A new report from NAB outlining the many burdens afflicting small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) in Australia as they look to recover from the impacts of COVID-19 has been praised by the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman.

With many SMEs continuing to be held back by unnecessary burdens affecting their ability to grow and expand, the “Support Economic Recovery – What We Can Do For Small Business” report from NAB has called for reforms to help overcome these burdens.

These reforms have been welcomed by Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell, who said many SMEs were still under enormous pressure due to the lasting impacts of COVID-19.

“This report confirms the enormous pressures small businesses are under and the need for reforms to help these SMEs – many of which were viable and strong just a few months ago – get back on their feet and thrive again,” said Ms Carnell.

“Many of the reforms recommended in this report are simple and will make it easier to do business – which of course has broader economic benefits.”

The Ombudsman focused specifically on the hoops that SMEs had to jump through in establishing tax compliance as an example of the need for reforms, comparing the difficult process to the relatively painless process faced by large businesses.

“This report backs many of our recommendations, particularly in relation to tax compliance, where the cost for small businesses ($90 per $1,000 turnover) is 225 times higher than the cost for big business ($0.40).

The report also pointed out the issues many SMEs face when attempting to comply with regulations, making the process of hiring workers much more difficult than that for large businesses, despite the face that SMEs employ two-thirds of Australia’s workforce.

“The report shines a light on the difficulties small businesses face when hiring new workers, with owners spending up to 18 hours on compliance before hiring their first employee. That’s about 5 times more than a large business with more than 200 employees,” said Ms Carnell.

Overall, the report outlined eight key actions for supporting Australian small business and recovery growth, including:

• Making it easier to hire new workers
• Cutting regulations
• Making sure small businesses get paid faster
• Harnessing the power of digital tools
• Opening procurement opportunities
• Further access to capital
• Lifting small business management capability
• Improving state business conditions

Source: Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman | Ombudsman applauds comprehensive NAB SME COVID recovery report

20 July 2020