Wasp Barcode Technologies: The Barcode Solution People
2015 Small Business Report - Accounting
Every new year can be challenging for all small businesses as plans are made for the future, especially plans that center around finances. At
Wasp Barcode, we continue to hear from our small business partners that industry-wide metrics, specific to small and medium sized business, are difficult to find. As a result, we’ve surveyed over 400 small business owners and decision makers to identify the challenges and opportunities facing their accounting departments as we all get closer to tax season and how those challenges and opportunities will impact the rest of 2015.
Not only did we seek results to inform our own practices, but we wanted to give a voice to other small businesses – to help others understand what SMBs are thinking, what they’re doing, how they see the future, and exactly what they’re planning. Wasp wants to share that data with other small business leaders so they can compare, benchmark, and make decisions using solid data.
Who, What, and How
Although we had an idea of what we wanted to learn, we needed to know exactly which questions were important to ask and to whom we should be asking those questions. Our team sat down and brainstormed a list of accounting topics and questions; ones we felt would not only inform our plans but would provide important information to all small business leaders.
Here are just a few of the topics:
- Overall accounting challenges
- Outsourced accounting services
- Preparing for tax season
To collect data that would be considered statistically significant, we contacted over 400 owner and C-level executives within a variety of industries. Once we knew who and what we wanted to ask, then it became a matter of how to ask. We decided the best method for gathering data would be an on-line survey. We hired a consulting firm to review our questions and another well-known survey and polling company to conduct the survey itself.
Findings
What did we find out about accounting practices from the small business leaders? After spending a considerable amount of time developing, administering, and collecting data, we delved into an analysis of the results. The resulting
2015 Small Business Accounting Report confirmed many of our own thoughts and assumptions about how small businesses manage their money.
Although they face many of the same challenges, small businesses are doing so with confidence in both their accountants and the services they provide.
Here are just a few key results:
- 52% of respondents report that they pay too much on taxes or they are not sure
- 70% of small businesses outsource tax preparation, and 30% outsource tax planning
- 88% say they are either very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their accounting services
- 42% of SMB’s have a CFO or Controller at their company
Conversation
Although gathering data to better inform our own accounting practices and then sharing those results with other small business leaders were main drivers behind creating and publishing the
2015 Small Business Accounting Report, we’d also like to start a conversation with other SMBs using the data as a benchmark.
What did you learn from the report that either confirmed or refuted what your small business’ accounting department faces? Does the data have application in your industry to help you make better financial decisions? We’d love to hear from you!
Every new year can be challenging for all small businesses as plans are made for the future, especially plans that center around finances. At 
