The 2026 Budget was pitched as a fix for intergenerational unfairness. Nick's fired up and reckons none of it adds up, especially if you're a young Australian trying to get ahead. But you can't just criticise without bringing a solution, and he's got a few of his own.

On this episode, we discuss:

(00:00) Intro
(01:17) The 2026 Budget's Reform Pitch and Where It Misses Young Australians
(02:29) Bracket Creep and the 47% Tax Rate That Hits Young High Earners
(05:35) The $1,000 ATO Deduction Is Less Than Most Australians Already Claim
(06:29) The HELP Debt Indexation Problem That Costs Australians Thousands Every Year
(08:55) Removing Negative Gearing on Existing Homes Won't Free Up Housing Supply
(11:24) Rents Are Set to Rise as Negative Gearing Shifts to New Builds Only
(11:55) CGT Changes Hit Startup Founders Hardest, Not Property Investors
(14:00) The Property Marketers Set to Profit From the Negative Gearing Reforms
(16:47) Cutting Income Tax and Lifting GST, the Real Reform Trade-Off
(18:31) Top 10 Postcodes by Taxable Income from Portsea to Mossman
(21:25) Australia's GST Has Been Stuck at 10% Since 2000
(25:30) One Nation's Rise and What It Says About Voter Frustration

Check out the free resources from Inovayt here.

Send us an email: hello@thenumbersgamepodcast.com.au

The Numbers Game is brought to you by Future Advisory & Inovayt.

Hosts:
Nick Reilly
Jason Robinson

This podcast is produced by VIDPOD.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Australians waste $1.9 billion a year on gift cards they never use, and there's a whole business model built around hoping you don't show up. If your business sells gift cards, there's a good chance the accounting is wrong. It's one of the most common mistakes Jase sees with his clients, and this episode gets into how the accounting should actually work so you're not paying tax before you need to.

On this episode, we discuss:

(00:00) Intro
(00:24) How Endota Spa's Gift Card Numbers Went Viral
(03:43) $1.9 Billion in Unused Gift Cards Per Year in Australia
(05:23) How Gift Cards Became 40% of Endota Spa's Revenue
(05:59) How Endota Earns $13.5M From Gift Cards No One Uses
(07:07) Why Gift Card Sales Aren't Revenue on Your Books
(08:52) The 3-Year ACCC Expiry and When to Recognise Revenue
(10:50) What the Endota Sale Means for the Incoming Buyer
(12:46) Swap Platforms That Turn Unused Gift Cards Into Cash
(14:58) Gifta and How to Make Sure Gift Cards Actually Get Used
(19:27) Why Gift Cards in Your Digital Wallet Actually Get Used
(21:23) Employee Gift Cards and Fringe Benefits Tax
(23:01) Game Over

Check out the free resources from Inovayt here.

Send us an email: hello@thenumbersgamepodcast.com.au

The Numbers Game is brought to you by Future Advisory & Inovayt.

Hosts:
Nick Reilly
Jason Robinson

This podcast is produced by VIDPOD.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Over 9,000 Australian jobs have gone to AI this year and we're now second in the world for tech displacement. Nick reckons you don't need to be a tech expert to stay relevant. Your existing skills transfer to roles AI can't replace, you just need to know which ones and where. He's put together a 6-step playbook that walks you through assessing your own exposure, identifying what transfers, and making a move before your employer makes one for you.

On this episode, we discuss:

(00:00) Intro
(00:19) AI Is Here and Jobs Are Changing in Australia
(05:18) WiseTech, Telstra, Atlassian and 9,238 AI Job Losses
(06:16) 1.3 Million Australians Changing Roles by 2030
(07:48) Why a Telemarketer Could Become an Account Manager
(11:02) Which Jobs AI Can and Can't Do: 0.3% to 80%
(13:06) How an Accounting Firm Is Rolling Out AI to Its Team
(15:24) $10 Million Revenue with 30 Staff Instead of 50
(16:26) Why AI-Forward Companies Create More Opportunity
(18:48) Capacity Is Why Clients Leave Their Accountant
(21:01) Nick's 6-Step Playbook for Protecting Your Career
(24:18) Don't Wait for Your Employer to Act
(25:28) The Flywheel Effect When Teams Share AI Wins

Check out the free resources from Inovayt here.

Send us an email: hello@thenumbersgamepodcast.com.au

The Numbers Game is brought to you by Future Advisory & Inovayt.

Hosts:
Nick Reilly
Jason Robinson

This podcast is produced by VIDPOD.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Victoria's $199 billion in debt, and if you're running a small business in this state, you're the one wearing it. Taxes keep climbing, businesses are going under at record rates, and the COVID levy that was sold as temporary isn't going anywhere. Jase has done the numbers on where the money went and what it means for Victorian business owners heading into end of financial year.

On this episode, we discuss:

(00:00) Intro
(00:43) Victoria's $199 Billion State Debt
(02:40) $1 Million a Day for 55 Years to Reach $199 Billion
(03:53) What $199 Billion Could Have Built for Victoria
(06:25) $43 Billion in Tax and Most of It Goes to Interest
(07:23) How the Debt Hits Small Business Through Extra Taxes
(09:09) Is Government Debt Really Good Debt
(10:56) Real Margins at $1M, $5M and $10M Turnover
(14:35) Victorian Insolvencies Up 48% and Projected to Rise 63%
(15:31) Public Sector Staff Up 60% on 29% Population Growth
(17:40) 18% CBD Vacancy and 16,000 People Leaving Victoria
(19:21) How to Work Out What You'll Owe Victoria This Year
(21:24) Review Your Business Structure Before 30 June
(22:50) Director Penalty Notices and When to Get Help

Check out the free resources from Inovayt here.

