Lost paper receipts see 1 in 4 SMEs miss out by thousands

A new report conducted by Aussie fintech company Slyp and big four bank NAB surveyed over 300 businesses to identify the impact paper receipts have on SMEs come tax time.

According to the research, 25 per cent of those surveyed have lost up to $10,000 by simply misplacing receipts. A further 8 per cent of those said they’ve lost between $10,000 and $100,000.

A whopping 62 per cent of SMES surveyed said they lose paper receipts at tax time, with those that do collate them noting it’s the most time-consuming part of the tax process (42 per cent). A further 39 per cent said fact-checking paper receipts is the most time-consuming part.

“Australian small business owners are incredibly hard working and the data shows that, for many, paper receipts can add undue stress and complication to tax time,” Tania Motton, NAB executive for business banking, said.

“81.1 per cent of small businesses say the availability of digital receipts would improve their tax-time process.”

Commenting further, CEO and co-founder of Slyp Paul Weingarth said: “The tax-time process is time-consuming for small businesses and it’s clear that there’s a disconnect between the current manual process and the tools that small businesses are using.

“Three-quarters (75 per cent) of Australian small businesses say they’d like to change the way that they process paper receipts in the next financial year and more than two-thirds (69.6 per cent) say they’d be more inclined to purchase through a retailer that provided digital receipts.”

Please ask our office about the use of Dext (previously Receipt Bank) software and how to process this software within your xero accounting system. Clients that currently use Dext have described this software as an invaluable tool.

 

Source: https://www.mybusiness.com.au/tax-accounting