Accountants using MYOB's new tax software will have to wait until next month for the ability to transfer data from client accounts directly into tax returns and business activity statements, as software update woes continue. The software fix that will enable the data integration - a routine function in older programs - was expected to be delivered by the end of this month but that date is now likely to slip into August. The delay has exasperated firms already adding up the time and money lost through problems with MYOB's Accountants Enterprise Tax 2006.

One accountant, who declined to be named, said extra costs included overtime pay for an information technology manager who had worked till midnight some nights to smooth out the bugs. There has also been lost business - in early July we get a lot of people who drop by, and in the first week we had to turn them away. Straightforward returns that normally take 15 to 20 minutes were taking an hour and a half," the accountant said. "The BAS deadline is now approaching and we still have glitches with the BAS not integrating properly. We have made some progress but we will still have trouble fitting in all our clients. If we had seen the software in May we would not have gone ahead," he said.

MYOB maintains most accountants don't start work on the more complex returns that require the integration function until early August. The software supplier believes only a small number of firms still have problems with installing and using the new software. MYOB statistics show the number of support calls lodged by email, phone, fax or on the website in the past five business days was 16 per cent fewer than the number lodged in the same five days the week before. Only 2.5 per cent of MYOB's tax clients have logged more than 10 calls.

The company rejects suggestions the software - which was released in the last week of June - was behind schedule or that the beta testing program was in any way truncated. At least on accounting firm has avoided the upgrade pain by obtaining new tax forms to overlay old software. "There is one client for whom we did a lot of custom development, who beta tested new forms and is continuing to use those," MYOB's managing director, Australia, Tim Reed, said. "But that software did not go through the release cycle so it would not be appropriate for general release." Mr Reed said the company was confident all of its clients would soon overcome the "teething problems" caused by the new software. "Our support lines are doing much better this week than they were in prior weeks. I'm confident this will be a successful product in the long run", Mr Reed said.

The last time accountants had problems with MYOB software, back in 2001, the Australian Taxation Office gave the industry extra time to lodge business activity statements. A spokeswoman for the ATO said there were no plans to push back the next BAS deadline.