but they’re optimistic closer to home.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
these are troubling times, no doubt about it. but despite the uncertainties of the covid-19 pandemic, the biden administration, congressional turmoil, and disturbing events around the world, accountants are cautiously optimistic about the future of local business and the national economy.
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results from the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 / avalara accountants confidence index show deep concern for small-business clients, but generally hopeful that business will continue unchanged or get somewhat better over the next year to 18 months.
out of 531 responses, just over 3 percent think their clients will see future conditions getting “much worse,” though another 17 percent foresee business getting “somewhat worse.”
optimism double pessimism
optimism for clients, however, was more than double that of pessimism. forty-five percent see clients doing somewhat better, and 7 percent think they could do much better. a solid 27 percent figure their clients will hold their own without much change.
respondents were much more optimistic for their own firms. only 10 percent fear they’ll be doing worse, while a good majority – 55 percent – are pretty sure they’ll do better. results were pretty close to that for respondents’ families.
national economy: far more worrisome
but the farther away the business is, the most pessimistic the outlook. the medium-term fate of the national economy looks far more worrisome than that of local businesses:
- 12 percent say the nation’s economy will get much worse.
- 27 percent say it will get somewhat worse.
- 35 percent predict some improvement.
- only 9 percent expect much improvement.
expectations for small businesses are pretty parallel to the national outlook:
- 13 percent say business will get much worse.
- 27 percent say somewhat worse.
- 36 percent foresee some improvement.
- seven percent expect much improvement.
small business shoulders the burden
asked why they felt as they did, respondents most often expressed concern for small businesses and small clients.
annette saarinen, at accountax of oregon, feels for her clients and recognizes the difficulties of post-pandemic recovery.
“small business always shoulders the burden for every problem in this country,” she said. “the struggle has gone on too long. and the shutdowns must continue to keep people safer.”
enrolled agent derrick winke, who sees things getting much worse across the board, said, “we do not get out of covid-19 without going through a depression/recession. not in 2021 but ’22/23, a different story.”
like a lot of other professionals, cathy anderson, of anderson financial services in san diego, laid a lot of the blame on covid-19.
“lots of small businesses are struggling and closing permanently,” she said. “this pandemic has really gone on too long for some businesses to survive.”
but all is not bad. at grizzle, glenn, adams & martin in hartwell, ga., brian metzger, who sees things getting somewhat better, told us, “we see a strong recovery among our clients, with revenues returning to pre-pandemic levels soon (if not already).”
kelli k. cox, a partner with cgc accountants and advisors in palm desert, calif., was also optimistic.
“it appears that we are coming out of the pandemic with a strong economic plan,” cox said. “i feel that there is a new focus and emphasis on small business also.”
waiting for the manure
but we’re hearing a lot of fears about government spending, imminent inflation, and fears of higher taxes.
as jerry mchale put it, “government spending is out of control. at some point, somebody is going to have to pay for this, and increased taxes won’t get it done.”
cpa eric stephen grant saw a delay before a downturn, telling us, “in the short run most business appears to be trending upward. i believe we are three to five years away from the manure truly hitting the fan.”