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One password is no longer enough to protect your business. The Australian Signals Directorate says 42% of cyber security incidents reported by industry, government and critical infrastructure organisations in 2024 to 2025 involved compromised accounts or credentials. For a sole trader, one compromised login could expose much more than an email account. Think: • Business banking • Customer information • Invoices and payment details • Accounting software • Social media accounts • Cloud storage September is MFA Month in Australia, and the message is simple: Turn on multi factor authentication wherever you can. The ASD recommends using phishing resistant options such as passkeys where available, or an authenticator app when they are not. It takes a few minutes to set up. Recovering from someone getting into your business accounts could take considerably longer. If you run your business online, account security is business security. Source: Australian Signals Directorate, Australian Cyber Security Centre. #SoleTrader #SmallBusinessAustralia #CyberSecurity #SmallBusiness #AustralianBusiness

Congratulations to Nicky McGowan, winner of the FITREC Rookie of the Year 2026. Sole is proud to support Nicky with 12 months of Sole Premium, valued at $660, together with supported onboarding, training and practical business tools designed to help with invoicing, direct debit, expense tracking and business management. For us, this partnership is about more than providing software. We want to support the journey as Nicky continues building her business, and over time, document that experience as a practical case study for the wider fitness community. Congratulations to Nicky on a fantastic achievement, and thank you to FITREC for the opportunity to support the next generation of fitness professionals.

A vague quote can quietly eat into your margin. It usually starts with a small extra request. Then another. Before long, you are doing work that was never included in the original price. A few simple habits can prevent that: • Put the quote in writing • Be clear about what is not included • Price extra work before you do it • Invoice from the accepted quote, not from memory Clear quoting is not just about getting the price right. It helps set expectations, protect your time and avoid awkward conversations later. With Sole, you can create a quote, get it accepted and turn it into an invoice without retyping everything.

$453 million. That’s how much the Fair Work Ombudsman recovered in unpaid wages and entitlements for Australian workers in 2025 to 2026. More than 181,000 workers received back payments, with total recoveries up around 27% from the previous year. For small business owners, there’s a simple takeaway: Payroll mistakes can get expensive. If you employ even one person, make sure you are keeping on top of: • the correct pay rate • overtime and penalty rates • super contributions • payslips and payroll records • changes to awards and minimum wages Underpayments are not always deliberate. Sometimes they start with an outdated rate, a missed entitlement or a process that has not been reviewed for months. Good business admin is not just about knowing what you earned. It is also about knowing exactly what you owe. Source: Fair Work Ombudsman, 14 September 2026. #SmallBusinessAustralia #AustralianBusiness #Payroll #SoleTrader #FairWork

We’re proud to share that Sole has been named the winner of the inaugural FITREC Supplier Award 2026. This award recognises industry providers that go above and beyond to support professionals across the fitness industry, and it means a lot to have Sole’s work recognised in this way. We’re incredibly grateful for this recognition and to the entire FITREC team Luis Carranza, Sue Berry, and community for their continued support and partnership. Our partnership with FITREC.org has always been about more than providing software. It’s also about creating practical resources that help fitness professionals manage the business and financial side of working for themselves. From adapting the Sole platform to better support the industry, to sharing educational resources and making Sole more accessible to FITREC members, our goal has remained simple: help fitness professionals spend less time on admin and feel more confident running their business. A huge thank you to FITREC for this recognition and for continuing to work with us to support the fitness community. We’re excited to keep building on what we’ve started. Thank you, FITREC, and here’s to helping more fitness professionals build stronger, more financially sustainable businesses. Johann Oberholzer Shishir Rawat #Sole #FITREC #FITRECSupplierAward2026

Congratulations to all the 2026 FITREC Award winners. We’re incredibly grateful to FITREC.org for recognising Sole as Supplier of the Year and proud to be part of a community doing so much to support fitness professionals across the industry.

Are you charging customers extra to pay by card? That changes from 1 October 2026. Visa, Mastercard, eftpos, and American Express are introducing no surcharge rules, meaning businesses will no longer be able to add a card payment surcharge to transactions on those networks. But there’s an important catch. The cost of accepting card payments isn’t disappearing. Businesses may still pay transaction fees, terminal fees and other payment provider costs. You just may no longer be able to pass those costs on as a separate card surcharge. So if you currently add 1%, 1.5% or 2% at checkout, now is the time to look at: • what card payments actually cost your business • whether your pricing still covers those costs • your payment provider and fee structure • any invoices or payment systems that automatically add a surcharge The change only applies to card payment surcharges. Weekend surcharges, public holiday surcharges, booking fees and other non card related fees are not part of this change. Until 30 September, the existing surcharge rules still apply. 1 October is only a few weeks away. Check your payment setup before it changes.

Missed the 28 August TPAR deadline? Don’t leave it sitting there. If your business was required to lodge a Taxable Payments Annual Report for 2025 to 2026, the due date has now passed. The ATO says penalties may apply to overdue TPARs, so if yours is still outstanding, the best move is to get it sorted as soon as possible. And there’s another part that is easy to miss. If you checked your business and found that you didn’t need to lodge a TPAR, you may still need to submit a non lodgment advice to let the ATO know. The ATO has previously issued more than $18 million in penalties to over 11,000 businesses for older overdue TPARs, so ignoring the obligation can get expensive. The takeaway? Know which reporting obligations apply to your business, keep your contractor payments organised, and deal with missed deadlines early. Admin gets much harder when you leave it for later. Source: Australian Taxation Office #SoleTrader #SmallBusinessAustralia #TPAR #TaxTime #AustralianBusiness

A $20,000 instant asset write off does'not mean the ATO gives you $20,000 back. But the good news is that the $20,000 threshold is now being made permanent. If your small business has annual turnover under $10 million, eligible assets costing less than $20,000 can be immediately deducted rather than depreciated over several years. And the $20,000 limit applies per asset. So you could potentially immediately deduct multiple eligible purchases during the year, such as: • Tools and equipment • Computers and technology • Machinery • Other eligible business assets The important bit? A tax deduction reduces your taxable income. It isn't a dollar for dollar refund on what you spent. Around 300,000 small businesses claimed the Instant Asset Write Off in 2024 to 2025. So before buying something just for the “tax write off”, make sure the purchase actually makes sense for your business. **Source: Australian Treasury, 21 August 2026. Parliament of Australia.** #SoleTrader #SmallBusinessAustralia #TaxTips #InstantAssetWriteOff #AustralianBusiness

A healthy bank balance does not always mean a healthy amount of money available to spend. For a sole trader, one account can contain several very different things at once: business income, GST collected, money needed for tax and funds required for upcoming expenses. That is where confusion starts. A simple structure makes it much easier to understand the real position of the business: Direct business income into one account Set aside GST and tax as payments arrive Transfer drawings to your personal account intentionally Maintain invoices, receipts, payments and GST records consistently The goal is not to create more admin. It is to make the numbers easier to understand before BAS or tax time arrives. Sole brings invoices, payments, expenses, receipts and GST records together in one app, helping sole traders see what they have earned, what needs to be set aside and what is actually available to spend. Start with Sole. Free to get started at soleapp.com.au