees for access to content, and tips and gratuities including livestream payments. It also notes that payments for old content keep counting as income in the year you receive them, even after you stop making new posts.
Each of those needs evidence of the amount. For platform income, the base record is the platform's own earnings statement, backed by proof of each payout reaching your bank or wallet. The same ATO page says goods, services or other benefits received as full or part payment are income at their market value, which is why a gift log belongs in the system even if no cash changed hands. And where a platform transacts in US dollars, as the OnlyFans terms of service say it does, keep the exchange rate you used and where it came from; the ATO's 2025–26 foreign exchange rates page asks for exactly that and warns that you cannot source an average rate from yourself or an associate unless the ATO has said otherwise.
Folder structure template with retention column
Set this up once per income year (1 July to 30 June) in whatever storage you already use. Number the folders so they sort the same way everywhere, and name files platform-or-supplier, then year and month.
| Folder | What goes in it | Keep until at least |
|---|---|---|
| 01 Platform statements | Monthly earnings statements for each platform, saved unaltered as PDF or CSV | 5 years after you obtained them, or the end of the period of review for the return that used them if later |
| 02 Payouts and banking | Bank and wallet statements, payout confirmations, transfer receipts | 5 years from when prepared or from the transaction, whichever is later |
| 03 Currency workings | The rate applied to each foreign amount and its source | As long as the income records they convert |
| 04 Brand work | Contracts, briefs, invoices you issued, remittance advices, usage terms | 5 years after the deal is completed and paid |
| 05 Gifts and barter log | Item, sender, date, what was expected in return, value used and how you set it | The same period as your cash income records |
| 06 Expenses | Supplier receipts and tax invoices, subscription confirmations, private-use notes | 5 years after the expense, longer if it feeds a later claim |
| 07 Equipment register | Purchase invoice, date, cost, depreciation working and the record of sale or disposal | For as long as you hold the item, then 5 more years after disposal |
| 08 Car | Logbook, yearly odometer readings, car expense receipts | 5 years after the last income year that relies on the logbook |
| 09 Losses carried forward | How any business loss was calculated | Until the period of review ends for the last return that deducts the loss |
| 10 ATO and agent | Lodged returns, notices of assessment, activity statements, ATO letters, engagement letters | At least the end of each year's period of review |
The longer periods come from the ATO's page on records to keep longer than five years, which says to keep records long enough to cover the period of review for any assessment that uses them, gives the carried-forward loss example, and sets the hold-plus-five-years rule for depreciating and capital assets. The period of review itself recently changed for sole traders: the ATO's amendment time limits page gives sole traders 4 years to amend for the 2024–25 income year and later, against 2 years for earlier years and for most individuals. A return lodged late starts that clock late, which is one more reason the folder for that year should not be deleted on a fixed date.
Monthly close checklist
Thirty minutes at the start of each month keeps the folders honest. Do it after the previous month's statements are available on every platform.
- Download last month's earnings statement from every platform you were paid by, and save it untouched in folder 01.
- Tick each payout against a deposit in folder 02, and list any payout still in transit so it is not counted twice next month.
- Write down the exchange rate and its source for every foreign-currency amount you will report.
- Add anything gifted or bartered to the log in folder 05, with the value you are using and why.
- Save supplier receipts, not card statements, for every business purchase, and note the business share of mixed-use items.
- Enter any new camera, light, computer or other equipment in the register in folder 07.
- Note anything your agent should hear about: a new platform, a chargeback spike, a brand paying in products, or a change in where you work.
- Copy the month's folders to a second storage location you control.
Step 8 matters because the ATO's guidance on digital record keeping tells cloud users to download a complete copy of their records before changing provider, and recommends backups against fire, flood and theft. The same page accepts images of paper records as long as they are true and clear copies, so a photographed receipt can replace the original unless another law requires paper; but where you type details into software, you still have to keep the underlying record.
myDeductions, a spreadsheet or bookkeeping software
Any tool works if the records inside it meet the rules. The ATO's free option is myDeductions in the ATO app, which lets sole traders record business income and expenses, upload them at tax time and email them to a registered tax agent. Read its limits before you rely on it:
- Records are stored on your device, and backing them up is a manual step using the app's Back up feature.
- Use one device for the whole year, because sets of records cannot be combined and you can upload only once per financial year.
- One device cannot be shared between several people.
- Sole traders with personal services income should email records to their agent rather than upload them, because the ATO says income would otherwise pre-fill incorrectly.
Whatever you choose, separate the money first. The ATO's page on banking records says a sole trader does not have to open a business bank account but that it is better to, so business and personal transactions stay apart. Companies and trusts must have their own account.
Car and mixed-use records
Shoots, brand events and collaborations put creators in the car, and the logbook method is the record-heavy route. The ATO's logbook method page for sole traders requires at least 12 continuous weeks that represent your travel across the year, odometer readings at the start and end of the logbook period, the distance of each journey, the business-use percentage, the car's make, model, engine capacity and registration, and odometer readings at the start and end of each later year the logbook is used. Each logbook is valid for five years, and you can start a new one at any time.
The same principle runs through phones, internet, lighting rigs and spare rooms used as sets: the ATO's individuals page says that where an expense is partly private, you need records showing how you worked out the part related to earning income. Which method you can use for each claim is a deductions question for your agent; the record-keeping job is to keep the diary, usage notes or floor-plan sketch that supports whatever split is claimed.
Limits of this system
This is general information from ATO pages read on 2 October 2026, not tax advice. It covers what to keep and for how long, not what you can claim, how GST applies, or how to value a particular gift. Companies and trusts carry extra obligations, and the ATO itself suggests checking other regulators' rules, noting that ASIC requires companies to keep records for seven years. If you are behind, rebuild from platform statements first; the ATO's data matching page explains why gaps can surface later, and our guide to an ATO review of creator income lists what you would be asked to produce.
A registered tax agent can tell you which records your claims need and whether your system meets the rules for your structure. Bring this folder layout to the first meeting, and check the dates you are working to in our Australian creator tax deadlines calendar.