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July has brought confirmation that the new financial year will still be a challenging operating environment. If you’re still knee-deep in EOFY reporting, or just coming up for air, we hope it’s going smoothly.

Business confidence just hit a record low, and the 1 July reset stacked more cost and compliance on top of every finance team. But AI adoption among Australian SMBs just broke 30% for the first time, led by Financial Services and Technology, the two sectors under the most cost pressure right now. Businesses aren’t retreating under the squeeze. They’re getting sharper about where every dollar goes.

Inside this edition:

We read a lot so you don’t have to. Here’s what’s actually worth your time.

Confidence and cash flow

One number explains the mood right now. The other might buy you some room.

Business confidence just hit a record low, and insolvencies are up 11% year-on-year. Roy Morgan’s index dropped to 76.1 in May, down 28.9 points across 2026 alone. Court-appointed administrations rose to 3,094 in the year to 21 June, and Construction remains the worst-hit industry of any sector. (Accountants Daily / The Nightly)

Loss carry-back is back from FY2026-27. Post a loss this year and you can now claim a refund against tax already paid in the prior two income years, a genuine cash-flow lever if the numbers above hit close to home. (Budget 2026-27 / CPA Australia)

AI and the workforce

The panic story isn’t holding up. The actual hiring story is more interesting anyway.

The government’s first AI-employment report found no evidence of the job losses everyone’s been braced for. Released 8 July, it found overall labour market conditions remaining strong by historical standards, with youth outcomes holding up too. Worth knowing before the next round of AI headcount speculation lands. (DEWR / The Mandarin)

AI job postings nearly doubled in a year, to 41,000. Likely more a sign of role expectations shifting than a straightforward pay bump, but Australia’s AI specialist workforce is still on track to fall roughly 60,000 people short of demand by 2027. If you’re hiring for it, expect the bar to keep moving. (PwC)

The 1 July reset, still bedding in

A cluster of changes landed on the same date. Here’s the shortlist that actually changes what you do this month.

Award wages rose 4.75% on 1 July, 6% for the lowest-paid. About 100,000 of the lowest-paid award workers got the bigger bump. (Fair Work Commission / SBS News)

The lowest tax bracket dropped from 16% to 15%. Applies to income between $18,201 and $45,000, effective 1 July. (Budget 2026-27 / SuperGuide)

Parental Leave Pay extended to 26 weeks, also effective 1 July. Worth building into FY27 leave forecasting now. (business.gov.au / The Parenthood)

Regulation and compliance

Last call on AUSTRAC Tranche 2: enrolment closes 29 July. Accountants, lawyers, conveyancers, real estate agents and jewellers have about a week left to enrol before the deadline hits. If your business falls into one of those categories and hasn’t enrolled yet, this week is the moment to sort it. (AUSTRAC / MinterEllison)

Aged Care dodged a price cap. It got a price microscope instead. Formal caps on Support at Home pricing were deferred, but from 1 July every provider must publish its full price list publicly, a quarterly national price-comparison report goes live, and the regulator now has power to order refunds for overcharging. No ceiling, but nowhere left to quietly price differently from the provider down the road. (Australian Ageing Agenda / My Aged Care)

Look-forward

If you lodge BAS quarterly, Q4 is due 28 July, next week. Same lodgement, same rules, just a reminder while everything else this month is competing for attention. Monthly lodgers, typically mid-to-large businesses, are on a different cycle and can skip this one. (ATO / Digit)

Every quarter, we track how many Australian and New Zealand businesses pay for AI tools, and which providers, drawn from anonymised spend data across 4,000+ companies on Weel. Here’s what the Q2 update showed.

OpenAI led Anthropic by 13 points in January. By June, that lead was down to two, and the average Anthropic customer was already outspending the average OpenAI customer 3.6 to 1.

Overall adoption broke 30% for the first time in June.

Before Q3 budgets and renewals lock in, worth knowing, whether you’re already spending on AI or not:

Full breakdown, including what we’re watching next quarter, on the Weelhouse.

New financial year, same goal: every expense complete, with less manual work to get there.

Everything in this edition is a conversation Perth’s finance leaders are already having.

Join 150+ of them today at the Pan Pacific for a day on AI, economic conditions, and finance leadership toward 2030, then stay back for networking drinks with the Weel team. Free to register.

Best Corporate Card, Best Value, again: we won three 2026 WeMoney Business Awards

Weel took home three wins at the 2026 WeMoney Business Awards, all in the Corporate Card Management category: Corporate Card Management Platform of the Year (Debit Card) for the third year running, Best for Quality for the second year running, and Best for Value for the second year running. We were also named a finalist for Best for Flexibility.

Moments like this remind us why we keep building: not for the trophy, but for the finance teams working toward the same thing we are, a shared mission we like to call Every Expense Complete.

One more thing

We’re building Weelhouse Wire for finance teams who want an edge. What should we keep? What should we drop? What do you want to see in next month’s newsletter?

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