Shift Business Index
September 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: 103
YoY: 111
YoY: 114
Key Takeaways
- September saw the Sales and Liquidity indexes both retreat. Sales withdrew by 4 points (-3.5% MoM, 6.8% YoY), and Liquidity fell by 4 points (-5.6% MoM, -15.2% YoY).
- After a relatively stable performance over July and August, the Hospitality sector saw declines on Sales and Liquidity over September. Sales fell 7 points (-5.7% MoM, -0% YoY) and Liquidity fell by 5 points (-10% MoM, -36% YoY).
- Supplier Spend fell by 3 points over September (-2.6% MoM, + 1.8% 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 retreated by 4 points in September (-5.6% MoM, -15.2% YoY).
- Construction saw the lowest fall on the liquidity index over the month, dropping 1 point (down 1.2% MoM, -4.8% YoY).
- Cash reserves within the Transport sector also retreated over September, withdrawing 2 points (-2% MoM, -6.7% YoY).
- Manufacturing saw a more substantial decrease, down 5 points (-7.1% MoM, +1.6% YoY).
Key Measures
Sales
The Sales Index tracks changes in sales to measure business performance. Over September, sales retreated by 4 points (-3.5% MoM, 6.8% YoY).
- Professional services saw the most notable fall in sales over September, falling 11 points (-7.4% MoM, +5.3% YoY). This is the first decline on the Sales index that this sector has seen since April 2023.
- The Transport sector also experienced a sales decline this month, falling 9 points (-6% MoM, + 9.3% YoY).
- Amid these declines in sales performance, the Construction industry saw a relatively minor change, as Sales within the sector dropped 1 point (-0.9% MoM, + 1.9% 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 3 points over September (-2.6% MoM, +1.8% YoY).
Key Measures - Business Costs
(Wage Spend)
Wage spend tracks business spend on wages and salary payments. Wage spend decreased by 4 points over September (-3.3% MoM, +2.6% 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).