While it has taken Mother Nature seemingly forever to achieve anything close to a decent spring climate, the team at Kruggel Lawton CPAs tells us that the business climate has been busy warming up for more than a year now. In fact, for the first time in their quarterly Michiana Benchmark Business Index, the market has strung together four straight quarters of improvement. They suggest that such an unprecedented run bodes well going forward, too.
The first quarter 2018 Michiana Benchmark Business Index (BBI), compiled routinely by the certified public accounting and consulting firm of Kruggel Lawton CPAs, increased for the fourth straight quarter. The overall BBI was 62.77 out of a maximum possible score of 100, up more than two-percent from the first quarter of 2017.
Kruggel Lawton conducts this confidential survey of Chief Financial Officers in for-profit companies in the South Bend/Elkhart region on a quarterly basis. The survey tracks changes in companies’ revenue, profitability, and employment levels compared to the same quarter of the prior year, along with CFOs’ perception of the business outlook for their companies. Participating CFOs’ input on these four metrics is combined into the overall Benchmark Business Index to provide a barometer of the Michiana-area business climate.
Noteworthy first quarter survey results include:
- This is the first time the quarterly BBI has increased for four straight quarters, a sign that last year’s steady progress is holding into the start of 2018
- Of the four metrics that comprise the BBI, CFO Optimism was the only one that declined last quarter by four-percent
- Of the other three metrics, Overall Employment increased the most by a strong 12-percent
Terry Bush, a Director at Kruggel Lawton says, “At a high level, the first quarter survey results indicate that our regional economy is strong, and it’s maintaining a positive trend.” Bush adds, “The slight decrease in CFO Optimism is a factor we’ll want to monitor since CFOs have a unique vantage point for the business outlook for their companies. Increasing employment, while positive for workers and their families, could also indicate that competition for talented employees will continue to be brisk.”
If you are a CFO in a Michiana area for-profit organization and would like to participate in the quarterly survey, you can contact Terry Bush at tbush@klcpas.com or call 574-289-4011.
With offices in St. Joseph, Michigan as well as in South Bend and Elkhart, Indiana, Kruggel Lawton CPAs is a full-service accounting and business consulting firm offering assurance services, tax consulting, estate planning, business valuation, and business accounting services. Kruggel Lawton also has national and international capabilities as an independent member of the BDO Alliance USA. You can learn more online at www.klcpas.com.
