Benefits

Using SBR-enabled financial management software will deliver many benefits reporting professionals and their client’s businesses. These include:

The SBR initiative will result in the removal of unnecessary and duplicated information from government forms, reducing the need to enter the same data multiple times.
Reporting to government will be a by-product of natural business processes. Reporting information will be populated from underlying financial and payroll records, reducing the need for manual data entry. This will reduce both potential input errors and time spent to complete forms.
Unlike the current online channels in place to submit reports to government, SBR will enable lodgment of reports directly from your accounting software without logging on to separate portals and systems and re-keying information already held in your system.

When financial reporting regulations change (e.g. due to changes in legislation), these changes will be captured in updates to the underlying SBR technology. This will provide certainty that reports have been completed in line with current reporting regulation.
Reporting requirements will be clearer and more consistently defined across government agencies and forms as a result of the common reporting language used for SBR, making it easier for you to understand your reporting obligations.
Pre-filling of government forms from your own accounting software and agencies will reduce the risk of reporting incorrect information. SBR will provide an option to check your submission with the relevant agency before it is officially submitted; providing further certainty your lodgement is correct.
SBR will give you with real time confirmation that your reports have been received.

One password no matter how many agencies or how many clients.
SBR will enable you to report from your own accounting software without having to sign-on to each individual agency; one single secure sign-on to SBR is sufficient.
Sign-on to SBR is simple and safe; with easier and quicker registration processes than typically exist for current channels.
Single sign on credentials for SBR are portable and can be used on various machines from any location.
Single sign-on credentials will also be used to access other secure on-line services for the agencies involved in SBR.

SBR is based on a common reporting language using a technology known as XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language -developed by accountants for accounting information).
The use of this common language will enable businesses to share financial information more readily with third parties (e.g. financial advisors, bankers, investors) when required. However, it is important to note that SBR will not store any information -it is simply an electronic channel between you and the government agency to which you are reporting.

SBR will facilitate enhanced information sharing between businesses and reporting professionals, provide certainty that reporting obligations have been met and allow access to more sophisticated financial reports.
Reporting information will be clearly defined and linked to financial and payroll records, enabling the more efficient production of a sound and demonstrable audit trail, from individual transactions through to financial reports.