NZ Software Lends Australia a Hand with GST

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Local Accounting Software Developer Lends Australia a Helping Hand with GST

Greentree International, developer of CBA, to assist Australian Taxation Office

AUCKLAND - 4th October, 1999 - Leading New Zealand financial software developer, Greentree International, today announced that it has been appointed to a committee assigned to assist the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) with the introduction of GST and other financial initiatives that are planned.

The committee, comprised of a number of representatives from selected financial software companies and senior staff from the ATO, will work towards developing an improved framework for communicating with the Australian software industry. Greentree International is the only New Zealand-based organisation that has been appointed to the committee, which will meet in Canberra on a regular basis.

Greentree International's managing director, Don Bowman, says the appointment will provide a unique opportunity for his company to contribute to and define how accounting software packages interact with the ATO.

"With GST due to be introduced into Australia from July 2000, Greentree International's local experience has already proven invaluable to our Australian counterparts. GST has been implemented here since 1986 and we hope to pass on the knowledge and experience we have gained over this time. Many Australian companies and even parts of the ATO are struggling with understanding how to implement GST in financial management systems".

Greentree International, which has several thousand sites running its CBA financial software in Australia, expects to make only minor changes to its applications to introduce the Australian GST.

About Greentree International Greentree International is a New Zealand-based software company that specialises in the development and distribution of financial management solutions. In July 1997, Greentree International (trading under its former name of Focus Software) purchased the CBA accounting software product from US-based Platinum Software Corporation. This acquisition reunited Don Bowman, managing director of Focus Software and one of the original developers of CBA, with many of his original team, providing the company with an unrivalled pool of CBA expertise and knowledge.

In addition to maintaining and enhancing the CBA software, Greentree International also provides full sales and support services to resellers and end-users across Australasia. In November 1997, the company entered into a partnership with the Cardinal Group to develop a new financial application, Greentree, using the JADE object-orientated database technology. In July 1999, Focus Software was renamed to Greentree International as the company prepared to launch its new Greentree product. Greentree International currently has offices in, Auckland, Wellington, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

Visit Greentree on the web at www.greentree.co.nz

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