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Australian accounting firms are not compliant. This poses a threat for all firms that exchange data with them. There is no reason to believe that Australia is unique in this regard.
This is from THE AUSTRALIAN (April 9).
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National Institute of Accountants chief executive Andrew Smith said many accounting firms seemed to think the problem would somehow be solved without them having to address it directly.
"Even if they are aware of the problem, they do not seem to understand the likely repercussions it will have on their operations," he said.
"For example, not having their own systems compliant will lead to problems for other people with whom they are exchanging information."
"Small and medium-sized accounting firms are of particular concern," Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA) policy manager Judith Merryweather said.
"Many of these practitioners think that the year 2000 issue only applies to large organisations." Archived records should be an area of particular focus for the industry. . . .
The research revealed that more than 60 per cent of accounting firms were unaware they needed to check their archived data for Y2K compliance and only 4 per cent had actually undertaken the task. . . .
"The year 2000 issue is a huge consideration for the accounting and tax industry because 900,000 small businesses in Australia depend on their accountant for their financials," Mr Mayhew-Begg said.
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