ABS Business Reporting help

If the business you are reporting for uses Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks, connecting securely to your accounting software in ABS Business Reporting can make it faster and easier to complete your survey.

When you connect, you will see information from your accounting software on screen as you complete your survey. You can select accounts or categories to include for each survey question, and a total will be generated automatically. 

Once you have worked through all the questions, you will see a summary with a total amount for each question, which you can review and submit to the ABS. 

For more information, watch the short video on our page Why should I connect to accounting software in ABS Business Reporting?.

The first time you log in to ABS Business Reporting, you can select your accounting software and follow the prompts to connect. 

If your accounting software is not listed, or if you don’t want to connect, you can continue without accounting software to enter information manually into a web form.

If you have previously completed a survey manually, you can still choose to connect to your accounting software to save time. Please call us on 1800 642 149 (+61 2 6252 8802 overseas) so we can assist you.

You can disconnect your accounting software from ABS Business Reporting at any time through the Manage connections screen. Press 'Manage connections' in the sidebar of your dashboard, then either press 'Disconnect business' next to an active business or press the ellipsis then 'Disconnect business' next to an authorised business to confirm the business' removal. 

You can also disconnect ABS Business Reporting from within your accounting software. See your accounting software help for instructions. 

Note: after disconnecting a MYOB business from within ABS Business Reporting, MYOB will still show a connection to ABS Business Reporting. Please visit MYOB Account - Authorisation to log in to your MYOB account and disconnect.

If you need to complete a survey using ABS Business Reporting for the same business in future, you will need to contact us to change the way you complete your survey. Please call us on 1800 642 149 (+61 2 6252 8802 overseas) so we can assist you.

See ABS Business Reporting Data Usage for details on what happens to your data when you disconnect your accounting software.

In ABS Business Reporting, you can choose to connect to your Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks accounting software, or to enter information manually. 

If you have started a survey, or previously completed a survey for your business using one of these options, and would now like to change, please call us on 1800 642 149 (+61 2 6252 8802 overseas) so we can assist you.  

Once you change the way you complete your survey, you will no longer have access to your past surveys. We strongly recommend downloading and securely storing past surveys before contacting us. 

Currently ABS Business Reporting allows connection to Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks. If the business you are reporting for uses other accounting software, you will need to select ‘Continue without accounting software’ and enter your information manually.

If you can’t log in, it may be that you have not yet created an account. The first time you use ABS Business Reporting you will need to click on 'Create account' and follow the prompts.

If you have already created an account but still can’t log in, please call us on 1800 642 149 (+61 2 6252 8802 overseas) Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm AEST.

We recommend accessing ABS Business Reporting using the latest version of the following compatible browsers:

• Microsoft Edge
• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox
• Safari

At times, high volumes of traffic may cause issues accessing the ABS Business Reporting webpage. Please wait and try again later.

If you still have problems, please call us on 1800 642 149 (+61 2 6252 8802 overseas) so we can assist you.

Your reference number is shown on the email or letter you receive from the ABS about the survey. It has two letters (AT or MU) followed by eight numbers such as ‘AT12345678’. 

When you connect to accounting software in ABS Business Reporting, anyone with the appropriate access to your business' accounts can log in to ABS Business Reporting and connect to your business.

If you are completing your survey manually, you can delegate the survey to someone else to complete. 

After logging in, go to the Dashboard and click on the ‘Delegate’ button next to the survey you want them to complete. Type in their name and email address and let them know to go to www.abs.gov.au/businessreporting to get started. They will also need the reference number found on your letter or email from the ABS.

Once you start the process to delegate your survey, the person you have delegated it to will have 24 hours to log in and access the survey. During this time you will be unable to cancel the delegation. Please wait 24 hours for the survey to reset and you will then be able to re-delegate.

You can also revoke access in the same way. From the Dashboard, click on the ‘Delegated’ button next to the survey you no longer want them to access.

When you connect to accounting software in ABS Business Reporting, the businesses you see listed are those you have appropriate access to within your accounting software. If you cannot see the business you are looking for, check your accounting software permissions.  

If you have previously completed a survey for a QuickBooks business and it is not showing this quarter, you may need to add the business again. From the dashboard, select 'Manage connections', then 'Add business', then select QuickBooks and follow the prompts to reauthorise the business.  

If you are unable to resolve this issue through your accounting software or managing connections in ABS Business Reporting, please contact us on 1800 642 149 (+61 2 6252 8802 overseas). 

In ABS Business Reporting, you can choose to connect to your Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks accounting software, or to enter information manually. 

If you have started a survey, or previously completed a survey for your business using one of these options, and would now like to change, please call us on 1800 642 149 (+61 2 6252 8802 overseas) so we can assist you.  

Once you change the way you complete your survey, you will no longer have access to your past surveys. We strongly recommend downloading and securely storing past surveys before contacting us to change. 

If you see a message that your survey or reference number has already been claimed, it is likely that another authorised person has begun a survey for your business, or may have completed a survey in the previous quarter. Often this will be your bookkeeper/accountant or another person in the business. Please check with other authorised people to confirm who will complete the survey, and call us on 1800 642 149 (+61 2 6252 8802 overseas) if you need the survey to be reset.

Survey questions may not line up exactly with your accounts, and you may have a single account that needs to be split across multiple survey questions. To do this leave the account from your accounting software unallocated, add a manual entry to each of the relevant survey questions, and enter the values required. 

If you connect to accounting software, you can still report information that is different to what is in your accounts. This may be useful if accounts are not finalised at the time of reporting to the ABS. Select ‘Manual entry’, add a description and a value and press ‘Save’.  

ABS Business Reporting is being introduced gradually. Currently, eligible small businesses selected in the Quarterly Business Indicators Survey (QBIS) can submit a survey through ABS Business Reporting. These businesses will receive an email or letter with instructions on how to complete their survey using ABS Business Reporting. 

You may be asked to report using other platforms for other ABS surveys.