Australia’s 2.59 million small businesses are the engine room of our economy. When used successfully, AI can accelerate growth, hire more people, and contribute more. It’s not about technology. This budget is all about productivity, writes Susie Nicoletti.
When you ask small business owners what they lack, the answer is time. Running a business in Australia means wearing all the hats at once. You’ll be a founder, a salesperson, a bookkeeper, and a customer service team, often in the same afternoon.
According to a recent Intuit study*, almost one in four Australians considering starting a business cite time pressure as one of the main factors preventing them from starting their own business. That’s the reality for millions of Australians already in business. All the time spent on administration is time not spent on actually growing your company.
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In this Federal Budget, the Treasurer set himself the challenge of lifting the speed limit on Australia’s economy.
Our research, drawn from survey responses from more than 3,700 Australian businesses and hundreds of thousands of platform data, tells the stories that are shaping how this government thinks about productivity.
We found that 7 out of 10 Australian small and medium-sized businesses now use AI on a regular basis. This is a significant change in a short period of time. However, only 12% say AI is actually core to how their business operates. The rest are dipping their toes but haven’t changed yet.
This is not an access issue. It’s not a cost issue. By far, the three biggest barriers are privacy concerns, limited knowledge of AI capabilities, and fear of being misunderstood.
The government named it explicitly. Speaking in Brisbane last October, Assistant Secretary of State Andrew Charlton called on all Australian businesses to take up arms. He was committed to breaking down “barriers to adoption across the economy, including among small and medium-sized businesses.”
The Productivity Commission estimates that if properly implemented, AI could add $116 billion to Australia’s GDP over the next 10 years.
The data on what AI can do and when companies are actually using it is amazing. Our Small Business Insights research found that of Australian businesses that have integrated AI into their daily operations, 76 per cent report increased productivity and 40 per cent say they have increased revenue.
These are not small profits. These are the differences between businesses that grow and businesses that stall, and Australians are hungry for it.
Entrepreneurial ambitions are on the rise, with 41% of Australians now considering starting a business as their primary wealth-building strategy, and recognizing that AI is reducing the barriers that once felt so daunting to make the leap. Two-thirds of Australians say they are likely to use AI tools to start or run a business in 2026.
The delivery mechanism already exists. We have over 40,000 registered tax accountants, accountants and bookkeepers in Australia and have trusted, ongoing relationships with almost every small business in the country. These are the people business owners call when they need to make decisions. These are the layers of human intelligence that turn financial data into action.
Accountants using AI will not be replaced. They are freed up to focus on actually changing the business. That means identifying opportunities, flagging risks, and having conversations enabled by data.
A program that builds advisor capabilities around AI adoption will change the conversation from “this is the BAS” to “this is what the data is telling us and what we should do about it.” By doing so, you can close the trust gap at scale. Rather than pushing technology onto executives who are already stretched thin, by equipping them with the trusted advisors they already rely on.
Charlton called this a call to arms. Australian accountants and advisors are ready to answer that. This budget is the time to gear up for that.
Suzy Nicoletti is Intuit’s regional vice president of APAC and country manager of Australia.
*Data from Intuit’s 2026 AI Impact Report, Intuit QuickBooks Entrepreneurship in 2026 Report, and Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Insights Survey, published April 30, 2026.
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