Sageworks Blog

Apr30

The Private Company Outlook: Sageworks, ADP discuss recent trends Mary Ellen Biery [email] Research Specialist

Apr 30, 2013 22:13

Privately held companies continue to have strong fundamental performance in general, but hiring by them remains weak, especially considering how much economic activity has occurred since the recession, Sageworks Chairman Brian Hamilton said Tuesday. “There’s no question the economy is perking along, but [the weak hiring] is one thing we can’t get through,” Hamilton said at The Private Company Outlook meeting in New York. [More]

Apr21

Business owner? Get more from your bookkeeping software, QuickBooks® Libby Bierman [email] Analyst

Apr 21, 2013 11:23

Given all the other demands on business owners’ time, financial analysis or a thorough review of the company’s financial situation is usually under-prioritized. Businesses that use QuickBooks® or other common bookkeeping systems* can leverage the centralized and up-to-date data they have in the system to get more immediate and in-depth insights into their company. [More]

Apr14

Benchmark your business & win the horse race Libby Bierman [email] Analyst

Apr 14, 2013 17:35

Maybe it’s an inherent competitiveness or just the pursuit of improvement, but it’s commonplace for people to seek out benchmarks they can use to assess their relative position or performance. It interests people to know how they compare to their peers. Benchmarks have a place in business, too, and can be an invaluable instrument to help business owners succeed. Compare running a business to running in a horse race. [More]

Nov 06, 2012 09:48

This guest post by Chris Call, partner with B2B CFO, summarizes best strategies for analyzing business expenses and the "why" behind the numbers. Chris discusses the importance of industry comparisons and how he helped a business owner save more than $100,000 per year using ProfitCents by Sageworks. [More]

Nov01

GDP, private-company trends among economy's mixed signals Mary Ellen Biery [email] Research Specialist

Nov 01, 2012 17:03

In the last general report card on the economy before the Nov. 6 election, the recent GDP data was consistent with some of the mixed signals affecting privately held companies. Data from Sageworks Inc., a financial information company, shows that private companies on average have seen about 7 percent growth in sales from last year. [More]

Oct 19, 2012 11:50

Private companies pose unique challenges for banks and others trying to quantify the credit risk associated with those companies in an automated and standardized manner. Since privately held firms aren’t required to share financial information with outsiders, the number of parties with access to accurate, detailed information about the business is extremely limited. However, there are new products on the market that now help these individuals make better decisions. [More]

Oct05

Study using Sageworks data: Private cos. out-invest publicly traded cos. Mary Ellen Biery [email] Research Specialist

Oct 05, 2012 10:19

Privately held companies invest substantially more than do publicly traded companies matched for industry and size, according to a recent study by researchers at New York University and Harvard University that used Sageworks’ data. The findings are consistent with theories linking conservative investing to public firm executives’ worries over stock prices, according to the working paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research. [More]

Sep27

Economic data consistent with private-company trends Mary Ellen Biery [email] Research Specialist

Sep 27, 2012 16:25

Thursday’s surprise downward revision to second-quarter GDP and the worst durable goods report since the recession were consistent with some of the trends Sageworks, a financial information company, has been seeing recently. Average annual sales growth for private companies has slowed to around 5.5 percent currently from nearly 11 percent in January and more than 8 percent a year earlier, according to the Sageworks Private Company Indicator. [More]

Aug16

U.S. auto dealer trends Mary Ellen Biery [email] Research Specialist

Aug 16, 2012 09:18

Privately owned U.S. auto dealers have continued to see double-digit sales gains over the last 12 months, growth that has outpaced other industries, according to a recent data release from Sageworks Inc., a financial information company. New- and used-auto dealers are in their third year of double-digit sales growth, though growth has leveled out more recently, the financial statement analysis by Sageworks shows. [More]

Aug 14, 2012 10:54

The only thing worse than failing is sticking with a doomed business long after its fate is sealed, according to Brian Hamilton, co-founder and CEO of Sageworks. He recently described for Inc.com how to know it's time to move on. [More]