About ABS Business Reporting

Participation in ABS surveys is an opportunity to make a real difference. Every year businesses and organisations across Australia provide information to help us to produce statistics on the current state of the economy. Each business’ contribution helps to build a statistical picture of the economy, which can be used by government, industry and businesses to help inform decision making. 

However, this value is only maintained with the support of businesses.

ABS Business Reporting is one of a number of initiatives to modernise the way we do things, and to make it easier for people and businesses to contribute.

ABS Business Reporting is a web application where businesses can choose to connect to their accounting software, allowing you to see information held in the business’ accounts to help prepare a report to submit to the ABS. 

ABS Business Reporting has been co-designed with businesses, accountants and bookkeepers as an easier way to report financial information to the ABS.  

When you provide information to the ABS through ABS Business Reporting, you will have a choice to either manually enter a business’ financial information into a web form or, if the business uses Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks accounting software, you can choose to connect to your accounting software to help you. 

If you choose to connect, you will see information from the business’ accounts on the screen as you answer questions. You’ll be able to select which accounts or categories you want to include for each question, and a total amount will be calculated from the selected accounts. 

Once you’ve worked through all the questions, you’ll see a report with a total amount for each question, which you can review and submit to the ABS. 

The accounts or categories you choose for each question will also be saved in the app and will be available to re-use if you need to report again. This will make it even simpler for those who connect to their accounting software to report in future.  

People who have connected to accounting software in ABS Business Reporting have found it streamlines the process of reporting, making it easier and saving them time. 

Here is what our users say:  

“ABS Business Reporting is a game changer. I used to have to calculate my data and enter into the web form. This app streamlines the whole process.” 

“So easy to report now that I can sync data from Xero."

“It was pretty quick to set up the first time I used the app, but this quarter was even easier. So convenient.” 

When you report through ABS Business Reporting, you will be presented with a snapshot of the statistics we produce from the information you and others provide to the ABS. As well as showing what you are contributing to, the information makes it easier to explore the statistics and keep up to date with industry trends.

Protecting your privacy and keeping your information secure is of the utmost importance to the ABS.  

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.  

ABS Business Reporting uses a number of tools to protect your information including website security, encryption and firewalls. The system is secured and approved in compliance with standards provided by the Australian Cyber Security Centre and Commonwealth Government guidelines for interacting securely online.

We comply with the Australian Privacy Principles. 

We have conducted a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) to consider potential privacy impacts of ABS Business Reporting, on the privacy of individuals whose personal information would be collected through the application. The assessment found that ABS Business Reporting complies with all the Australian Privacy Principles.  

If you believe we have breached these principles, please see the information on how to lodge a complaint about privacy matters, contained within our privacy policy. 

For more information on how the ABS handles the information you provide to us through ABS Business Reporting, visit our Data Usage page. 

Currently, eligible small businesses selected for the Quarterly Business Indicators Survey can submit a report through ABS Business Reporting. These businesses will receive an email or letter with instructions on how to report using ABS Business Reporting.

Small businesses selected for other surveys may be asked to report using other platforms. We are working to expand the use of ABS Business Reporting to other surveys in future.

If you have received an email request to report, log in to ABS Business Reporting to get started.

The ABS Business Reporting Troubleshooting page provides information on how to use ABS Business Reporting, including help with technical difficulties. 

We are committed to providing access to ABS Business Reporting to the widest possible audience. 

We are working to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 to Level AA, which describe how to make web content more usable and accessible for everyone. We want to provide our information for everyone, including people with a disability. 

If there's information you need that you can’t get, please contact us on 1800 735 060 (+61 2 6252 8814 outside Australia).