Understanding the Expanded Economic Impact Report


Important! Do not submit this report's numbers to SBA. The Expanded Economic Impact Report is a Softshare variation of the SBA Economic Impact Report. It was created to provide additional economic data for your center's internal purposes only.

The Expanded Economic Impact report records (through milestone and investment information) the economic impact your center's assistance has had on its clients. Specifically, it tracks economic impact in the area of jobs, sales, and investments.

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

  • Have the Reportable? check box selected
  • Have a date in the Date Approved/Completed field (for investment records) or 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

Headings 1-6 of the report break down sales and jobs numbers by existing business and new business. For the purposes of this report, an existing business is defined as any client that has been in business more than 12 months. A new business is defined as any client that is pre-venture or has been in business less than 12 months. To determine a business' status, Softshare 'CATS looks to either the Initial Status field or the Company Status field (both found in the client record), depending on which version of the Expanded Economic Impact Report you are running: the Expanded Economic Impact (by Initial Status) or the Expanded Economic Impact (by Company Status).

Both fields carry the same business status values, as shown in the next graphic, but the two fields are not interchangeable. The Initial Status field represents the client's status at the time they became a client of your center. This field's value remains static throughout your center's relationship with the client. The Company Status field, on the other hand, represents the client's current business status and is updated throughout your collaboration with the client to reflect the client's growth. If you were to run both versions of the Expanded Economic Impact Report, you would see very different numbers for the same grouping of clients. 

The following sections discuss how Softshare 'CATS calculates each line item in this report.

Heading 1: Existing Business Growth in Sales

The first heading tracks the collective change in sales experienced during the reporting period by those clients that are existing businesses (i.e. clients that have been in business for more than 12 months according to either the Initial Status or Company Status field, depending on which version of this report you are running). To track change in sales, Softshare 'CATS looks to milestone records created for these existing businesses that, in addition to meeting the criteria listed previously, indicate the "Change in Sales" milestone type, as shown in the next graphic.

Heading 2: Existing Business Jobs Created

The second heading tracks the collective number of new jobs created during the reporting period by those clients that are existing businesses (i.e. clients that have been in business for more than 12 months according to either the Initial Status or Company Status field, depending on which version of this report you are running). To track new jobs, Softshare looks to milestone records created for these existing businesses that, in addition to meeting the criteria listed previously, indicate either the "Jobs Created"  or the "Change in Staff" milestone type, as shown in the next 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 center-wide policy that specifies the circumstances under which these two milestone types should be used.

Heading 3: Existing Business Jobs Retained

The third heading tracks the collective number of jobs retained during the reporting period by those clients that are existing businesses (i.e. clients that have been in business for more than 12 months according to either the Initial Status or Company Status field, depending on which version of this report you are running). To track jobs retained, Softshare 'CATS looks to milestone records created for these existing businesses that, in addition to meeting the criteria listed previously, indicate the "Jobs Retained" milestone type, as shown in the next graphic.

Heading 4: Existing Business Sales Retained

The fourth heading tracks the collective amount in retained sales experienced during the reporting period by those clients that are existing businesses (i.e. clients that have been in business for more than 12 months according to either the Initial Status or Company Status field, depending on which version of this report you are running). To track retained sales, Softshare 'CATS looks to milestone records created for these existing businesses that, in addition to meeting the criteria listed previously, indicate the "Sales Retained" milestone type, as shown in the next graphic.

Heading 5: New Business Sales

As with the first heading, the fifth heading tracks change in sales using "Change in Sales" milestone records. However, this heading tracks this sales data for those clients that are new businesses (i.e. clients that are pre-venture or have been in business for less than 12 months according to either the Initial Status or Company Status field, depending on which version of this report you are running) whereas the first heading tracks sales data for existing businesses.

Heading 6: New Business Jobs

As with the second heading, the sixth heading tracks the collective number of new jobs created using "Jobs Created" and "Change in Staff" milestone records. However, this heading tracks jobs data for those clients that are new businesses (i.e. clients that are pre-venture or have been in business for less than 12 months according to either the Initial Status or Company Status field, depending on which version of this report you are running) whereas the second heading tracks jobs data for existing businesses.

Heading 7: Business Start-ups

The seventh heading displays the number of businesses that started up during the reporting period. Unlike the previous six headings, this heading does not break down businesses by the existing or new classification; it includes all clients that have had a "Started Business" milestone record created for them during the reporting period (assuming the milestone record also meets all previously listed criteria), as shown in the next graphic.   

Heading 8: Investor Equity

The eighth heading totals the dollar amount of investor equity capital given to your clients, whether new or existing businesses, during the reporting period. To track investor equity, Softshare 'CATS looks to investment records that, in addition to meeting the criteria listed previously, indicate either a "Stock Investment," "Venture Capital," or "Other Equity Investment" investment type. When an investment record meets these requirements, the value carried by its Amount Approved field is added to this heading's total, as shown in the next graphic.

 

Heading 9: Owner's Equity

The ninth heading totals the dollar amount of owner's equity capital given to your clients, whether new or existing businesses, during the reporting period. To track owner equity, Softshare 'CATS looks to investment records that, in addition to meeting the criteria listed previously, indicate an investment type of "Owner Investment." When an investment record meets these requirements, the value carried by its Amount Approved field is added to this heading's total.

Heading 10: SBA Loans

The tenth heading totals the dollar amount of approved loans given to your clients, whether new or existing businesses, by SBA during the reporting period. Softshare 'CATS looks to investment records for this information. In addition to the criteria listed previously for investment records, an investment record must be one of the following types in order for its Amount Approved value to be calculated under this heading.

  • The investment type must be the system-defined "SBA Loan" type or...
  • ...it must be a user-defined investment type that is marked as both "SBA" and "Loan" in WinCATS' global configuration settings, as shown in the next graphic.

Heading 11: Non-SBA Loans

The eleventh heading totals the dollar amount of approved loans given to your clients, whether new or existing businesses, by institutions other than SBA during the reporting period. Softshare 'CATS looks to investment records for this information. In addition to the criteria listed previously for investment records, an investment record must be one of the following types in order for its Amount Approved value to be calculated under this heading.

  • The investment type must be one of the system-defined loan types which includes "Commercial Loan," "Line of Credit," "Micro-Loan," and "Other Federal Loan" or...
  • ...it must be a user-defined investment type that is marked as "Loan," but not "SBA" in WinCATS' global configuration settings, as shown in the next graphic.

Heading 12: Grants Received

The twelfth heading totals the dollar amounts of grants given to your clients, whether new or existing businesses, during the reporting period. To track grants, Softshare 'CATS looks to investment records that, in addition to meeting the criteria listed previously, indicate a user-defined investment type that is marked as "Grant" in WinCATS' global configuration settings, as shown in the next graphic. When an investment record meets these requirements, the value carried by its Amount Approved field is added to this heading's total.