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AFRICA | APAC | EUROPE | MIDDLE EAST | NORTH AMERICA APAC

CPA Australia , a leading Australian professional accounting body and one of the largest in the world , surveyed 4,227 businesses in 11 markets about their operations and plans . added employees – the lowest result . Despite the impact of COVID-19 , 36.1 % of Australian small businesses reported they made no ‘ major change ’ in response to the pandemic , the highest result of any market surveyed .

Australian small businesses won the ‘ wooden spoon ’ for Digital Transformation :

• Least likely to begin or increase online sales during COVID-19 – Australia

• Least likely to use social media for business – Australia

• Least likely to invest in technology in 2020 – Australia

• Least likely to profit from their investment in technology – Australia

• Least likely to review cybersecurity in past six months – Australia

In addition , Australian small businesses were the second least likely to earn revenue from online sales and third least likely to offer customers the choice of digital payment technologies .

CPA Australia Chief Executive Officer Andrew Hunter said the results were disappointing .

“ Other markets made major in-roads on Digital Transformation during the pandemic . Clearly , Australian small businesses need more help than they ’ re getting to leave the digital dark ages behind ,” he said .

Unsurprisingly , most businesses in the region reported that COVID-19 had a major impact on their business . However , the consequences appear to have been felt slightly more strongly in Australia .

Only 22.3 % of Australian small businesses grew last year – the second lowest result of any market surveyed . Only 8.3 % of Australian small businesses

They did not , for example , access government support , negotiate rent reductions or loan holidays , delay taxation payments or reduce capital expenditure . Given that many Australian small businesses overlooked these relatively simple actions , CPA Australia says it is unsurprising that more complex Digital Transformation did not occur .

However , the consequences are profound .

Hunter said : “ There is a clear link between innovation and performance . Our survey shows that growing businesses are more likely to use new technologies , e-commerce and social media . These are areas in which Australian small businesses performed poorly .”

He urged small businesses in Australia to carefully consider their transformation efforts as sales would be lost to more innovative competitors overseas . �