Shift Business Index
November 2023
Shift uses transaction data from a representative sample of business in Australia to gain insights into their financial and operational performance.
YoY: 79
YoY: 107
YoY: 119
YoY: 117
Key Takeaways
- November saw withdrawals on sales and liquidity. Sales retreated 3 points (-2.5% MoM, +11.5% YoY) ,with liquidity down 2 points (-3% MoM, -19% YoY).
- Supplier spend fell by 4 points (-3.3% MoM, -2.5% YoY), and wage spend remained level over the month (0% MoM, +5.1% YoY).
- After 3 consecutive months of liquidity decline, the Construction industry saw a 3-point growth in cash reserves over November, rising 3 points (+4.1% MoM, -3.8% YoY).
Liquidity Index
The Liquidity Index is calculated by measuring changes in business liquidity to garner insights into the overall level of business health. The Business Liquidity Index fell by 2 points in November (-3% MoM, -19% YoY).
- At an industry level, November brought divergent performances on the Liquidity Index. While the Construction and Transport sectors both enjoyed an increase in cash reserves over the month, retreats in liquidity were observed in the Hospitality, Professional Services and Retail Trade industries.
- Liquidity within the Construction sector rose by 3 points (4.1% MoM, -3.8% YoY) with Transport also seeing a 3-point increase (+3.3% MoM, -1.1% YoY).
- After strong growth in October, Hospitality saw a 5-point fall on the Liquidity Index (-6% MoM, -34.7% YoY). Similar behaviour was seen in the Retail Trade sector, as liquidity retreated by 3 points (-4.5% MoM, -14.7% YoY).
Key Measures
Sales
The Sales Index tracks changes in sales to measure business performance. Over November, sales retreated by 3 points (+2.5% MoM, +11.5% YoY).
- While sales withdrew across the board for our major industries in November, Hospitality saw the most significant drop this month, falling 10 points (-7.9% MoM, -6.4% YoY).
- The Manufacturing sector also saw a 6-point decline (-5.5% MoM, +2% YoY).
- While Sales also fell in the Construction and Transport sectors, their declines were less prominent. Transport fell 2 points (-1.4% MoM, + 9% YoY) and Construction retreated 2 points (-1.5% MoM, +3.6% YoY).
Key Measures – Business Costs
(Supplier Spend)
Supplier spend tracks business costs and expenditures on goods and services, material and equipment, utilities, fuel and insurance.
Supplier spend decreased by 4 points over November (+3.3% MoM, -.2.5% YoY).
Key Measures - Business Costs
(Wage Spend)
Wage spend tracks business spend on wages and salary payments. Wage spend remained level over November (0% MoM, +5.1% YoY).
About the data
Shift Business Index
The Business Index is baselined to February 2021, using six months of average transactions as the denominator.
The Index is calculated by taking a representative sample of businesses from around Australia varied by size, industry and location and looking at their credit transactions across all account types (e.g. transaction, savings and credit card).