Standard Business Reporting - Saviour or Time Killer?

Just when you thought Mr Henry was too busy with his tax review, he pulls another one out of the hat. All in the name of making Australia a more streamlined and efficient economy. Standard Business Reporting (SBR) is the government's attempt to minimise the time it takes to submit government reports such as the Business Activity Statement (Tax Office) and the Annual Statement (ASIC). It proposes this by enabling the submission of these reports straight from the accounting software used. The government intends to implement SBR from the 1 July 2010. Of course none of these good intentions will materialise if software developers do not jump on board. MYOB was contacted today as there is minimal information on their website. They advised (after holding the call for 5 minutes and then quoting an internal email) that MYOB will be aiming to include the SBR capability in the next software update for the AccountRight product range. Unfortunately a date could not be given.

The Espresso Shot: Yes SBR is a welcomed initiative but with most things today, the caveat is that SBR will save time as long as the data used is accurate and timely.