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Example R&DTI timesheet template

A reference layout showing the columns and detail AusIndustry and the ATO expect to see in R&D timesheet evidence. Free, no email gate, no upsell.

Read this before you download.
These are example timesheets - a layout reference only. R&D timesheets must be contemporaneous (recorded at or near the time the work was done). The ATO does not accept timesheets reconstructed after the end of the financial year. Use this template to see the structure, then populate it from your own systems (Harvest, Toggl, Jira, Linear, payroll exports) - not from memory.
XLSX · 4 SHEETS
Editable template
Weekly, monthly summary, activity register, instructions.
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PDF · PREVIEW
Layout preview
A 2-page worked example. Useful for sharing with your team.
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What good R&D timesheet evidence looks like

AusIndustry and the ATO don't prescribe a single timesheet format, but in any review or audit they look for the same five things:

  • Who performed the work (named individual, role).
  • When it was performed (specific date, ideally the day-of, not "September 2025").
  • What activity it relates to - referenced by the Core or Supporting Activity ID you registered with AusIndustry.
  • How long (hours), and what proportion of that time was on the eligible R&D activity (your R&D %).
  • Evidence link - the Jira ticket, PR, experiment log, Confluence page or commit that corroborates the entry.

The contemporaneous rule (and why backfilling is dangerous)

The R&DTI is a self-assessed program. AusIndustry and the ATO can ask you to prove the activities and expenditure you claimed. The single most common reason a claim is reduced on review is that timesheets, experiment logs and apportionment percentages were written up after the year ended rather than as the work happened.

Practically: if your team isn't tracking time against R&D activities today, start now. Aggregated estimates ("Jane spent about 80% of FY25 on R&D") are weaker than a per-week record showing the same outcome built from contemporaneous data.

Three patterns we see work

  1. Jira/Linear labels. Tag tickets as r&d-core-01, r&d-supporting, or non-r&d. Engineers already log work against tickets; the apportionment falls out of the export.
  2. Weekly 5-minute review. Each Friday, every R&D team member opens last week's calendar and tickets and fills the weekly tab. Takes minutes; produces audit-grade evidence.
  3. Payroll-anchored monthly summary. At month end, an ops lead reconciles individual weekly sheets into the monthly apportionment tab, ties to payroll, and locks it.

When this template ships with your lodgement pack

If KarenGrants is preparing your claim, the equivalent of this layout is included as an appendix in your tax-agent lodgement pack - populated from your own data (Jira, Linear, Harvest, payroll), reconciled to your apportionment percentages, and presented in the format reviewers expect. This page is the free, unbranded layout reference you can hand to your team today.

Ready to file?

Stop reading. Start preparing.

KarenGrants applies everything in these guides automatically - from your codebase, tickets and payroll - and hands your tax agent a lodgement pack at the end.

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