(Listen to a discussion with Lee White, the Institute's General Manager for Leadership & Quality, on the topic of Standard Business Reporting.) 
 
The Institute attended and presented at the recent Standard Business Reporting (SBR) conference held in both Sydney and Melbourne. The conference, entitled Revolutionising Business Reporting, demonstrated to attendees what Australian business can expect from SBR, explored global financial reporting trends, discussed what SBR means for business, accountants and software developers and helped attendees assess what they needed to do to implement SBR. Representatives from the Institute include those from the financial reporting and tax areas. Further Lee White, the Institute’s General Manager of Leadership and Quality, presented at both the Sydney and Melbourne events. 
 
SBR will be launched in July 2010 and will provide on-line reporting capabilities for annual financial reports, business activity statements, tax returns and payroll tax. The attendees also learned that the SBR Program was the result from one of the recommendations of the Banks taskforce, which examined the regulatory burden on Australian businesses. The reduction of regulatory burden is the driving principle for SBR. Once fully operational, SBR will save Australian business $800 million a year. 
 
The Institute’s Head of Reporting, Kerry Hicks, is part of the Business Advisory Forum set up by Treasury to stay in touch with the needs of Australian business through advising on setting and enhancing public perception of the program and communicating SBR outcomes to the wider accounting profession. 
 
More information can be obtained from the Institute website or the SBR website.