THE CLOUD SEA CHANGE FOR TAX PAYERS AND ADVISORS
SBR brings more innovative globalization and information sharing in regulatory business reporting

Businesses and tax advisors are being encouraged by the Commonwealth to use AUSkey to lodge business reports to government agencies such as the ATO, ASIC and the OSR to work in with the new Standard Business Reporting (SBR) processes that came into effect in July of this year.

By using SBR enabled accounting and payroll software business can pre-fill forms and conduct transactions, provide instant validation and receipting of form lodgment efficiently and effectively saving time and money.

In the past decades, tax payers and tax advisors have used either paper-based systems or e-lodgment processes to meet their reporting obligations.

Electronic Lodgment was introduced to Australia in 1987 marking the major change from the paper-based system.

By 2003/04, it was estimated 97% of tax advisors were using the Electronic Lodgment Service (ELS). The estimate for individual tax payers lodging electronically through the e-tax was 10% with 1% using TaxPack Express via Australia Post.

Electronic lodgment soon became a global pattern displacing the paper processing of tax returns with different types of ELS.

So, what were the key drivers of this innovation and how did ideas pertaining to electronic lodgment services spread globally?

By 2008, tax advisors submitted 9.1 million (72 percent) of tax returns using ELS and 2.2 million (18 percent) using e-tax indicating a gradual increase in lodgment by e-tax.

Have we exhausted the full potential of ELS and what factors have affected the change and will this have any bearing to the earlier sea change?

The current ELS was built for electronic lodgment from a standalone computer. This system has its limitations as it restricts the user to the computer where ELS is installed and regulatory changes will require a newer version of the ELS software.

This may involve the delayed delivery of software upgrades from providers and the extra cost involved for the upgrade. The transition between regulatory changes and upgraded software versions generates software glitches such as the rejection of returns, inoperable schedules adding hours to the time tax advisors need to complete each BAS or tax .

SBR is the next wave of development and innovation in the ELS field. New accounting and payroll software incorporates SBR features allowing direct lodgment from the software from a desktop or now Cloud.

Will the SBR-enabled accounting and payroll software resolve the earlier desktop issues surrounding ELS?

SBR enabled accounting software benefits business and tax advisors because it will save them time and effort in gathering, analyzing, assembling and rekeying information for reports to government which then can be sent directly from the software to the reporting agencies such as the ATO.

Corporates and governments globally are making the transition to CLOUD Technology software as it is considered to be the way of the future.

Will SBR-enabled accounting and payroll software meet the standard expected and cope with the changing needs?

Cloud technology is already widely available. Google and eBay are prime examples.. We have come to depend on these services as "always being there and available". They are an integrated part of our lives just like a mobile phone.

So why is the accounting technology still in the dark ages?

Recent commercial release of SBR-enabled accounting software - Interactive Accounts Manager (IAM) embraces cloud technology as the foundation of their software.

IAM was the first SBR lodgments to the ATO for September 2010 BAS payers.

The cloud IAM is more efficient, cost effective, simple to use with regular upgrades on regulations.

IAM is free to tax and BAS advisors to use in collaboration with their IAM clients for the electronic lodgment of SBR ready forms. At the same time, users and advisors can interact in real time to manage their accounts online.

IAM is a bespoke application using cloud technology, which migrates the vast resource of the internet to ensure high security and availability. Leading edge companies like Microsoft and Oracle are making sure cloud technology is there - when you need it.

Bringing accounting software and SBR to the cloud enables the next generation of accounting professionals and taxpayers to concentrate on running their practices and businesses rather than juggling data files retarding productivity.

As a milestone, SBR declares over 200,000 AUSkey issued to date, confirming an up rise in welcoming the sea changes in business reporting. IAM is also participating in this bandwagon to make SBR a grand success.

For more information or to arrange interviews with Tiana Tran of Interactive Accounts Manager (IAM)

Please contact Hunter Media Solutions – Ben Hunter 0420 908 750 or ben@huntermedia.com.au



About Impact Management Group Pty Ltd

Interactive Accounts Manager (IAM) is dedicated to provide complete accounting solutions for small business. As the only vendor today offering native Standard Business Reporting (SBR) in a product delivered via the highly efficient Software as a Service or SaaS business model, delivering a faster, cheaper way of records keeping, interaction between software users and their tax advisors and reporting to the tax office or other reporting agencies over the internet. www.iam-online.com.au