Two releases today. Dogbox Accounting 2.4.2 makes reporting a problem quicker and fixes saved bank CSV layouts. Dogbox Investments 1.0 corrects several tax calculations and now updates itself.
- Dogbox Accounting 2.4.2: Report an Issue on every page, and better bank CSV presets.
- Dogbox Investments 1.0: corrected capital gains and dividend figures. If you've lodged a return using figures from Dogbox Investments, please read this section.
- Tax time: dates this month: BAS due 28 October, tax returns due Monday 2 November.
Dogbox Accounting 2.4.2
Report an Issue, wherever you are
Last time we fixed Report an Issue so reports actually reach us. The next problem was that it was hidden away in Settings → Help, and nobody goes looking there when something has just gone wrong.
Now there's a Report an Issue button at the right-hand end of the quick-nav bar, on every page. It opens a short form without taking you away from the page, and adds the name of the page you were on to the report, so we know where to look. Admins also have a Report an Issue tile in the Admin hub.
If something in Dogbox doesn't look right, please tell us. We read every report.
Bank CSV presets that stay put
If you import your bank statements from CSV, you can save the column layout as a preset. Two things weren't working properly:
- A preset didn't remember Data starts row, so files with a few lines above the column headings were read from the wrong row.
- Loading a preset kept any column Dogbox had guessed, so a guessed Amount column could override your preset's Debit and Credit columns.
Both are fixed. There's also a new ↻ Update preset button: when one of your presets is selected, it saves your current mapping into it, so you don't have to save a copy under a new name.
On narrow windows, the shortcuts in the quick-nav bar no longer squash together until their labels overlap. The bar scrolls sideways instead.
To update: open Dogbox and click Update on the banner at the top.
Dogbox Investments 1.0
Capital losses now come off before the discount
A user wrote in with a small test portfolio: two shares held for years, one sold at a $100 gain and one at a $50 loss in the same year. Dogbox showed a net capital gain of $0. He thought it should be $25, and he was right.
The app was taking the 50% CGT discount off each gain as it was sold, then subtracting losses from what was left. The ATO's order is the other way around: you subtract capital losses (this year's first, then any carried forward) from your gains, and the discount applies only to the discount-eligible gain that remains. $100 − $50 = $50, then half of that is $25.
Carried-forward losses had the same problem and are fixed too. The "Taxable Gain" figure next to each sale now adds up to the Net capital gain at Item 18A.
We checked everything else while we were there
That report made us go back through every tax calculation in the app. We found and fixed:
- Partly franked dividends. A 50% franked dividend was reported entirely as franked (11K). It's now split between franked (11K) and unfranked (11J).
- The small shareholder exemption. If your franking credits for the year total $5,000 or less, you don't have to meet the 45-day holding rule to claim them. Dogbox now applies this.
- Two rules that were a day out. The CGT discount now starts the day after the first anniversary of buying, and the 45-day rule counts "at least 45 days", not more than 45.
- Returns of capital and demergers on part-sold holdings. These now reduce the cost base of the shares you still hold, not the ones you'd already sold.
- Sales and purchases entered out of order. A sale can no longer use shares bought after it, and a purchase entered after a share split, return of capital or demerger now has it applied.
- Holdings at a past date are now correct across share splits.
- SMSFs in pension phase. All capital gains are now treated as exempt.
Your portfolio is checked when you open it
The first time you open each portfolio after updating, Dogbox recalculates it under the corrected rules. It saves a backup copy next to your portfolio first, and lists every figure it changed in Settings → Audit Log.
If you've already lodged a return using figures from Dogbox, have a look at that year. If a figure has changed, talk to your accountant or the ATO about whether you need to amend.
Updates now install themselves
Dogbox Investments now has a version number, shown at the bottom of the sidebar. When a new version comes out, a banner appears. Click What's new to see what changed, or Update to install it. The app restarts and picks up where you left off. Updates never touch your portfolio files.
To update: reinstall once using the install command on the Dogbox Investments page. Your portfolios are kept. From then on, updates arrive in the app.
Tax time: dates this month
- July–September BAS: due Wednesday 28 October if you lodge it yourself. In Dogbox Accounting, open GST Collected and GST Paid in the Chart of Accounts and check each line before you lodge. (ATO: Due dates for lodging and paying your BAS)
- 2025–26 individual tax returns: due 31 October if you lodge your own. This year 31 October is a Saturday, so the deadline moves to the next business day, Monday 2 November. Sole traders: the Profit & Loss and Tax Return reports in Dogbox Accounting give you your business figures for 2025–26. Investors: the FY Tax Summary in Dogbox Investments gives your capital gains and dividend figures. If you use a registered tax agent, you need to be on their books before 31 October to get their later dates. (ATO: Preparing your tax return)
This is general information only, not tax advice. Check your own situation with the ATO or a registered tax or BAS agent.
Thanks to everyone who takes the time to report problems. Both of these releases started that way.
No subscription. No server holding your books or your portfolio. Your data, your file.