What to keep in mind
- The legal calculation differs from a personal budget balance.
- Family circumstances and documentation matter.
- Changing income can affect payment and discharge estimates.
A budget balance is not the statutory calculation
In everyday budgeting, surplus means what remains after the spending you planned. In bankruptcy, surplus income has a legal meaning and a formal assessment process. Section 68 is the statutory foundation for determining the amount payable, taking account of the applicable standards and personal and family circumstances.
Do not assume that using every dollar in a household budget eliminates an income contribution. Equally, do not assume that one high paycheque establishes the final amount. The useful task is to understand the inputs and review method. Ask the trustee to show the stages of the calculation and identify what evidence each stage relies on.
Start with the applicable directive and family information
The OSB's 2026 surplus-income directive sets out the annual standards and explains family-unit information, adjustments and averaging. The page notes that the official PDF prevails if it differs from the HTML version.
Prepare a household map showing who contributes to income or expenses and any relevant changes. Ask how the directive's family-unit definition applies rather than counting only names on the lease. Where another person is concerned about sharing information, ask the trustee to explain the consequences of missing information and the secure submission process. Do not quietly omit a person or enter zero as a substitute for an unknown amount.
Organize income by type and period
Collect pay statements, employment changes, benefit notices, self-employment records and documents about irregular receipts. For each item, record the period it relates to and when it was paid. Separate gross figures, deductions and amounts actually deposited so the trustee can reconcile them.
If you receive a bonus, commission, settlement or retroactive payment, bring its explanation rather than guessing the category. A bank deposit alone may not show what period or legal entitlement produced the money. Ask whether further documents are needed and retain the answer with the calculation. This preparation exercise does not decide the legal treatment of a payment; it gives the trustee the evidence needed to analyse it.
Keep expense evidence readable
The directive distinguishes prescribed adjustments and nondiscretionary expenses from simply subtracting every household purchase. Bring evidence of relevant payments and ask which categories apply to your actual circumstances. Avoid creating a home-made formula from a generic list of expenses.
A useful folder groups each expense type with invoices, receipts and dates. Note whether an amount is recurring, temporary, reimbursed or shared. If a receipt contains private medical or family information, ask how much documentation is necessary and how to submit it securely. You should be able to trace the figure used in the assessment to a record without having to search through unrelated transactions each month.
Ask how changes and averaging are reviewed
Surplus-income requirements can affect the ordinary automatic-discharge framework in section 168.1. The annual directive explains review and averaging, so an initial estimate should not be treated as immutable.
Tell the trustee about a material change and ask how it will be reflected. Useful questions include: Which months are included? Has the family information changed? Is the estimate provisional? When is the next review? Which amount remains unpaid? Keep the explanation rather than only the final number. That makes a later difference understandable and helps distinguish a changed fact from a possible calculation error.
Use an irregular-income illustration
Imagine a salesperson who receives several commissions together after a quiet period. Comparing only the month with the large deposit against an online threshold would ignore the rest of the earnings history. Comparing only the quiet month would be equally incomplete.
The salesperson should bring the commission statements, payment dates and the period each payment covers. The trustee can explain how the relevant review method applies. This hypothetical example deliberately avoids a dollar calculation because a reliable result requires the applicable standard, family information and allowable adjustments. It illustrates why a good records pack is more useful than selecting the lowest or highest month as a representative figure.
Check an explanation before treating it as a dispute
If the amount seems wrong, first ask for the inputs and arithmetic. Identify the exact figure you question and attach the record supporting a correction. “My pay was different in this month” is a more useful starting point than “the whole calculation is unfair.”
Section 68 contains mechanisms for resolving certain disagreements; ask the trustee which process applies if a factual explanation does not resolve the issue. Keep required reporting current while obtaining advice about a dispute. This page does not calculate your contribution or tell you to stop payments. For the connection between estimates and completion, read our discharge guide and bring the actual calculation to a professional.
Follow the evidence
Sources & further reading
Verify the documents and discuss their application with a licensed trustee.
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