Its hunting season for the Australian Taxation Office and small business is in the sights. Leading accountant and software specialist Jeff Rogers has set accountants and business people free.

Compiling figures for tax returns, GST, financial reports and budgets is boring, complicated and time consuming – most business people will do anything to avoid dealing with the books.

Gold Coast-based accountant and software specialist Jeff Rogers has developed B-Free – a super fast, easy-to-use computer system for small business. Mr Rogers has moved account keeping and financial analysis into the 21st century with his aptly named B-Free software.

B-Free automates accounting with web-based technology. The system does up to 98 per cent (an average 87 per cent) of the processing work, reducing the time spent on preparing accounts and budgets from days to minutes. B-Free is the world’s first software product to link accounting, internet and electronic banking information for micro and small business.

Mr Rogers said tax isn't something that happens once a year. “There's BAS and different deadlines for various businesses and individuals. Fringe benefits tax, the tax economy, transfer pricing and a raft of other issues makes tax time tough. Don’t forget payroll tax, stamp duty, customs duty and capital gains tax – those who do will pay a penalty.

“There's a new unit at the ATO looking at breaches by micro businesses and companies with turnovers of between $2 million and $100 million. Old accounting systems can lead to costly errors. B-Free software makes preparation of accounts and BAS returns easy. We have done all the hard work,” he said.

Mr Rogers said small business people and individual traders have struggled with BAS statements since GST was implemented. “B-Free software calculates and reports in minutes using existing electronic data from bank statements.

“Business operators can define unique needs, extend reporting capability, integrate with other information systems and create unique business solutions using B-Free software. Time is money – tax savings can quickly be consumed by extra bookkeeping costs, B-Free provides the perfect solution by cutting tax reporting time,” he said.

B-Free scored a bull’s-eye with small business, medium sized companies, corporations and individual taxpayers. The company won a major federal government grant, a developer deal with business solutions giant MYOB and a partnership with IT icon Microsoft in the first year of operation on .NET.

Microsoft linked with B-Free through an integrated partnering framework. The partnerships shows B-Free is respected for expertise and technology with marketplace impact. Mr. Rogers said the Microsoft partner program benefits the business. “The program builds relevance and value through tools and resources.

“B-Free is a Microsoft Certified Partner, our IT solution programs are developed on Microsoft’s latest .NET technology. This allows greater innovation in the creation of programs and a longer shelf life for systems. B-Free programs are designed for longevity in the fast-paced world of IT,” he said.

Technobuffs and those who just want to get the job done are impressed with the B-Free Windows-based client server software package. B-Free is quickly installed on the PC, it takes less than 5mb of hard disk space. It is compatible with all Windows programs from 98 to XP and above.

The software is written in Visual Basic .NET; Microsoft's latest program language specifically designed for web based applications. B-Free meets Microsoft .NET standard and is developed on the SQL and XML platforms. Industry-standard Open DataBase Connectivity (ODBC) unlocks the full potential of MYOB data files and custom-built business solutions.

Mr Rogers said B-Free is a very stable, far-reaching and reliable program, easy to install and fast to operate. “The solution is almost totally web based, we are a step ahead of all comparable products. The backend management is completely integrated into the software and the website, allowing global changes to be made and distributed instantly. This means rapid response to market innovations – B-Free keeps business at the forefront of industry trends,” he said.

B-Free shares Microsoft’s stand at CeBIT – Australia's premier e-Business event – in Sydney from May 24 to 26; another accolade for the range of business accounting software. CeBIT is the Australasian showcase for the information and communications technology (ICT) industry. The three-day event at Darling Harbour brings around 30,000 business people to see products from more than 600 exhibitors from Australia, Asia, Europe and America. High-level delegations from India, Russia, Iran, China and Korea will attend the expo.

B-Free is a Microsoft Certified Partner, this ensures the latest information technology is immediately implemented into the product range. Development briefs cover e-commerce applications, budgeting features, POS modules, WAP versions and more.

Small business leaders are not alone in their debacle. Australian Institute of Chartered Accountants tax counsel Ali Noroozi says a complete review of the goods and services tax with standardised federal and state taxes, excise and duties is needed. "GST legislation is badly written and ambiguous. A review to ensure GST provisions are achieving original stated objectives is overdue,” Mr Noroozi says.

Mr Rogers recently showed B-Free at the National Small Business Summit (NSBS) in Sydney. He said the summit is the primary forum for small business discussion. “B-Free was one of 15 companies accepted to participate in the Summit. We showed how exciting the 2005 tax cuts can be for small business and how to cut through the red tape.

“The NSBS addresses issues at a federal government level. Speakers include Prime Minister John Howard, the leader of the opposition and other senior decision makers. Mr Howard spoke at the NSBS opening dinner, Federal Minister for Small Business Fran Bailey and Shadow Minister for Small Business Tony Burke hosted a breakfast meeting and Federal Labor leader Kim Beazley addressed guests at a luncheon,” Mr Rogers says.