Businesses of all sizes across industries can benefit from the latest checklist that SAP Concur shared to help them prepare for the end of financial year in Australia (2021-22) and also a fast start to the upcoming financial year (2022-23).
SAP Concur, a global provider of travel and expense management services, has recently published a checklist for Australian businesses in time for the nearing end of financial year. With borders reopening, pandemic restrictions changing and having newly elected members of the 47th Parliament of Australia, businesses in the country are anticipating changes in regulations on top of the pressing need to comply with end of financial year (EOFY) reporting.
The tips and tools for yearend financial reporting released by SAP Concur came at an opportune time for companies to prepare, review and reset their financial processes in consideration of the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) key focus areas: recordkeeping; work-related expenses; rental property income and deductions; and capital gains from crypto assets, property, and shares.
Generally, preparing and completing an EOFY report consumes man-hours, significantly impacting a company’s bottom line. Fabian Calle, SAP Concur Australia and New Zealand Managing Director Small and Medium Business, acknowledged businesses’ efforts, even stretching business resources, to comply with the regulations of ATO.
“Australian businesses have had an extremely challenging couple of years with sustained business interruptions and market volatility. For these reasons, the 2022 EOFY process is likely to be more time-consuming and complex for most organisations,” he stressed.
Streamlining End of Financial Year in Australia
SAP Concur listed three methodical steps to help businesses streamline their 2021-22 EOFY reporting.
Step 1: Review Recordkeeping Tasks
SAP Concur recommends for organisations to check that their financial records align with ATO requirements such as a summary of income and expenses; a stocktake to show current assets; goods and services tax (GST), superannuation, and pay as you go (PAYG) tax withholding statements; and any documents containing details of any election, choice, estimate, determination, or calculation related to business’ tax and superannuation affairs.
Step 2: Ensure compliance with current ATO requirements
Enterprises should make certain that their EOFY reports comply with current tax requirements, including any regulatory changes made within the financial year. Businesses are encouraged to comply with the financial reporting guidelines set by the Australian Security and Investments Commission (ASIC), the body responsible for regulating financial reporting.
Step 3: Beware of Tax-Time Scams
SAP Concur suggests that Australian companies, especially small and medium-sized businesses, should be keen on recognising scams via email or phone highlighting that over $7.2 million were stolen in the country by scammers via home computers from January to July 2021. Organisations are advised to report fraudulent emails or phone calls to ATO including those that seem like false billing, overpayment, malware and ransomware, whaling and phishing, online shopping, or investment, which are the most common scams around EOFY as per Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
Initiating the New Financial Year
Software-as-a-Service provider SAP Concur also shared that Australian companies can already initiate their 2022-23 financial reporting by reviewing the organisation’s overall business position and identifying areas for greater efficiencies that can be achieved by leveraging automation. Businesses are highly encouraged to look into their processes where automation can drive operational efficiencies, reduce cost, and enhance business data security, especially that the federal government is slated to fully adopt e-invoicing from July 2022.
“Australian businesses are on the road to recovery. Businesses that can redefine processes and improve operational efficiencies through automation are likely to recover and move to growth much faster than those that continue to rely on manual processes. In the digital economy, and with federal government agencies fully adopting e-invoicing from 1 July, the start of the 2023 financial year will provide a unique opportunity for businesses to take advantage of government incentives to digitally transform, “ Calle explained.
He emphasised that businesses can look at EOFY from a different perspective– as an opportunity for them to reset, refresh, and improve financial processes. The SAP Concur executive added:
“Instead, EOFY should be as simple as any other report a business needs to produce and, instead, provide the focus needed to drive growth in the coming financial year. This is something that automation will increasingly deliver as cloud capabilities continue to evolve.”
