Businesses reported on changes in revenue, operating expenses and number of employees over the last month and expected changes over the next month. This information has been collected each month from July 2020.
Revenue, expenses and employment
Month on month, the proportion of businesses reporting a decrease in revenue has fallen, from 47% in July to 31% in October.
In October, 7% of businesses reported a decrease in the number of employees. This compares to 13% in July.
Approximately one in five medium (22%) and large (19%) businesses reported an increase in the number of employees, compared with 6% of small businesses.
In comparing these monthly expectations provided between July and October, those relating to operating expenses and number of employees have remained stable. A larger proportion of businesses reported an expected increase in revenue for October and November compared to August and September.
Cash on hand
Businesses were asked to estimate the length of time that operations could be sustained by currently available cash on hand.
In October, businesses estimated that the length of time cash on hand could sustain business operations was:
- Less than 1 month (8% of all businesses)
- 1 to less than 3 months (21%)
- 3 to less than 6 months (13%)
- 6 months or more (38%)
- Don’t know (19%)
Funds sought by businesses
One in five of businesses (21%) reported they sought additional funds over the past six months.
By employment size, the proportion of businesses that sought additional funds were:
- Small businesses (21%);
- Medium businesses (27%); and
- Large businesses (24%)
Reasons for not seeking additional funds
Almost three quarters (73%) of businesses did not seek additional funds over the past six months. These businesses reported on reasons for not seeking funds.
