What can I expect?

If you have decided to develop SBR-enabled software you can follow the SBR Software Developer Journey.

Download a full view of the SBR Software Developer Journey.

The SBR Software Developer Journey will assist you to identify the tools or services to facilitate each step from Discovery of SBR through to delivery of an SBR enabled product. These steps are illustrative only, the journey may differ according to your circumstances.

The software developer journey

  1. Discovery
  2. Register intent and get a license agreement
  3. Design, build and test
  4. Self certification
  5. Ongoing support

Discovery

There is information available that may help you to identify commercial opportunities:

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Register intent and get your licence agreement

Once you have determined that you can develop SBR-enabled products, you can request a Software agreement license from the SBR Service Desk.

After your license has been issued, you will receive an email that provides instructions about downloading the Software Developers Kit (SDK). Also, the SBR Testing Support team will contact you to organise a teleconference where you will have the opportunity to discuss what reports you are interested in developing for and ask any questions about the process. The SBR Testing Support team will also provide an introduction to the software testing process and ask you when you intend to begin testing your software.

Did you know you can also gain access to the XBRL toolset ? Ask the SBR Stakeholder Engagement team for more information.

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Design, build and test

Design

To SBR enable your software, you may need to refer to the following information:

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Build

To begin the build phase of the journey, you may need to refer again to the resources listed in the Design phase, as well as refer to the information provided in the following documents:

  • MIG documents for a specific reporting obligation
  • the conformance suite for the corresponding reporting obligation, and
  • relevant Schematron files for a specific reporting obligation
The Building SBR into my application page contains information that you may also find useful at this stage, and you can download MIG and Schematron documents in the developer tools section.

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Test

As a software developer, you will need to:

  • enable your product to use the SBR Taxonomy
  • test the end-to-end process (i.e. from the time the user initiates a reporting transaction to the time it is successfully completed)
  • undertake compliance testing of your product, in accordance with the SBR compliance regime, and
  • execute the test cases in the conformance suite

The SBR Program will provide you with the support and infrastructure needed to participate effectively in the testing of your software.

The SBR Program have created an external test environment that simulates the SBR production environment, which will covers the component parts of SBR, including the generic facilities and agency specific services connected to them.

The SBR Program has also defined all SBR testing boundaries (including interfaces), entry criteria for each boundary interface and provides an SBR test coordinator for first level management and support of all boundary interfaces for the interconnected testing environments.

The SBR Program will also ensure that SBR agencies have tested their own services to a standard sufficient for software developers to engage in their own testing, and provide a suite of test services that can be used to test both the technical (i.e. web service) and business (e.g. activity statement) implementations.

To support the test services, a library of test credentials, Australian Business Numbers (AUSkey) and test data is provided to software developers that will be recognised by agencies during testing.

The SBR Program offers a simple message connectivity test ('message.ping') designed as an end-to-end connectivity test from business software, through core services, to agencies and back

It is important to obtain solid knowledge of the SBR Solution Overview, SBR Taxonomy AU, ReadMe files in the SDK, the Message Implementation Guide and the SBR Self Certification Testing Guide.

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Self Certification

The SBR Program follows a self-certification model which is explained in the Self-certification testing guide. This approach is based on the current ATO process for software developer certification which firstly establishes the minimum criteria that the software must meet, and then requires the software developer to declare that they have achieved the required testing results.

The testing results are not reviewed by the Australian Government or by a third party, so the declaration is a self-certification of compliance, with no implied approval or endorsement by the SBR Program of any Australian Government agency. However, on a risk basis, the SBR Program will undertake a targeted compliance audit of a software developers adherence to the agreed processes.

The self certification testing packages are designed to provide technical assurance that your implementation of SBR has been done correctly. You should note that the self-certification testing artefacts are designed to provide technical assurance only. As a Software Developer you are responsible for conduction your own quality reviews and tests to your own satisfaction, prior to commencement of any conformance testing.

To be eligible to complete the Self-Certification declaration you must have completed the following activities:

  • complete and have an original Software Developer's Licence for Standard Business Reporting; and,
  • complete the required SBR Program testing for any and all relevant reports.

Once all these activities have been completed request a Declaration of Self Certification and send this completed form to the SBR Service Desk.

To request a Declaration of Self Certification form please contact the SBR Service Desk.

Once it is accepted, your software information will be added to the SBR enabled products list on the SBR website and a request to allow messages generated from your software in the production environment will be accepted.

If you have made any major changes to your software product, you may need to re‑test your software version and complete another declaration of Self Certification.

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Ongoing support

Developing or testing SBR-enabled software and require assistance?

Contact the SBR Service Desk on 1300 488 231 or via SBRServiceDesk@sbr.gov.au - available between 8:00am and 7:00pm AEST Monday to Friday - excludes public holidays and the SBR Christmas shutdown period.

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Last updated: 09 May 2012
Page ID: 12469