Making it easier to make a difference
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.
What is ABS Business Reporting?
ABS Business Reporting is a web application designed to make it easier for small businesses to provide data to the ABS.
It has been co-designed with businesses, accountants and bookkeepers to fit with natural business processes. This allows businesses to use information held in the business’ accounting software to help prepare a report to submit to the ABS.
How does it work?
If your small business or a small business you represent is eligible, you will receive an email or letter with instruction to complete the Quarterly Business Indicators Survey (QBIS) using ABS Business Reporting.
If the business selected uses Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks accounting software, connecting securely to your accounting software in ABS Business Reporting can make it faster and easier to complete your survey.
By choosing to connect, you will be able to see information from accounting software on screen as you complete your survey. You can select accounts or categories from accounting software 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 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 be saved and will be available to re-use if you need to report again. This will make it even quicker to report in future.
Why should you connect to accounting software?
People who have connected to accounting software in ABS Business Reporting to help them report to the ABS have found it is intuitive, easy to use, and streamlines the reporting process.
Watch the short video on our Why should I connect page to see how connecting to accounting software will help you to complete your survey.
Giving back
The ABS would like to thank businesses for their continued support in responding to our surveys.
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 each quarter.
The information shows what you are contributing to and makes it easier for you to explore our statistics and keep up to date with industry trends.
Data will be presented for key indicators at an industry level. If you have chosen to connect to accounting software, you can also select the ‘Compare my business’ function to see the same indicators for the business you are reporting for, shown next to industry data for comparison.
Your information is safe, secure and confidential
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 many 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.
Who can use ABS Business Reporting
Currently, eligible small businesses selected for the Quarterly Business Indicators Survey can use ABS Business Reporting to complete their survey. These businesses will receive an email or letter with instruction 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.
Ready to report?
If you have received an email or letter asking you to report, go to ABS Business Reporting to get started.
The ABS Business Reporting help page provides information on how to use ABS Business Reporting, including help with technical difficulties.
Accessibility
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.
We’re always improving this service and will continue to explore different ways to make it easy for you to access. If there's information you need that you can’t get, please contact us.