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The CEO of MYOB has called on accountants to lobby for policy changes, after a survey revealed that the majority of SMEs are dissatisfied with the federal government’s performance.
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MYOB head calls on accountants to lobby govt
19 January 2017
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MYOB released its bi-annual Business Monitor survey today, revealing that only 22 per cent of SMEs are satisfied with federal government. Thirty-three per cent indicated that they were unsatisfied and 44 per cent were neither satisfied nor unsatisfied.
MYOB CEO Tim Reed said there are a few things to consider when looking at SMEs’ satisfaction with the government.
“The first is, there have been some great policies that the government have put out there to support small businesses. As I look through the last two budget cycles, small businesses have been front and centre, so in that front you would think the government would be doing better and have higher popularity across small business owners,” Mr Reed told Accountants Daily.
“But the other thing that small businesses look for is an environment of stability and certainty in which they can make decisions and I think that that has not been as strong as many small businesses would like it to be.”
Mr Reed said that accountants probably share similar sentiments as their clients and they should leverage their position to help lobby for policy changes.
“Accountants absolutely play a critical role in all those areas,” he said.
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“We didn’t measure the accountants’ satisfaction specifically but my experience is that because they work so closely with their small business clients, often accountants have very similar perspectives on these issues...”
The survey asked small businesses what policies they would vote for or against.
Keeping the $20,000 instant asset tax write-off for businesses under $2 million in revenue was the top policy, with 68 per cent of respondents supporting it.
Following closely behind, 66 per cent of SMEs supported making GST and BAS compliance simpler, while 61 per cent wanted the government to assign a proportion of its billions in procurement contacts to small business.
“Small business owners are fundamentally pragmatic and they understand that when they start a business that there are risks and opportunities they’re taking on,” Mr Reed said.
“But they also look toward the government to take responsibility for creating an environment that enables them to have the best opportunities that they can and succeed in.”
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