Sage North America Business Minds Survey Finds Small Business Owners Skeptical of Recent Small Business Stimulus Proposals


ATLANTA, GA--(Marketwire - May 27, 2010) -  Sage North America today announced additional findings from the 2010 Business Minds survey(1), which gauges small businesses' experience in managing through recent economic conditions, as well as business owners' opinions on the government-sponsored job stimulus programs. Sage conducted the survey this spring, shortly after the Obama Administration announced a series of proposals aimed specifically at small and midsized business owners.

Respondents weighed in on the small business proposals, on topics such as capital expenditure deductions, new employee tax credits and refinancing existing debt, among others. While there was support for some of the proposals from individual respondents and 61% of those surveyed found at least one of the proposals helpful, there was no universal endorsement, by a majority of participants, for any one single proposal. 

The proposal that was considered to be most helpful -- to extend through 2010 the provision that accelerates the rate at which businesses can deduct the cost of capital expenditures -- was found helpful by only 37 percent of respondents. Other proposals found most helpful were the payroll tax reimbursement (33 percent); elimination of the capital gains tax for investments (33 percent); tax credit for new hires (31 percent); and the immediate expense of qualified investment (30 percent). In general, the proposals related to SBA (Small Business Administration) loans were seen as less helpful than the other proposals. 

Small businesses represent a strong voice in the American economic conversation. According to the most recent figures by the Small Business Administration, there are 27.2 million small businesses in the United States which are responsible for jobs of more than half of the population, including both their owners and employees. 

"Our survey results echo what has already been widely reported, but also indicate that small business owners are incredibly passionate and will be a strong voice at the polls come November elections," said Connie Certusi, general manager, small business accounting solutions, Sage North America. "Sage is listening to its customers and in response we are providing an open forum for Congressional delegates, public officials and small businesses to come together to discuss issues affecting American small businesses through our SageSpark.com Small Business Forum."

Earlier this week, Sage launched the Small Business Forum on SageSpark.com as a place where business owners can connect and discuss current legislation and other issues affecting their business, share tips and advice, and access helpful resources from Sage. Today, Sage is extending the invitation to Congressional delegates to participate in the online forum and engage directly with small business owners to discuss the issues they face and share ideas for solutions to those issues. 

About Sage North America
Sage North America is part of The Sage Group plc, a leading global supplier of business management software and services. Sage North America employs 4,000 people and supports 3.1 million small and midsized business customers. The Sage Group plc, formed in 1981, was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and now employs 13,100 people and supports 6.2 million customers worldwide. For more information, please visit the website at www.sagenorthamerica.com.

©2010 Sage Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Sage, the Sage logos, and the Sage product and service names mentioned herein are the registered trademarks or trademarks of Sage Software, Inc. or its affiliated entities. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

(1) Survey methodology: This report is based on a survey of 1,481 Sage customers in February-March 2010 and 1,570 Sage customers in May 2009. Results were weighted by product group to assure proportional representation to Sage's customer base as a whole. The margin of error on the overall sample is plus or minus 2 percentage points (greater for sub-samples).

Contact Information:

Press contact:
John Schoutsen
905-267-2873
John.schoutsen@sage.com

Kara McClain
404-995-4531
kara.mcclain@porternovelli.com