Understanding the SBA Quarterly Case Report

Important! EDMIS has replaced the SBA Quarterly Case Report. You no longer need to submit the numbers generated by this report to SBA via the imsecure Web site. However, Softshare 'CATS still allows you to run this report for historical purposes. When reading this help file, it's important to note that many of the reporting definitions discussed here (e.g. definition of a "case") are no longer relevant with the advent of EDMIS. However, it is these out-of-date definitions and procedures that Softshare 'CATS uses to generate this historical report so we have left the instructions and descriptions intact in this help file.

For the purposes of this report, a "case" is defined as a client that has received an initial counseling during the specified SBA reporting period. In order for an initial counseling session record to be considered (and subsequently qualify a client as being a case), it must meet the following five requirements: 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.

The SBA Quarterly Case Report reflects the counseling activity of your center. The figures found in this report are based upon information stored in client, contact, and counseling session records. The following sections discuss how Softshare 'CATS calculates each line item on the SBA Quarterly Case Report in accordance with SBA's requirements. 

• Current Period vs. Cumulative to Date Period
• Case Totals
• Type of Business
• Business Ownership/Gender
• Veteran Status
• SBA Client
• Ethnic Background - Race
• Ethnicity
• Areas of Counseling

Current Period vs. Cumulative to Date Period

There are two columns of totals that display for the SBA Quarterly Case Report: the Current Period column and the Cumulative to Date column. All client cases for the current fiscal year are reported under the Cumulative to Date column, assuming that the cumulative start date that you entered for the report criteria matches the start date of your fiscal year. In addition to being reported under the Cumulative to Date column, a client case is also reported under the Current Period column when the client's first counseling session of the fiscal year took place in the current reporting period.

If you were to run the SBA Quarterly Case Report, using the date criteria shown in the following graphic, the totals under the Current Period and Cumulative to Date columns would be identical. This is because the Current Period and Cumulative to Date columns are both including clients that received their first counseling session of the fiscal year between January 1, 2004 and March 31, 2004.

However, if you were to run the SBA Quarterly Case Report, using the date criteria shown in the following graphic, the totals under the Current Period and Cumulative to Date columns would be different. This is because the Cumulative to Date column would include all clients that received their first counseling session of the fiscal year between January 1, 2004 and June 30, 2004, whereas the Current Period column would only include those clients that received their first counseling session of the fiscal year between April 1, 2004 and June 30, 2004.

Case Totals

The first five headings found on the SBA Quarterly Case Report calculate various client case totals. 

Total Cases

The first heading, titled "Case Totals (Number of Cases)," displays the number of total client cases found for the current and cumulative reporting periods. If multiple clients are assigned to a single counseling session record, as shown in the following graphic, each of those clients is considered to be a case.

Total Hours

The second and third headings, titled "Case Totals (Hours)" and "Case Totals (Hours, excl. Travel)," respectively, display the hours spent on all initial and follow-up counseling sessions that took place during the current and cumulative reporting periods, not just those hours spent counseling client cases that fall into the column you're currently looking at.

Let's illustrate this with an example. Assume for a moment that you have just generated the SBA Quarterly Case Report with a current reporting period of October 1, 2004 thru December 31, 2004 and a cumulative reporting period of January 1, 2004 thru December 31, 2004. With these reporting periods in mind, how would the session hours for the client displayed in the following graphic be calculated? The answer is:

• The client will be counted as a case in the Cumulative to Date column only. This is because the client's initial counseling session took place on February 9, 2004, well outside of the current reporting period.
• Similarly, the two hours (or two hours minus traveling time, depending on which heading you're looking at) attributed to this initial counseling session will be counted in the Cumulative to Date column only. Once again, this is because this session took place outside of the current reporting period.
• However, the one hour (or one hour minus traveling time, depending on which heading you're looking at) attributed to the follow-up counseling session will be counted in the Current Period column only. This is because the follow-up counseling session took place during the current reporting period—even though the client is only considered to be a case for the cumulative reporting period.

As their names imply, the "Case Totals (Hours)" heading calculates the preparation, contact, and travel hours for a counseling session record, while the "Case Totals (Hours, excl. Travel)" heading calculates the preparation and contact hours only. If multiple clients are assigned to a single counseling session record, as shown two previous graphics ago, the session hours of that counseling session record are multiplied by the number of clients.

