Returns the ATO's Small Business Benchmarks: industry-specific performance ranges (cost of sales / turnover, total expenses / turnover, labour / turnover, etc.) derived from small-business income tax returns. Used by the ATO to identify outlier taxpayers, by small-business advisors for comparative analysis, and by tax integrity researchers.
Value
An ato_tbl with one row per (industry, turnover
band, ratio) combination. Ratios are percentages.
See also
Other discovery:
ato_catalog(),
ato_charities(),
ato_cite(),
ato_download(),
ato_excise(),
ato_fbt(),
ato_help(),
ato_irpd(),
ato_payg(),
ato_rdti(),
ato_tax_gaps(),
ato_top_taxpayers(),
ato_vttc()
Examples
# \donttest{
op <- options(ato.cache_dir = tempdir())
try({
bm <- ato_sme_benchmarks(year = "2023-24")
head(bm)
})
#> ℹ Downloading <https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/591b444b-be7f-4121-8252-119a9fe…
#> ✔ Downloading <https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/591b444b-be7f-4121-8252-119a9fe…
#>
#> # ato_tbl: ATO Small Business Benchmarks 2023-24
#> # Source: https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/591b444b-be7f-4121-8252-119a9fe07c19/resource/db3ab8b7-e029-48de-8e7a-c61532e25496/download/small-business-benchmarks-2023-24-data.xlsx
#> # Licence: CC BY 2.5 AU
#> # Retrieved: 2026-04-28 19:14 UTC
#> # Snapshot: 2026-04-24
#> # SHA-256: 84925348cc6abfdb...
#> # Rows: 6 Cols: 16
#>
#> small_business_benchmarkskey_benchmark_ratios_based_on_2023_24_financial_year_databusinesstype
#> 1 Air conditioning, refrigeration and heating services
#> 2 Alarm systems installation - fire and security
#> 3 Architectural services
#> 4 Automotive electrical services
#> 5 Bakeries and hot bread shops
#> 6 Barber and men's hairdressing
#> total_expenses_low_turnover_range_minimum
#> 1 0.54
#> 2 0.53
#> 3 0.29
#> 4 0.58
#> 5 0.69
#> 6 0.43
#> total_expenses_low_turnover_range_maximum
#> 1 0.73
#> 2 0.71
#> 3 0.56
#> 4 0.74
#> 5 0.81
#> 6 0.61
#> total_expenses_medium_turnover_range_minimum
#> 1 0.65
#> 2 0.59
#> 3 0.40
#> 4 0.65
#> 5 0.75
#> 6 0.65
#> total_expenses_medium_turnover_range_maximum
#> 1 0.78
#> 2 0.76
#> 3 0.65
#> 4 0.80
#> 5 0.86
#> 6 0.81
#> total_expenses_high_turnover_range_minimum
#> 1 0.79
#> 2 0.76
#> 3 0.61
#> 4 0.79
#> 5 0.82
#> 6 NA
#> total_expenses_high_turnover_range_maximum
#> 1 0.89
#> 2 0.87
#> 3 0.79
#> 4 0.87
#> 5 0.90
#> 6 NA
#> cost_of_sales_low_turnover_range_minimum
#> 1 NA
#> 2 NA
#> 3 NA
#> 4 0.28
#> 5 0.31
#> 6 NA
#> cost_of_sales_low_turnover_range_maximum
#> 1 NA
#> 2 NA
#> 3 NA
#> 4 0.42
#> 5 0.38
#> 6 NA
#> cost_of_sales_medium_turnover_range_minimum
#> 1 NA
#> 2 NA
#> 3 NA
#> 4 0.33
#> 5 0.34
#> 6 NA
#> cost_of_sales_medium_turnover_range_maximum
#> 1 NA
#> 2 NA
#> 3 NA
#> 4 0.43
#> 5 0.39
#> 6 NA
#> cost_of_sales_high_turnover_range_minimum
#> 1 NA
#> 2 NA
#> 3 NA
#> 4 0.37
#> 5 0.29
#> 6 NA
#> cost_of_sales_high_turnover_range_maximum low_turnover_range
#> 1 NA $50,000 - $150,000
#> 2 NA $50,000 - $150,000
#> 3 NA $135,000 - $220,000
#> 4 0.46 $50,000 - $250,000
#> 5 0.36 $65,000 - $400,000
#> 6 NA $65,000 - $150,000
#> medium_turnover_range high_turnover_range
#> 1 $150,001 - $600,000 More than $600,000
#> 2 $150,001 - $600,000 More than $600,000
#> 3 $220,001 - $400,000 More than $400,000
#> 4 $250,001 - $750,000 More than $750,000
#> 5 $400,001 - $750,000 More than $750,000
#> 6 More than $150,000 <NA>
options(op)
# }