Understanding the Economic Impact by Approval Date (pre-2007) Report

On a semi-annual basis, the SBA requires all SBDCs to submit a report called the SBA Economic Impact Report. This report records (primarily through milestone and investment record data) the economic impact your program's assistance has had on its clients.

In order for a milestone or investment event to be considered by the SBA Economic Impact Report, milestone and investment records must:

  • Have the Reportable? check box selected
  • Have a date in the Date Approved field for investment records or have a date in the Date field for milestone records that falls within the reporting period
  • Be assigned to the counselor specified in the report generation criteria (only applicable if the report's output is restricted to a single counselor)
  • Be categorized under the funding source (or one of the funding sources) specified in the report generation criteria
  • Be assigned to the center (or one of the centers) specified in the report generation criteria

The nine headings of the SBA Economic Impact Report track new businesses created, jobs created and retained, changes in sales, approved loans, and equity capital. The following sections discuss how Softshare 'CATS calculates each line item on this report in accordance with SBA’s requirements.

Heading 1: New Businesses Created

The first heading displays the number of businesses that started up during the reporting period. Softshare offers two sets of numbers for this heading, with each set calculated using very different criteria. It's up to you to decide which set of numbers you want to rely upon when determining your goals, although Softshare generally recommends using 1b's numbers as this line item's calculations were specifically designed to mimic SBA's method of calculating the "New Businesses Created" milestone/goal.

Heading 1a: Business Start-up Milestones

Softshare 'CATS looks to milestone records for this information. The number of businesses started is calculated using "Started Business" milestone records, as shown in the following graphic.

Heading 1b: New Businesses Created

This calculation mirrors the SBA's calculation of the New Businesses Created goal from EDMIS. It is a comparison of a client's business start date with the two most recent session activity dates occurring before and after that date. In order for a client to be counted in heading 1b, the company must be assigned a business start date that occurs between two reportable sessions. This indicates that the company status has changed from "Pre-venture" to "In Business" as a result of ongoing center assistance.

The client must have at least one counseling session (initial or follow-up) dated prior to the company established date in order to be recognized as a pre-venture business. Once the company status has been updated to "In Business" by the entry of a date into the Date Established field, a follow-up counseling session or an investment session dated after the date the company was established must also occur. Remember, the counseling or investment session dated after the business start date must occur during the worksheet's reporting period and be designated as reportable in 'CATS in order to be counted in this calculation.

If you are using the 1b line item on this worksheet to reconcile with SBA's definition of "New Businesses Created," it is not recommended that you restrict this report's generation parameters to a center, grouping of centers, or a particular counselor. You will get incomplete and inaccurate data if you try to run this report on a per-center or per-counselor basis because EDMIS credits all cross-center counseling to the center where the client's initial counseling session took place.

In summary, the specific criteria that must be met in order for a client to be counted in heading 1b is as follows:

  • The client record has at least one reportable counseling session or investment record associated with it that took place on or after the business established date (and falls within the reporting period)
  • The client record has at least one counseling session record associated with it that took place before the business established date, but on or after October 1, 2005 (the advent of EDMIS)
  • If report generation criteria was restricted by center or counselor (not recommended if reconciling with SBA's definition of "New Businesses Created"), then the client record must be assigned to one of the centers and/or counselors specified in the report generation criteria

Heading 2: Jobs Created (Change in Staff)

The second heading tracks the number of new jobs created during the reporting period. Softshare 'CATS looks to milestone records for this information. The number of jobs created is calculated using the "Jobs Created" and "Change in Staff" milestone records, as shown in the following graphic.

 

How Do the "Jobs Created" and "Change in Staff" Milestone Types Differ?

The "Change in Staff" milestone is a true impact milestone that can be used to record jobs gained and jobs lost. It requires initial job data in order to create the "impact" comparison. The "Jobs Created" milestone can only be used to record jobs gained. Softshare added this milestone type to accommodate those situations where initial job data was not available. 

Even though the "Jobs Created" and "Change in Staff" milestone types can both be used to capture new job data, you should never use both (i.e. create one "Jobs Created" and one "Change in Staff" milestone record) to reflect a single new job activity. Creating a "Jobs Created" milestone and a "Change in Staff" milestone for the same event will result in double counting and distort this worksheet's calculations. Your center may want to consider implementing a program-wide policy that specifies the circumstances under which these two milestone types should be used.

Heading 3: Jobs Retained

The third heading tracks the number of jobs retained during the reporting period. Softshare 'CATS looks to milestone records for this information. The number of jobs retained is calculated using "Jobs Retained" milestone records, as shown in the following graphic.

Heading 4: Change in Sales

The fourth heading tracks the collective change in sales your clients experienced during the reporting period. Softshare 'CATS looks to milestone records for this information. The change in sales is calculated using "Change in Sales" milestone records, as shown in the following graphic.

Headings 5 & 6: SBA Loans, Number of and Dollar Amount

The fifth and sixth headings track the number and dollar amount of approved loans given to your clients by SBA during the reporting period. Softshare 'CATS looks to investment records for this information. In addition to the criteria listed previously for milestone and investment records, an investment record must also meet the following criteria in order for it--and its Amount Approved value--to be calculated under headings 5 and 6.

  • The investment type must be the system-defined "SBA Loan" or a user-defined investment type that is marked as both "SBA" and "Loan" in the global configuration settings
  • The investment record must have a status of "Approved"

Note: Heading 6 directly corresponds to the SBA loan portion of SBA's "Capital Infusion" milestone/goal.  

Headings 7 & 8: Non-SBA Loans, Number of and Dollar Amount

The seventh and eighth headings track the number and dollar amount of approved loans given to your clients by any institution other than SBA during the reporting period. Softshare 'CATS looks to investment records for this information. In addition to the criteria listed previously for milestone and investment records, an investment record must also meet the following criteria in order for it--and its Amount Approved value-- to be calculated under headings 7 and 8.

  • The investment type can be any system-defined investment type other than "SBA Loan" or it can be a user-defined investment type that is marked as "Loan," but not "SBA" in the global configuration settings
  • The investment record must have a status of "Approved"

Note: Heading 8 directly corresponds to the non-SBA loan portion of SBA's "Capital Infusion" milestone/goal.

Heading 9: Equity Capital

The final heading totals the dollar amount of equity capital given to your clients during the reporting period. Softshare 'CATS looks to investment records for this information. In addition to the criteria listed previously for milestone and investment records, an investment record must also meet the following criteria in order for its Amount Approved value to be calculated under heading 9.

  • The investment type must be "Owner Investment," "Stock Investment," "Venture Capital," "Other Equity Investment," or a user-defined investment type that is not marked as "Loan" in the global configuration settings
  • The investment record must have a status of "Approved"

Note: Heading 9 directly corresponds to the equity capital portion of SBA's "Capital Infusion" milestone/goal.