MYOB adds novated car leasing to Flare Benefits app

Technology

11 August 2023

Christine Chen

myob adds novated car leasing to flare benefits app

Need to know

Software developed with the fintech company Flare allows SMEs to offer employee benefits in line with the perks at large employers.

MYOB has added novated car leasing to its Flare Benefits app that allows small businesses to offer a top-end-of-town style job perk.

The accounting software giant said the novated leasing feature would be available at no additional cost to employees and integrated with its payroll software.

Head of product Steve Price said novated leasing would be a meaningful benefit to employees.

“Cars are a significant cost for consumers … It can save employees an average of $6,000 per year,” he said.

“Before now novated leasing was a complex and time-consuming process, and it simply wasn’t practical for smaller business employers to offer.”

“Now that Flare has automated 95 per cent of the traditional admin required to set up a lease and service deductions, for the first time SMEs can access novated leasing services that have been available to large employers for years – and can do so at no cost.”

MYOB said it could help over 100,000 businesses offer discounted vehicles to as many as 250,000 staff.

Employees that lease electric vehicles are set to benefit the most after parliament passed the Electric Car Discount Bill in November, exempting EVs from fringe benefits tax.

The Flare Benefits app, launched in May following MYOB’s purchase of fintech Flare last year, already enables SMEs to deliver staff benefits such as supermarket discounts.

MYOB said the app could be tailored to suit each business and gave bosses an edge when it came to the employee experience.

Mr Price said both novated car leasing and the Flare Benefits app would not have been practical without Flare, with the app an entirely fresh space for MYOB.

“We’re proud to empower small businesses to offer tangible savings to their employees on expenses such as groceries, cinemas, streaming services, and department stores,” he said.

Mr Price said the cost-of-living crisis, low business confidence and a tight labour market had created unfavourable conditions for SMEs, but the latest offerings were a boon to employers looking to attract and retain talent.

“Collectively small businesses are the largest employer in the country and contribute more than $7 billion to the Australian economy. Novated car leasing and the Flare Benefits app can help them to provide a competitive employee experience,” he said.

Flare CEO James Windon said working with MYOB was “terrific” and the latest offerings to SMEs were a “watershed moment”.

“Our vision has always been that a line worker in a corner shop gets the same access to benefits that the CEO of an ASX 50 company gets. This technology represents the beginning of that process, helping businesses attract and retain talent and making it available seamlessly to small businesses,” he said.

“One of the reasons we were so excited to join the MYOB group was it gave us that platform to fulfill our mission and our vision.

About the author

Christine Chen

Christine Chen is a journalist at Accountants Daily and Accounting Times, the leading sources of news, insight, and educational content for professionals in the accounting sector. Previously, Christine has written for City Hub, the South Sydney Herald and Honi Soit. She has also produced online content for LegalVision and completed internships at EY and Deloitte. Christine has a commerce degree from the University of Western Australia and a juris doctor degree from the University of Sydney.