Many small businesses are currently required to provide a large number of business-to-government reports, which can be a major burden. On 1 July 2010, the Australian Government will implement Standard Business Reporting (SBR) which will reduce some of the reporting burden that businesses currently face. In a few years, SBR is expected to be used by most businesses, and should save the business community up to $800 million per year.
The main function of the SBR program is to standardise the current approach to business reporting and its associated language. The SBR program was developed in partnership with Federal, state and territory government agencies, software developers, local businesses, bookkeepers, tax agents and other business intermediaries.
SBR will simplify the business to government reporting by:
- removing unnecessary or duplicated information from current government forms
- using business software to automatically pre-fill forms with relevant information
- providing an electronic interface to report to agencies directly from accounting software
- providing a single secure online sign-on AUSkey for users.
Ultimately SBR will allow businesses and accountants to use their accounting system as their portal for government reporting. The implementation of SBR will be voluntary for businesses wanting to save time and money.
To ensure your business is SBR ready, talk to your accountant, tax agent or financial and accounting software provider to find out what their SBR-enabled products offer.
For more information on SBR, visit www.sbr.gov.au .
