Australia's leading publisher of small business and accounting practice software wishes to clarify issues surrounding the recent release of MYOB Tax. MYOB Tax is professional tax-preparation software designed for Australian tax agents to lodge tax returns on behalf of their clients. It forms part of the MYOB Accountants Office suite of products for accounting practices. The Accountant segment is a growing and important part of the Company's business.

In 2000 MYOB's Australian revenue from this sector was 5% of group revenue. The Company has approximately 4,000 customers using MYOB Tax. The vast majority of the Company's revenue comes from the provision of products and services to small-medium enterprises (SME). MYOB has over 300,000 SME customers in Australia. Mr Craig Winkler, MYOB CEO said: "Accountants are very important to MYOB. Given the additional burden placed on accountants today, we are focused on developing systems that allow accountants to work more efficiently with their clients."

The Company acknowledges that this year's release of its professional tax lodgement software has not progressed as well as in previous years and unfortunately many MYOB Tax customers have experienced substantial difficulties. The major contributing factors have been substantial and late changes to the tax system, MYOB's decision to adopt a new technology platform and download problems with the initial release. To make possible the timely delivery of the software, MYOB adopted a timetable which allowed for the 'tax forms' to be released in stages. The first release was for Individual tax returns, followed by BAS, Partnership and Trust returns.

At this stage the majority of tax agents using MYOB Tax are successfully lodging these tax returns. In line with the delivery schedule, Company and Fund return types will be available by the first week in September. It has also been necessary to release updates to address technical issues and 'last minute' changes front the ATO. Mr Winkler stated "With late changes to legislation and related specifications, we have simply not had all the time we need to release absolutely solid software first time.

Every tax software provider has faced the same challenge this year. The MYOB team has worked around the clock to quickly identify and fix problems." In recognition of the extensive changes in the Tax System mid initial problems with their lodgement gateway, the Australian Taxation Office has offered extended lodgement deadlines to tax agents filing the Business Activity Statement (BAS). The mix of new tax, new technology and initial download problems has unfortunately meant that the Company has not been able to provide its usual high level of customer service.

To address the increased demands on its support team the Company has recruited additional support personnel to assist with phone, fax and e-mail enquiries. MYOB has also upgraded its server infrastructure and deployed web-based support systems to help this group of customers get answers faster. These measures are ensuring that the backlog of enquiries is dealt with and there is a rapid return to acceptable response times. MYOB is committed to working with tax professionals to identify any outstanding problems they have and to work swiftly to remedy them. During the next week the company will release software updates which will provide speed and productivity enhancements. MYOB also produces software for SMEs. This software has not been affected by the changes to tax lodgement software. These systems continue to provide businesses with an easy way to automate their business processes and their GST compliance.

The Company and its MYOB Tax customers have now transitioned to the new 32-bit technology that delivers a solid platform for both future growth of practices and capacity for any future changes in tax requirements. Mr Winkler said, "Tax agents mid their software providers have only recently felt the impact of the biggest change in our tax system ever. Any future changes should be small in comparison. We welcome recent commitments by the ATO to a more effective working relationship with tax software providers."