FAQ

1. How long do I have to apply?

Online nominations will be accepted until Friday 7 October, 2011. Companies that rank among the top 50 in terms of percentage growth between finanical year 2009-2010 (FY2010) and financial year 2010-2011 (FY2011) will be contacted in September.

Companies that do not produce supporting documentation, verifying substantiation of claimed FY2010 and FY2011 net sales after two weeks of online submission will be removed from consideration of the list.

2. How are you going to rank the companies?

The ranking will be done solely on the basis of the percentage growth of the net sales revenue from financial years 2009-2010 (FY2010) and financial year 2010-2011 (FY2011). We will calculate the percentage growth rate for this period. Refer to Q17 to see how percentage growth is calculated.

3. What are the criteria for eligibility?

Your company must meet each of the following three criteria;

Be a solution provider, an organisation that sells, resells, recommends, designs or implements information technology products and/or services to business end users. Fifty percent of your revenue in the financial year ending June 2011 comes from the selling, reselling, recommending, designing or implementing of IT products and/or services (but excluding internet connections) to business end users.
Have been trading from 1 July 2009, and had net sales revenue of at least $250,000 (excluding GST) in 2009-2010;
Be based in Australia.

Vendors (“manufacturers”) and distributors are NOT eligible for the list.

4. Will I be asked to supply supporting documentation?

When you apply for the CRN Fast50, you must submit:

A notarised, signed affidavit by the company director on company letterhead confirming the sales figures – wording provided here for your convenience, AND
Either:
a) A statement from an independent accountant confirming sales figures OR
b) ASX or ASIC filings

Please email all supporting documentation to David Binning, dbinning@crn.com.au
Supporting documentation must be provided within two weeks of the online submission; otherwise submission will be removed from consideration of the list.

An affidavit is a sworn statement witnessed by a notary public. The process is generally easy and inexpensive – the standard cost in NSW is $90. Most accounting firms have links to notary publics and can organise or advise their clients on them. Otherwise, this website will find a notary public for you.
www.notarylocator.com.au

For your convenience, we prepared a sample affidavit that you can use for your entry.

5. My company’s revenue is growing rapidly, but we are not yet profitable. Does this matter?

No. The ranking will be based solely on revenue growth, not the degree of profitability.

6. Does it matter if my company is public or private?

No. Again, the ranking is done solely on the revenue growth.

7. Does it matter how my company is structured?

As long as your company is independent and meets the other criteria listed above, it does not matter how it is structured.

8. What if my company used to be independent, but was acquired?

Then you are not eligible for the list unless your company was acquired after June 30, 2009.

9. What if my company is a division or subsidiary of a larger company?

Then you are still eligible for the list, but please make sure that your net sales revenue figures reflect only the net sales revenue of your division, not the entire company. In this case, you must supply sales revenue documentation from an independent accountant; internal sales figures are not acceptable.

10. What if my company was founded or commenced trading after 1 July 2009?

Then you are not eligible for this year’s list, although you may be eligible for future lists. Your company must have been trading from 1 July, 2009, so that we have a full year’s worth of sales revenue for FY2010 to use as the base for calculating revenue growth rates. Partial-year revenues are not acceptable.

11. What if my FY2010 net sales revenue was below $250,000 (excluding GST)?

Your company is not eligible for the list. This minimum level of sales will strictly be adhered to.

12. What if my company’s name has changed?

Please fill out the application with your new name and include in parentheses after the name “(was OLD NAME)”.

13. What if my company’s fiscal year does not coincide with the Australian standard year (1 July – 30 June)?

Then you must adjust your company’s sales data accordingly so that the data you report to us does coincide with the financial year. This enables us to compare all respondents using the same time period.

14. What if my company has different fiscal year ends for each year?

Adjust your net sales revenue figures to reflect periods for FY2010 and FY2011 in order to fill out the application. When you submit supporting documentation, it must include all relevant periods.

15. Can I submit sales figures based on cash accounting?

No. Before filling out the application, you must convert your net sales revenue figures to an accrual basis. To convert cash to accrual, start with cash receipts, subtract the beginning accounts receivable, and add ending accounts receivable.

16. How will the results of this study appear in CRN?

We will publish a comprehensive report later in the year within the CRN magazine and crn.com.au.

Read last year’s report.

The list of the fastest-growing companies will be published in order of rank and the results will include any or all data submitted in the online entry, including revenue figures provided.