How Australian businesses are tracking
The Shift SME Economy Index is a single reading of SME financial performance, built on transaction-level banking data from Shift’s customer base.
It brings together two sides of how a business is doing: revenue, the money moving through it, and liquidity, the cash it holds.
Profitability is hard to observe from the outside: owners often blend personal and business accounts and move money through loans, dividends and drawings. Liquidity is the more reliable external read on a business’s sustainability and resilience.
The headline is the median across Shift’s customer base, the typical business. Revenue and liquidity can also be read on their own. View by business size, state and industry.
Based on live-streamed bank transaction data from ~11,000 SMEs
The Shift SME Economy Index, over time
Tracking the year-on-year (YoY) reading, monthly, of the typical SME’s financial performance across Shift’s customer base. Read it at the total level, or split by business size, state and industry to compare how different parts of the economy are faring.
Revenue
Revenue, the growth in monthly sales for a business, read on a YoY basis. Total tracks the median; business size, state and industry show where revenue growth is increasing or decreasing. Refer to Methodology for full details.
Liquidity
Liquidity, the cash a business holds. Total tracks the median; the business size, state and industry charts show where cash pressure is greatest.
Sources and methods
The supporting data, references and methodology that sit behind the Shift SME Economy Index are available upon request.