5 reasons to fill out ABACUS: profitability, goal-setting, advocacy, awareness, and education

ABACUS is a free annual report filled with detailed information highlighting how your store compares to other stores in a range of areas, including profitability, cost of goods, payroll, and sales. Using the ABACUS report is like adding a financial officer to your staff; it helps you clearly identify your store’s financial strengths and areas for improvement.

ABA pays an outside vendor, Industry Insights, to provide this benefit to members. Members fill out the survey using information from their profit & loss statement, payroll report, balance sheet, and a few other sources. (All data is confidential and shared only with the Industry insights, not ABA.) 
In return, participating stores receive a report that includes:
  • An industry-wide report with an executive summary, multi-year trend comparison tables, and detailed survey results.
  • An individual store performance report with confidential results that show your store data compared to industry benchmarks as well as similar stores.

Introduction to ABACUS

Filling Out ABACUS

Using the ABACUS Report

Other Related ABA Financial Resources

See previous ABACUS reports here.
 
Questions about ABACUS? Email ABA Chief Financial Officer, Lauren Ciborski
 

For more information about ABACUS, check out the members-only materials on the ABA Education Resources page (under "filter results by tags," select "ABACUS") or access the past five years reports. A Chart of Accounts with references to ABACUS line item data can be found in the Bookstore Resource Library.

Questions about ABACUS? Email ABA Chief Financial Officer, Lauren Ciborski .