Small businesses are Australia's biggest employer and have everything at stake in the upcoming budget.
For exhausted bosses and their workers, the budget follows two years of COVID-19 restrictions and, for many in the eastern states, another smackdown from widespread flooding after years of drought and bushfires.
Forget new compliance processes, make it easier for visa holders to work, and review the merger rules that support the survival of the biggest, they say.
The Institute of Public Accountants is urging the Morrison government to give small and medium-sized enterprises the confidence to bounce back after pandemic- and climate-related upheaval.
"Supply-chain disruptions, staff shortages and inflation are biting," the industry body's chief executive Andrew Conway said on Friday.
He said tax breaks for training should go to mid-career workers to help shortages in critical and emerging fields.
Incentives for micro and small businesses to become exporters could also provide a much-needed productivity boost, accountants say.
The Council of Small Business Organisations Australia wants structural initiatives that make life easier for small business owners.
COSBOA CEO Alexi Boyd seeks less regulation, targeted support to aid growth, and industry bodies like hers used as the channel to translate information from bureaucrats for people on the ground.
Small firms also want to keep seemingly simple changes that were successfully introduced during the height of the pandemic to make it easier to do business from home - such as allowing electronic signatures on all documents.
Mr Conway said the instant asset write-off has been extended to June 30 next year, but making it a permanent feature of the tax system would be a quick win.
Accountants also want help for small businesses to understand how to realign their supply chain and operations in line with sustainability goals, as environmental, social, and governance criteria become mainstream requirements.
"They have limited resources to do this," Mr Conway said.
He said SMEs are eager to embrace the opportunities presented by the global energy transition but need help to get started on this "immense structural shift".
Head of the independent Blueprint Institute David Cross said the real policy challenge is to move beyond the pre-COVID status quo.
"The government must recognise that the Australian economy was burdened by structural weaknesses before the pandemic arrived," he said.
"Notably in our underdeveloped crisis-response capacity, sluggish productivity growth, and inability to address entrenched inequality."
The treasurer on Wednesday announced cash flow support and some red tape reduction, saying the measures slash compliance cost by $800 million for more than 2.3 million small businesses and sole traders.
Lowering tax instalments in 2022-23, aligning payments with actual financial performance, more automated tax reporting, payroll data matching, and quarterly instead of monthly excise are among the changes.
