Victoria University researchers have been awarded a $16,000 grant to help small businesses reduce their chance of failure in their start-up years.
The research will be headed by Professor Anona Armstrong of the Centre for International Corporate Governance Research. The team comprises Associate Professor Arthur Tatnall, Professor Colin Clark, Professor Ronald Francis, Professor Andrew Clarke, Dr Wei Dai and Kumi Heenetigala.
Awarded by the National Institute of Accountants (NIA), the grant will be used to develop an affordable accounting system for small and medium-sized business to report directly to accountants via the internet. The system is expected to reduce the burden of regulation, and improve financial monitoring by automatically identifying when an accountant's expertise is required.
NIA president Greg Dennis said that many small and medium-sized businesses fail simply because they do not focus sufficiently on their financial health in their first few years of operation.
"I look forward to seeing the results of this research that I hope it will go some way to remedying this problem," he said.
VU was the major recipient of three grants the NIA awarded this year for university research. Now in its second year, the grants program is aimed at promoting high quality research and developing the next generation of accounting researchers.