Note: In order for an initial or follow-up counseling session record's hours to be tallied under this heading, it must meet the following five requirements: 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.

Average Hours per Case

The third and fourth headings, titled "Case Totals (Avg. Hours per Case)" and "Case Totals (Avg. Hours per Case, excl. Travel)", respectively, display the average number of hours spent counseling a case during the current and cumulative reporting periods. The "Case Totals (Avg. Hours per Case)" heading divides the total provided in the "Case Totals (Hours)" heading by the total number of cases while the "Case Totals (Avg. Hours per Case, excl. Travel)" heading divides the total provide in the "Case Totals (Hours, excl. Travel)" heading by the total number of cases.

However, it's important to note that neither of these headings are true averages per case. This is because the "Case Totals (Hours)" and "Case Totals (Hours, excl. Travel)" headings include the hours spent on all initial and follow-up counseling sessions during the reporting periods, not just those hours spent counseling client cases that fall into the column you're currently looking at. The implications of calculating all initial and follow-up counseling sessions and not just those that were given to client cases is discussed in detail in the previous section.

Type of Business

The sixth heading, "Type of Business," breaks down your client cases into seven business types, as determined by the Business Type field found in a client record.

Note: When you total this heading's various business type subcategories, you will see that there is a one-to-one correlation between this total and the total number of cases for the reporting period.

Business Ownership/Gender

The seventh heading, "Business Ownership/Gender," breaks down your client cases by business ownership gender, as determined by the Company Gender field found in a client record. 

Note: As with the previous heading, when you total this heading's various gender subcategories, you will see that there is a one-to-one correlation between this total and the total number of cases for the reporting period.

Veteran Status

The eighth heading, "Veteran Status," breaks down your client cases by business ownership veteran status, as determined by the Company Veteran field found in a client record. 

Note: As with the previous two headings, when you total this heading's various veteran status subcategories, you will see that there is a one-to-one correlation between this total and the total number of cases for the reporting period.

SBA Client

The ninth heading, "SBA Client," breaks down your client cases by SBA client type, as determined by the SBA Client Type field found in a client record. 

Note: Because some SBA client types are counted twice, as shown in the previous graphic, there is not a one-to-one correlation between this heading's various SBA client type subcategories and the total number of client cases for the reporting period.

Ethnic Background - Race

The tenth heading, "Ethnic Background - Race," breaks down your client cases by ethnicity, as determined by the Race field found in a client's associated primary contact record. 

Note: When you total this heading's various ethnicity subcategories, you will see that there is a one-to-one correlation between this total and the total number of cases for the reporting period.

Ethnicity

The eleventh heading, "Ethnicity," breaks down your client cases by Hispanic ethnicity, as determined by the Hispanic Origin field found in a client's associated primary contact record. 

Note: When you total this heading's various Hispanic ethnicity subcategories, you will see that there is a one-to-one correlation between this total and the total number of cases for the reporting period.

Areas of Counseling

The twelfth and final heading, "Areas of Counseling," tracks the types of counseling provided, as determined by the SBA Counseling Area field found in a counseling session record, for all initial and follow-up counseling sessions that took place during the current and cumulative reporting periods, not just those counseling sessions that were given to client cases that fall into the column you're currently looking at. The implications of calculating all initial and follow-up counseling sessions and not just those that were given to client cases is discussed in detail in Total Hours.

Because this heading tracks counseling for all initial and follow-up counseling sessions that took place during the reporting periods, not just those counseling sessions that were given to client cases and because many clients probably have received multiple "types" of counseling sessions during the respective reporting periods, it's likely that the total of this heading's various areas of counseling subcategories is greater than the total number of cases. 

However, it's important to note that Softshare 'CATS will only tally a specific type of counseling once per client. For example, if a client is counseled twice during the current reporting period, both times under the "Franchising" SBA counseling area, that client is only counted once under this heading's "Franchising" subcategory for the current reporting period. On the other hand, if a client is counseled twice during the current reporting period, once under the "Technology/Computers" SBA counseling area and once under the "eCommerce" SBA counseling area, that client is counted twice under this heading for the current reporting period, once under the "Technology/Computers" subcategory and once under the "eCommerce" subcategory.