Send us an email: hello@thenumbersgamepodcast.com.au

The Numbers Game is brought to you by Future Advisory & Inovayt.

Hosts:
Nick Reilly
Jason Robinson

This podcast is produced by VIDPOD.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The bank of mum and dad is now Australia's fifth largest lender, with $35 billion a year flowing from parents to kids trying to get into property. Most of it completely undocumented and with no plan for how it comes back. Nick's seen it go wrong firsthand, and this is what both sides need to hear before any money changes hands.

On this episode, we discuss:

(00:00) Intro
(00:42) Australia's 5th Largest Lender Is the Bank of Mum and Dad
(04:29) $35 Billion a Year and 60% of First Homeowners Need Family Help
(05:58) Why Borrowing From Parents Has Zero Regulation
(07:34) What Can Go Wrong When Family Money Is Involved
(09:27) Why You Need a Loan Agreement Before Money Changes Hands
(10:41) Do Your Parents Need This Money to Retire?
(11:41) How Guarantor Loans Work and Why Parents Can't Sell
(14:26) How Going Guarantor Could Cost Your Parents $200,000 in Super
(17:44) A Real Divorce Case Where $100,000 Had No Paperwork
(18:33) Parents Should Ask the Same Questions a Bank Would
(21:58) How Gifts and Loans Can Impact Your Parents' Pension
(24:33) When Reverse Mortgages Make Sense and When They Don't
(26:44) Would You Do It? Nick's Answer as a Dad

Check out the free resources from Inovayt here.

Send us an email: hello@thenumbersgamepodcast.com.au

The Numbers Game is brought to you by Future Advisory & Inovayt.

Hosts:
Nick Reilly
Jason Robinson

This podcast is produced by VIDPOD.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The ATO is rolling out an automatic $1,000 tax deduction for millions of Australians, and it sounds like free money until you understand how deductions actually work. Jase has run the maths on what that $1,000 really puts back in your pocket at every tax bracket. Is this just another nice sell from the government, or is the box actually worth ticking?

On this episode, we discuss:

(00:00) Intro
(00:21) The $1,000 Auto Tax Deduction Explained
(00:57) Why a Tax Deduction Isn't a Tax Refund
(04:09) What You Actually Get Back at Each Tax Bracket
(05:29) The 70c Per Hour Work From Home Claim
(07:25) Why the Average Aussie Claims $3,500
(08:31) Should the Deduction Be a Sliding Scale?
(11:34) Easy Ways to Track Receipts and Kilometres
(14:27) Why UK Workers Don't Lodge Tax Returns
(16:08) When the $1,000 Deduction Starts
(17:03) Super Contribution Cap Rising to $32.5K
(19:51) Will the $20K Instant Asset Write-Off Stay?
(20:54) Book Your Accountant Before 30 June

Check out the free resources from Inovayt here.

Send us an email: hello@thenumbersgamepodcast.com.au

The Numbers Game is brought to you by Future Advisory & Inovayt.

Hosts:
Nick Reilly
Jason Robinson

This podcast is produced by VIDPOD.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The five-day work week hasn't changed since Henry Ford introduced it in 1926, and Nick reckons AI might be the thing that finally ends it. Thanks to AI productivity gains in service businesses are already real, and the question isn't whether people can get five days of work done in four, it's whether business owners will pass that time back or just pocket the margin. Do you think a four-day week could actually work in Australia?

On this episode, we discuss:

(00:00) Intro
(01:00) Henry Ford and the 5-Day Work Week
(02:44) Could You Do It in a 32-Hour Work Week?
(03:38) Where Your Work-From-Home Day Goes
(04:39) AI Job Losses vs a 4-Day Work Week
(06:03) Should Bosses Share AI Productivity Gains?
(12:00) Nobody Actually Works 5 Full Days
(18:07) Xero Made Us Faster, Not Freer
(20:27) Universal Basic Income and AI
(22:54) Who's the Next Henry Ford?

Check out the free resources from Inovayt here.

Send us an email: hello@thenumbersgamepodcast.com.au

The Numbers Game is brought to you by Future Advisory & Inovayt.

Hosts:
Nick Reilly
Jason Robinson

This podcast is produced by VIDPOD.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Fuel's up 70% and EV orders have tripled, so Jase did the numbers on what switching actually costs. The per-kilometre gap between petrol and electric is ten to one, and if you salary sacrifice an EV through your business, the FBT exemption stacks another $10K-$15K a year on top. If you're thinking about making the switch, this is the one to listen to.

On this episode, we discuss:

(00:00) Intro
(00:47) Strait of Hormuz Disruption and Diesel Up 70%
(02:29) 300% Increase in EV Orders Since the Fuel Spike
(03:45) $0.22/km Petrol vs $0.02/km Electric Running Costs
(05:12) $46,000 vs $10,000 on Fuel Over Five Years
(07:03) Why Jase Ordered a Tesla Model Y
(08:41) How the FBT Exemption Works for Electric Vehicles
(10:15) Salary Sacrificing an EV and Saving $10K-$15K a Year
(12:30) Battery Electric Only Since April 2025, Plug-In Hybrids Out
(14:02) Government Review and the Risk It Gets Pulled
(16:18) Tesla Drops to $20K Resale vs Hilux Holding $40K-$50K
(18:05) When to Buy and When to Wait
(20:12) How This Ties Back to the Productivity and Tax Episode
(22:30) Final Verdict on Whether the Numbers Stack Up

Check out the free resources from Inovayt here.

Send us an email: hello@thenumbersgamepodcast.com.au

The Numbers Game is brought to you by Future Advisory & Inovayt.

Hosts:
Nick Reilly
Jason Robinson

This podcast is produced by VIDPOD.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.