Businesses in this industry sell grocery and other general household items. A wide range of items are generally sold including; food products, toiletries, household cleaning or general use products, newspapers and magazines.
These benchmarks do not apply to businesses whose main activity involves the sale of liquor, fuel or cooked food.
Performance benchmarks
These performance benchmarks are developed using information reported on income tax returns and activity statements for the 2009-10 year. Performance benchmarks are updated annually.
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To review a comparison of previous years benchmarks, refer to previous year.
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These benchmarks show a number of different financial ratios of business income to business expenses, to help businesses compare their performance against similar businesses in an industry.
The key benchmark ratio for this industry is cost of sales to turnover. This ratio is likely to be the most accurate predictor of business turnover. For businesses that do not report cost of sales or only report a small amount, total expenses to turnover can be used to predict turnover.
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Businesses operating outside the key benchmark may be contacted by us.
During an audit, if a business does not have records to support their reported income and expenses, we may use benchmarks and other information available to assess the profits of the business.
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Key benchmark ratio
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Annual turnover range
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$65,000 - $250,000
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$250,000 - $1,000,000
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More than $1,000,000
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Income tax return
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Cost of sales/turnover
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69% - 76%
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73% - 78%
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75% - 79%
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Average cost of sales
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73%
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75%
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77%
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Total expenses/turnover
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86% - 92%
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90% - 94%
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94% - 96%
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Average total expenses
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89%
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92%
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95%
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Activity statement
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Non-capital purchases/
total sales
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81% - 89%
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82% - 89%
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82% - 87%
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GST-free sales/total sales
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26% - 36%
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25% - 40%
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29% - 45%
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Benchmarks are published as a range representing the ratios reported by businesses grouped either side of the average. Publishing benchmarks as a range allows for variations across financial years, regions and business models.
The following benchmarks are made available as a guide for businesses to review their performance and business practices against other similar businesses.
The following expenses are not reported by every business, so one or more of these benchmarks may not apply to an individual business.
Benchmark ratio
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Annual turnover range
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Income tax return
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$65,000 - $250,000
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$250,000 - $1,000,000
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More than $1,000,000
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Labour/turnover
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4% - 10%
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4% - 8%
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6% - 9%
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Rent/turnover
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8% - 12%
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5% - 9%
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3% - 4%
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Last Modified: Tuesday, 21 February 2012