ABS Business Reporting Data Usage

When you connect ABS Business Reporting to Xero accounting software, you will be asked to select a specific business or organisation from those you have access to in Xero. When you authorise a connection, you will grant ABS Business Reporting read-only access to that business’ reports and organisation settings.

To help you to complete your survey, the ABS will access the selected business’: 

• chart of accounts
• profit and loss report
• trial balance report
• user details
• organisation details, including the Australian Business Number (ABN).

When authorising a connection with Xero in ABS Business Reporting, users will also grant access to their: 

• name 
• email 
• user profile.

When you connect ABS Business Reporting to MYOB accounting software, you will grant ABS Business Reporting access to all business ledgers associated with your MYOB account and all company files you have access to.   

The ABS restricts ABS Business Reporting to only access information needed to help you to complete your survey. During authorisation, you will be asked to select a specific business, and the ABS will restrict ABS Business Reporting to only access that business’ reports and organisation settings. 

To help you to complete your survey, the ABS will access the selected business’:  

• categories (chart of accounts) 
• profit and loss report 
• balance sheet report 
• company file, including the Australian Business Number (ABN). 

Company files will contain information about the business, including business name, ABN and contact email. Company files may also contain details of employees, customers, suppliers, and personal contacts that the business has added. This could include names, addresses, email and phone numbers if these have been added to a company file. The ABS does not use or retain information of this nature in any way. 

When you connect ABS Business Reporting to QuickBooks, you will grant ABS Business Reporting access to a range of information about your QuickBooks account. QuickBooks Data Sharing Policy describes the types of data QuickBooks shares with third-party apps such as ABS Business Reporting. 

The ABS restricts ABS Business Reporting to only access information needed to help you to complete your survey. During authorisation, you will be asked to select a specific business, and the ABS will restrict ABS Business Reporting to only access that business’ reports and organisation settings. 

To help you to complete your survey, the ABS will access the selected business’:

• chart of accounts
• profit and loss report
• trial balance report
• company information, including Australian Business Number (ABN).

In some instances, company information held in QuickBooks may include details of employees, customers, suppliers, and personal contacts that the business has added, and could include names, addresses, email and phone numbers, if these have been added to the account. The ABS does not use or retain information of this nature in any way. 

A total for each survey question in ABS Business Reporting will be submitted to the ABS and used for the purpose of compiling, analysing and publishing statistics.   

If you choose to connect to accounting software in ABS Business Reporting, totals for each survey question are calculated using information from your accounting software or added through manual entry. Only these totals will be sent to the ABS when you submit your survey and used to produce statistics. 

If you do not connect to accounting software to complete your survey, you will enter information directly against each question. The information you enter will be saved by the ABS and used to produce statistics. 

Your information will be treated confidentially, and we assure you that you and the business that you are reporting for will not be identifiable in any published results.

Please see Privacy at the ABS for more information on how the ABS stores statistical data. 

The ABS collects and stores your contact information to make communicating with you easier. 

You will be asked to provide contact details when you create an account in ABS Business Reporting. Alternatively, this information may be shared with the ABS by Xero if you log in using your accounting software credentials. Contact information collected includes your:  

• name 
• email address 
• mobile phone number 
• role in the business.

This information may be used if the ABS wants to contact you with questions about your responses, or to contact you as part of our data collection activities. 

We have conducted a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) to consider potential privacy impacts on the privacy of individuals whose personal information is collected through ABS Business Reporting. The Privacy Impact Assessment includes a statement of compliance against each of the Australian Privacy Principles.

Further information on how the ABS stores non-statistical data can also be found on the webpage Privacy at the ABS. 

When you connect to accounting software in ABS Business Reporting, you will associate accounts from your accounting software with survey questions. This mapping of accounts against questions will be stored by the ABS. This allows ABS Business Reporting to pre-fill questions with information from the associated accounts when you report again. This removes the need to repeat the mapping process for each quarter.  The ABS will only store the most recent copy of the mapping of your accounts against survey questions. When a more recent survey is submitted, it will overwrite the previously stored mapping.  

Further information on how the ABS stores non-statistical data can also be found on the webpage Privacy at the ABS. 

When a business is disconnected from Xero, the ABS will no longer have access to that business’ reports and organisation settings, including the:  

• chart of accounts
• profit and loss report
• trial balance report
• user details
• organisation details, including the Australian Business Number (ABN).

The ABS will also no longer have access through your accounting software to your: 

• name 
• email 
• user profile.

The ABS will still have access to any information that was previously submitted in a survey, including contact details, as well as the most recent instance of data in the application.  

When a business is disconnected from MYOB, the ABS’ access key is deleted and ABS will no longer have access to that business’ reports and organisation settings, including the: 

• categories (chart of accounts) 
• profit and loss report
• balance sheet report
• company file, including the Australian Business Number (ABN).

The ABS will still have access to any information that was previously submitted in a survey, including contact details, as well as the most recent instance of data in the application.  

While ABS Business Reporting will no longer be able to access a business’ data once access is revoked, a connection will still exist. Please visit MYOB Account - Authorisation to log into your MYOB account and disconnect.

When a business is disconnected from QuickBooks, the ABS will no longer have access to that business’ reports and organisation settings, including the:  

• chart of accounts
• profit and loss report
• trial balance report
• company information, including Australian Business Number (ABN).

The ABS will still have access to any information that was previously submitted in a survey, including contact details, as well as the most recent instance of data in the application.