Closure of non-Australian files on 31st January 2020

Saasu ceased offering new accounting files for Tax Zones outside Australia on 1st March, 2018. We also announced the closure of existing non Australian files as 1st July 2019, but back on 20th March 2019 we delayed this closure date to give customers more time.

Saasu will close all non-Australian files on 31st January 2020

Customers with non Australian files in their subscription (e.g. New Zealand, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, United States and all other countries outside Australia) may have noticed refunds and/or restricted renewal lengths not allowing you to subscribe for these files beyond this date.

This also affects Australian subscriptions with non-Australian tax zone files.

Why are you only supporting Australian tax entities going forward?

Building compliance capabilities for Tax Authorities across multiple countries is costly. Essentially Tax Authorities now outsource electronic reporting to the software vendors without compensation to build these features that support government needs. That’s ok if that’s why you want to be in the software business but it’s not why we did this.

For example Saasu spent over $1,000,000 to support Single Touch Payroll last year. Commercially this isn’t the kind of feature we want to be building across multiple countries. We went into business to build features for the small business owner and not for governments. We fully expect to spend some valuable time on building compliance, but we want to balance this with innovations that help small business owners.

Saasu is Australian designed, made and owned. We’re Aussies, so we want to focus on Australian small businesses.

What happens to my data from the files that are closing?

You stop getting access to your file and data on 31st January 2020. If you choose you can delete your file before then but make sure your have exported all your data first as it cannot be recovered. We built a bulk export feature for attachments recently so we could improve the experience of international customers having to leave us. Just like you, we hate it when systems lock you in and make it hard to leave.

Aren’t you required to hold our data for 5 or 7 years?

There isn’t a law in Australia requiring us as a Data Hosting and Software company to hold data for free for business owners. Our understanding is that Corporations and Tax Laws place the burden of maintaining financial records for your tax entity on the business owners, directors and public officers. You should get legal advice of your own regarding your data retention obligations.

If this changes in the future, Saasu will charge for storing data for the period of time required, by you maintaining your subscription until you no-longer need to maintain that data.

Why can’t I just setup the tax code I need in Australian file?

As much as we would love to have you stay, there are digital reporting requirements for the Australian Tax Office that need to be met. So, for compliance quality assurance reasons, Saasu isn’t supporting custom tax codes or foreign country tax codes in Australian accounting files (this includes NZ GST in Australian tax files). You will need to find an accounting system specifically designed for your tax domicile.

Thank you

I’d like to thank all our international customers for having used Saasu. I know many of you personally went into bat for Saasu against the advice of your advisors because you saw something in our product that worked better for you.

I understand this is difficult. This is the reason we persisted five years longer than planned on this decision, just to hold in there for you. I know that doesn’t help swallow the pill, but just like you, we have to make hard decisions for our business that are painful short term but work for us in the long term. Sometimes that means transformation in product, prices, markets or other variables.

With all sincerity thank you for your business over the years.

Marc Lehmann, CEO