NFIB: The Voice of Small Business - National Small Business Poll

All	Q#	Top 100	Question
	1		Do you have a written budget for your business listing projected revenues or sales by sources, projected expenditures or costs by categories, etc.?
	1a		How do you keep track of how well the business is doing?
	2		How often do you prepare a budget for this business?
	2a		What is the first month of your current budget?
	3		Do you, another owner, an employee or someone else prepare the budget?
	3a		About how many hours does it typically take you to prepare the budget? An estimate is fine.
	4		When you start preparing your budget, what is the first factor you usually build into it? Is it?
	4a		What is the second factor you usually build into the budget? Is it?
	5		How do you typically project expenses for the next budget? Do you typically:?
	6		How do you forecast or project revenues for the next budget? Do you typically:?
	7		Approximately, how many major expense categories does this business’s budget have?
	8		Approximately, how many major “source of revenue” categories does this business’s budget have?
	9		Does your budget have cash flow projections that account for expected seasonality or ups and downs in either revenues or expenditures?
	9a		Is that because you don’t expect seasonality or other irregular cash flows, or because it makes your budget too complicated?
	10		Do you consider the expenses in your budget more like flexible spending guidelines or strict spending boundaries?
	11		Do you keep your budget on some type of computer program, such as Quicken or Quick Books?
	12		How often do you typically review the budget and compare your projections to what is actually happening?
	13		At this time, how close are your expenditures or costs running to those you originally projected in your budget? Are they:?
	13a		What is the primary reason for variance from your cost projections?
	13b		What is the primary reason for variance from your cost projections?
	14		At this time, how close are your revenues or sales running to those you originally projected in your budget? Are they:?
	14a		What is the primary reason for variance from your revenues or sales projections?
	14b		What is the primary reason for variance from your revenues or sales projections?
	15		Do you have a capital budget, that is, a budget that projects future capital expenditures and acquisition dates for major pieces of business equipment, land, vehicles and things of that nature?
	15a		How many years out do you project capital needs?
	16		Before entering this business, had you ever declared bankruptcy?