(Posted: December 2013)
The Australian bureaucracy is commonly described as “red tape”. Such red tape does not stop for businesses. 
One main governance body is the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). The body is Australia’s corporate, financial markets and financial services regulator.
Every foreign company which operates in Australia is required to prepare and lodge financial reports with ASIC, usually at the end of the financial year. In addition the company may be required to have their financial report audited. This causes not only compliance burden on companies seeking to enter Australia but also expose the company to their competitors. Well kept secrets about revenue and gross margin become transparent. However, in some instances companies may be exempt from lodging their financial reporting.
If you need help with a lodgement exemption, contact us.
To adhere to the legal requirements to prepare a financial statement companies need to consider the Corporations act as well as Australia’s Accounting Standards which are set by the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB). The AASB is an independent Australian Government agency. The published standards by AASB are legislative requirements for entities when preparing the financial report under the law. The standards must also be applied to all financial reports of public and private sector reporting entities.
Australian Accounting Standards are meeting the requirements of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) which is a welcomed relief for international operating companies.