CPA Canada Q Business Monitor

Transcription

1 CPA Canada Q3 Business Monitor Background document On behalf of: Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada October 13,

2 Study Information The CPA Canada Business Monitor is issued quarterly, based on a survey commissioned by CPA Canada and conducted by Harris Poll. The report draws upon business insights of professional accountants in leadership positions in privately and publicly held companies. For the Q3 study, ed surveys were completed by 613 of 5,785 identified by CPA Canada as holding senior positions in industry (CFOs, CEOs, COOs and other leadership roles). The response rate was 11 per cent, with a margin of error associated with this type of study at ±3.9 per cent, with a confidence level of 95 per cent. The survey was conducted from September 2 to September 18,. A background document is available online at cpacanada.ca/businessmonitor. About CPA Canada The new Canadian designation, Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), is now used by Canada s accounting profession across the country. The profession s national body, Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada), is one of the largest in the world with more than 200,000 members, both at home and abroad. The Canadian CPA was created with the unification of three legacy accounting designations (CA, CGA and CMA). CPAs are valued for their financial and tax expertise, strategic thinking, business insight, management skills and leadership. CPA Canada conducts research into current and emerging business issues and supports the setting of accounting, auditing and assurance standards for business, not-for-profit organizations and government. CPA Canada also issues guidance and thought leadership on a variety of technical matters, publishes professional literature and develops education and professional certification programs.

3 KEY SLIDES

4 Pessimism about the national economy climbed sharply among professional accountants in leadership positions in the third quarter of. Optimism levels in the quarterly research fell to 17 per cent in Q3 compared with 29 per cent in the second quarter of. Just over 40 per cent of the professional accountants surveyed in the third quarter were neutral about the prospects for the Canadian economy. Company optimism sits at 46 per cent, so it continues to hover around the 50 per cent mark which has been the case for the previous quarters of. Q Q Q1 Q2 Q3 Change vs. Q Optimism in Canadian Economy for next 12 months % Optimistic 48% 33% 23% 29% 17% -31 % Pessimistic 7% 19% 30% 20% 40% +33 Optimism in Business for next 12 months % Optimistic 62% 53% 50% 53% 46% -16 % Pessimistic 10% 20% 22% 23% 24% +14 Q2ai/ii. Please select the rating that best describes your view for each of the following. Number of respondents for these questions = 613. Note: Optimism + pessimism do not necessarily add to 100%, as data for neither optimistic nor pessimistic is not shown.

5 Forty per cent per cent of the business leaders surveyed are pessimistic about how the Canadian economy will perform over the next 12 months. That is a significant jump from the previous quarter when 20 per cent of the respondents expressed pessimism. The last time pessimism levels were this high was in In the opening quarter of this year, more survey respondents were pessimistic about the Canadian economy than optimistic, something that had not occurred since the fourth quarter of Optimism did overtake pessimism in the second quarter of this year only to fall behind again in Q3. 100% 80% Optimism Pessimism 60% 40% 20% 0% Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q Q2ai. Please select the rating that best describes your view for each of the following. Number of respondents for this question is 613 for Q3, varies for previous quarters.

6 Oil prices remain the number one challenge to the Canadian economy cited by 38 per cent of survey participants. It was followed by uncertainty about the Canadian economy (15 per cent). Q Q Q1 Q2 Q3 Oil prices 38% 4% 27% 34% 32% 38% Uncertainty surrounding the Canadian economy 15% 11% 10% 16% 14% 15% The state of the rest of the global economy 14% 23% 11% 8% 7% 14% The state of the U.S. economy 8% 23% 18% 12% 17% 8% Consumer confidence 5% 6% 7% 6% 5% 5% Canada's export levels 4% 4% 4% 4% 4% 4% The current level of the Canadian dollar 4% 4% 4% 7% 5% 4% Lack of skilled workers 2% 8% 7% 2% 5% 2% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Q4. Which of the following do you think is the top challenge to the growth of the Canadian economy? Number of respondents for this question = 613. Note: Percentages less than 2% in Q3 are not shown in the above chart.

7 Focusing on revenues, 57 per cent of the respondents are projecting are forecasting growth over the next 12 months, similar to the previous quarter. For profits, 51 per cent of those surveyed anticipated an increase. Fifty-six per cent were forecasting an increase in Q2. Turning to employee numbers, 36 per cent of those surveyed are predicting growth at their company, basically unchanged from the previous quarter. Thirty-nine per cent of the respondents anticipate no change while 24 per cent expect a drop and the rest do not know. Projected Change in Following Year Revenue Profits Employees Total Who Project an Increase 57% 51% 36% Increase by over 10% 14% 13% 7% Increase by 5 to 10% 18% 15% 8% Increase by less than 5% 26% 23% 20% No Change 15% 16% 39% Total Who Project a Decrease 27% 31% 24% Decrease by less than 5% 8% 12% 12% Decrease by 5 to 10% 7% 7% 6% Decrease by over 10% 11% 12% 6% N/A 1% 2% <1% Don't Know <1% <1% 1% Q3a. Thinking about the next 12 months, please indicate how you expect the following to change if at all from the past 12 months for your company. Number of respondents for these questions =613. Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

8 Thoughts on the U.S. Economy Seventy-one per cent of the business leaders surveyed believe the U.S. economy is growing. TOTAL GROWING 71% Growing considerably 3% Growing moderately 68% Neither 14% TOTAL SLOWING 13% Slowing moderately 11% Slowing considerably 1% Don t know 3% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Q5. In your opinion is the U.S. economy? Number of respondents for this question = 613. Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.