Understanding the Economic Impact/Capital Infusion Report

On a semi-annual basis, the SBA requires all SBDCs to submit economic impact data. This report records (primarily through milestone and investment record data) the economic impact your program's assistance has had on its clients. In addition to economic impact data found in headings 1-12, this report includes other types of data important to your operations in an effort to provide you with one convenient, central location in which to calculate SBA's various definitions, milestones, and goals.

This help file is divided into two main sections:

Headings 1-12: Economic Impact Data

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, headings 1-12 report on the economic impact your program's assistance has had on its clients. Because this data is calculated using data found in milestone and investment records, it's important that you understand what makes a milestone or investment record eligible for consideration in this report.

In order for a milestone or investment event to be considered by the Economic Impact/Capital Infusion 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 first 12 headings of the Economic Impact/Capital Infusion 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 economic impact 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

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.

Headings 9 & 10: Total Loans, Number of and Dollar Amount

The ninth and tenth headings total the numbers and dollar amounts of all loans, SBA and non-SBA alike, for a number and dollar amount of all approved loans during the reporting period. Mathematically speaking, heading 9 is the sum of heading 5 and heading 7. Heading 10 is the sum of heading 6 and heading 8.

Headings 11 & 12: Equity Capital, Number of and Dollar Amount

The final headings for the economic impact portion of the report total the number and dollar amount of equity capital investments 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 it to be calculated under headings 11 and 12.

  • 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 12 directly corresponds to the equity capital portion of SBA's "Capital Infusion" milestone/goal.

Headings 13-18: Other Important Data

The final five headings of the Economic Impact/Capital Infusion Report calculate a variety of SBA numbers that, although not directly related to economic impact data, are convenient to have in a single report. The following sections discuss how Softshare 'CATS calculates each of the final five line items on this report in accordance with SBA’s requirements.

Heading 13: Total Clients

Softshare 'CATS provides two client calculations under this heading. Heading 13a, Total Clients Counseled, represents the number of unique clients that received any type of counseling, initial or follow-up, during the reporting period. Heading 13b, Number of New Clients Counseled, represents unique clients that received their very first counseling session during the reporting period.

Note: An initial or follow-up counseling session must meet the following criteria in order for its recipient to be counted as a counseled client: 1) its Reportable? check box must be selected, (2) the date in its Date field must fall within the reporting period, (3) it must be categorized under the funding source (or one of the funding sources) specified in the report generation criteria, (4) it must be assigned to the center (or one of the centers) specified in the report generation criteria, and (5) if the report's output is restricted to a single counselor, it must be assigned to the counselor specified in the report generation criteria. Notice that this list of criteria is less restrictive than the rules that EDMIS uses to qualify a counseling session.

Heading 14: Extended Engagement Clients

Heading 14 calculates SBA's definition of extended engagement clients. Per SBA, these clients are defined as 1) having received counseling in the current fiscal year and 2) having received at least 5 hours of counseling (contact time only) since the advent of EDMIS (October 1, 2005).

It should be noted that, in addition to meeting the criteria listed in the previous paragraph, counseling session records, in order for them to contribute to a client's counseling hours, must also (1) have the Reportable? check box selected, (2) be categorized under the funding source (or one of the funding sources) specified in the report generation criteria, (3) be assigned to the center (or one of the centers) specified in the report generation criteria, and (4) if the report's output is restricted to a single counselor, be assigned to the counselor specified in the report generation criteria.

Note: If you are using this heading to get a feeling for how the EDMIS system determines your program's number of extended engagement clients, 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.

Heading 15: Long Term Clients

Heading 15 is a total of long-term counseling clients, which is actually an ASBDC definition used as part of Chrisman reporting; it's not an SBA definition. Long-term counseling clients are defined as having received 5 or more hours of counseling (including preparation time) within the current fiscal year. For the purposes of this particular heading, the current fiscal year is based upon the fiscal year as defined by the network administrator in WinCATS' Global Configuration settings.

It should be noted that, in addition to meeting the criteria listed in the previous paragraph, counseling session records, in order for them to contribute to a client's counseling hours, must also (1) have the Reportable? check box selected, (2) be categorized under the funding source (or one of the funding sources) specified in the report generation criteria, (3) be assigned to the center (or one of the centers) specified in the report generation criteria, and (4) if the report's output is restricted to a single counselor, be assigned to the counselor specified in the report generation criteria.

Note: At one point in time, SBA referred to its "extended engagement clients" as "long-term counseling clients" which was the source of some confusion. In July of 2007, SBA formally changed this client definition's title to "extended engagement clients" so as not to conflict with the ASBDC's traditional use of the long-term counseling clients label.

Headings 16-18: Total Training Events, Sessions, & Attendees

Heading 16 tracks the total number of training events (via conference records) that took place during the reporting period. Heading 17 totals the number of sessions that took place for these training events (as entered into the Number of Sessions field found in each conference record). Heading 18 totals the number of attendees for these training events, which is pulled directly from the Total Attendees field found in each conference record.

In order for a conference record (and its attendees) to be tallied under these two headings, it must:

  • Have the SBA888? check box selected
  • Have the Reportable? check box selected
  • Have a date in the Date Approved field that falls within the reporting period
  • 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
  • Have an instructor designated in the Instructor field that matches the counselor specified in the report generation criteria (only applicable if the report's output is restricted to a single counselor)