.... in the way accountants deal with small- to -medium-sized enterprise (SME) clients.

Addressing an MYOB media briefing, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Stephen Conroy said a national cloud computing strategy was especially important for SMEs which rely on external accountants as trusted advisers with whom they need to share data.

Tax professionals also play a key role in increasing business engagement with the growing digital economy, he said.

Brendan O'Connor, the Minister for Small Business, said it was important that there be a greater compatibility between business requirements and the types of accounting software being used by business owners.

MYOB product strategy manager Dale Dixon said MYOB's new cloud account accounting solution AccountRight Live - by allowing SMEs to switch between online and offline across multiple media (including mobile and iPad) - would give financial advisers the ability to communicate with SMEs in real-time throughout the business day.

Conroy added that it was predicted that cloud computing, backed by an up-and-running National Broadband Network, would boost the Australian economy by $3.32 billion per year after 10 years by reducing start-up and ongoing operation costs.

"Increasing cloud awareness among SMEs is a priority and Government support for cloud is a key part of our national digital economy strategy," he said.

"This is a vision of Australia's future to be a leading digital economy by 2020."

Andrew Tsanadia
Money management
25-10-2012