In last year's budget, small businesses were supported relatively well. With a number of specific conditions directed at SMEs, 2016's Budget is also looking to make a splash and help Australian small businesses grow. 

So what do Australian SMEs have to look forward to this year and how can they access the benefits through cloud-based accounting software?

2016 Budget: Tax breaks for SMEs

The Australian government is very much focused on facilitating the country's transition from mining and resource-focused to a diversified and overall stronger economy. One of the key ways that it intends to accomplish this is through a comprehensive reform of the Australian Tax system. 

The new Ten Year Enterprise Tax Plan aims to boost new investment, create jobs and increase wages. The new Plan begins with cutting taxes to the small and medium-sized businesses. 

Stating that small businesses currently employ over 3 million workers, the government's Budget looks to increase this by making it easier for SMEs to invest, grow and hire. Specifically, from 1 July 2016, enterprises with an annual turnover of less than $10 million will have a decreased tax rate of 27.5 per cent. Between then and 2026-27, the government will continue to incrementally lower the company tax rate to 25 per cent.

Additionally, the Budget will extend tax concessions to enterprises with a turnover of less than $10 million, which small businesses with a turnover of less than $2 million can currently access.

Growth can be a problem

While the government continues to support small businesses, owners and operators need to be aware that uncontrolled growth can be a major issue. In the same way obesity is a problem for a person's health, uncontrolled growth can lead to business failure. 

One of the major factors that small businesses should be aware of is unscalable processes. What this means is that business operations come under stress when a business grows, and enterprises need to identify and manage these with a keen eye.

McKinsey and Company illustrate that as businesses expand, so do the volume of their customers, projects and employee. If you currently rely on paper-based systems to measure these, you may not be able to identify and apply the right responses. 

Luckily, there is specialist software to manage business operations. One example is Jiwa Financials. This cloud-based software can help small business owners stay informed no matter the time, place or operation. It is also highly scalable, meaning as your business grows so can the features of your software. 

If you would like to know more, talk to the experts today.