2024 Deal of the Year Awards — an annual recognition of economic development projects demonstrating innovation and impact.

CALL FOR ENTRIES: 2024 Deal Of The Year Awards
Submit By November 21st!

Have a nice weekend!

Concerns Remain, But U.S. Execs More Optimistic About Revenue, Profit

Business leaders still have grave concerns about U.S. economy for 2023, but are more optimistic about revenue and profit expectations, other key indicators, finds AICPA & CIMA survey.

U.S. business executives still have grave concerns about the economy but they’ve grown more optimistic about revenue and profit expectations and other key indicators for the coming year, according to the first-quarter AICPA & CIMA Economic Outlook Survey. The survey polls chief executive officers, chief financial officers, controllers and other certified public accountants in U.S. companies who hold executive and senior management accounting roles.

Only 23% of business executives expressed optimism about the U.S. economy’s prospects over the next 12 months. That represents progress from last quarter, however, when only 12% felt that way – the measure’s lowest level since early 2009. Inflation, rising interest rates and geopolitical concerns all continue to dampen the U.S. outlook. Ninety percent of survey takers said they were concerned about recessionary impacts, with 15% significantly so.


The economic outlook for the U.S. economy, your organization, and the expansion plans over the next 12 months.

U.S. Economy
(Source: AICPA & CIMA Business and Industry Economic Outlook Survey, 1Q 2023)

 

Still, many indicators are pointing up this quarter:

  • Business executives are expecting slight profit growth (0.6%) over the next 12 months, a switch from either negative or zero growth expectations over the past two quarters. Likewise, 12-month revenue growth projections are back on the rise, from anticipated 2.1% rate last quarter to 2.6%

.
  • Business executives who expressed optimism about their own organizations’ prospects over the next 12 months increased from 35% to 47%, quarter over quarter

.
  • Most business executives (52%) now say they expect their companies to expand at least a bit over the next 12 months, up from 47% last quarter. Businesses with over a billion dollars in revenue led this category by a wide margin (68% expect expansion).

The U.S. hiring picture remains strong, although there are some signs of softening. Some 45 percent of executive say they have the right number of employees, up from 39 percent last quarter. Nine percent of business executives said they had too many employees, an increase of a single percentage point from last quarter.

Almost a third of business executives (32 percent) said they were taking steps to bring down staffing costs. Some 17 percent said they have instituted hiring freezes and ceased recruitment of open jobs. Other strategies, employed to a lesser extent, include layoffs, reduced shifts or hours of operation, and increased outsourcing.

Most business executives
(52%) now say they
expect their companies
to expand at least a bit
over the next 12 months,
up from 47% last quarter.

 

“While hiring demands may be cooling a bit, we’re not seeing widespread layoffs – most companies are looking to interim strategies to protect their workforce options. In fact, a third of business executives say they’re looking to hire immediately, while ‘availability of skilled personnel’ continues to be a top concern from the survey,” said Tom Hood, the AICPA & CIMA’s executive vice president for business engagement and growth. “This illustrates the unique pressures companies have been under the past year, with so much uncertainty clouding financial modeling.”The survey also found that:

  • U.S. business executives’ 12-month outlook on the global economy also improved, with those expressing pessimism dropping from 72% last quarter to 48% now.
  • Inflation was the top concern of business executives for the sixth straight quarter. “Availability of Skilled Personnel” and “Employee and Benefit Costs” flipped places and are now the No. 2 and 3 challenges, respectively.

U.S. Economy 2023 Despite Economic Pressures,
2023 “Year of Opportunity And Resilience”

Nearly half of middle market CFOs predict double-digit growth in 2023, but that optimism is tempered by the threat of new and familiar risks. Read more…
Check out the latest surveys, research and economic forecasts regarding economic development, corporate relocation, corporate expansion, and site selection.

Capital Investment, Economic Development, Featured, Site Selection Factors, Surveys, Research & Forecast Analysis, Workforce Development

AICPA, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, business executives, Business Expansion, CIMA, corporate expansion, Economic Outlook, Employment, hiring plans, Inflation, profit, U.S. economy

Sponsored Content
Featured Location

Location Spotlight: Topeka, Kansas

With three top universities in the area and connectivity via major interstates, Topeka, Kansas is rich with opportunity. Visit the GO Topeka Economic Partnership to learn more.

Featured Video

Camp Hall – A Next Generation Commerce Park in South Carolina

Camp Hall is a first-of-its-kind, master-planned industrial work space located in Charleston, S.C. As a convergence of people, place and programming, Camp Hall delivers thoughtful infrastructure and logistical features that empower people — and business — to thrive.

Webinars, Podcasts & Videos

Minnesota is home to the #1 health care cluster in the world according to Medical Alley. In this short video we take a look at why.

Doing Business in Minnesota, a Microbiologics Perspective

Minnesota is a place where the stars align — geography, culture and institutions – to create an unmatched economic landscape. See why Microbiologics CEO Kristen Knox says there’s no place in the world she’d rather do business than in Minnesota.

Camp Hall – A Next Generation Commerce Park in South Carolina

Camp Hall is a first-of-its-kind, master-planned industrial work space located in Charleston, S.C. As a convergence of people, place and programming, Camp Hall delivers thoughtful infrastructure and logistical features that empower people — and business — to thrive.

Manufacturing Success In The 21st Century

Watch Now: Manufacturing Success In The 21st Century

View this free video webinar and learn about the strategies for success manufacturing leaders are using to grow their business in the 21st Century.

Share to...