PMA News: New era for business reporting

From July 2010, a new government initiative will offer Australian businesses a quicker and easier way to complete their government reporting requirements.

Standard Business Reporting (SBR) is simplifying business-to-government reporting by:

- Removing unnecessary or duplicated information from government forms.

- Providing an electronic interface to agencies directly from business software, similar to an electronic postal system, which will also provide validation and confirm receipt of reports.

- Providing a single secure online sign-on AUSkey for users to report electronically to all agencies involved.

SBR will benefit businesses in the following ways:

- Spend less time and effort reporting to government.

- Satisfy reporting obligations directly from financial record-keeping systems.

- Do less organising and re-keying of data, making it easier for business to prepare and lodge their own reports.

- Use an AUSkey as a single credential to access secure government online services.

You will be able to report online via SBR to all of the participating agencies from July 2010 and to access other online services with the Tax Office.

If you already have an ATO digital certificate, you should use it to register for an AUSkey credential from April 2010. Just follow the prompts in the registration process.

When you use your current ATO digital certificate to apply for an AUSkey credential, all of the settings and permissions that you have set for that certificate will be transferred to your new AUSkey.

Also, be certain reporting obligations have been dealt with and received by government and get validation of receipts.