Case study for Austria Karin Gavac KMU Forschung Austria/Austrian Institute for SME Research SME definition including balance sheet information

2/14 Founded: 1954 Form: independent, private, non-profit organisation Target: social and economic research focussing on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Target groups: institutions responsible for economic policy- making and business development, enterprises and their advisors (management and tax consultants, trustees, banks, etc.) Tasks: inform decision making processes in the public sector Staff: ca. 35 persons Austrian Institute for SME Research (I)

3/14 Studies & Analyses Employment and Labour Market Industries/Branches Structures and Development e.g. Austrian report on SME Entrepreneurship Innovation and Technology International Economy, Regional Studies Evaluation of Policies and Policy Formulation (programmes, institutions etc.) Databases Balance Sheet Database (inter-firm comparisons) Economic Performance and Business Cycle Database (crafts, retail trade, business services) Observer – Industries / Branches Information Austrian Institute for SME Research (II)

4/14 For whom do we work? European Commission & Agencies Austrian Federal Ministries & Agencies Austrian Economic Chamber Organisations (Federal and State Levels) Public Employment Service (AMS) Regional Governments Regional Business Development Agencies Main Networks Austrian Cooperative Research (ACR) European Network for Social and Economic Research (ENSR) Various topical platforms (information exchange etc.) Austrian Institute for SME Research (III)

Balance Sheet Database

6/14 Companies with more than € 700,000 turnover (below € 700,000 optional) Accounting Rules Small firms with less than € 700,000 turnover (balance sheet optional) Austrian accounting rules differentiate between: financial statements (balance sheet) financial statements on cash basis (p & l)  2 / 3 of Austrian SMEs  1 / 3 of Austrian SMEs

7/14 currently ~ 100,000 financial statements annually of enterprises with an annual turnover > € Euro in all sectors o SBS in Austria includes enterprises with annual turnover > € anonymised financial statements are provided by intermediaries Characteristics (I)

8/14 Recent year 2012/13 o balance sheet date between and o year 2013/14 will be published in July 2015 Balance Sheet Database includes financial statement data including turnover and balance sheet total o numbers of employees are calculated on basis of personnel costs Characteristics (II)

9/14 Sample sectors B to N (excluding L) according to NACE Rev. 2 Sources: Statistics Austria, Austrian Institute for SME Research Distribution of the number of enterprises by economic sectors in %

10/14 Results – number of enterprises (I) Share of the number of SMEs in % sectors B to N (excluding L) according to NACE Rev. 2 Sources: Statistics Austria, Austrian Institute for SME Research

11/14 Results – number of enterprises (II) Share of the number of SMEs by economic sectors in % sectors B to N (excluding L) according to NACE Rev. 2; Sources: Austrian Institute for SME Research

12/14 Results – turnover (I) Share of the turnover of SMEs in % sectors B to N (excluding L) according to NACE Rev. 2 Sources: Statistics Austria, Austrian Institute for SME Research

13/14 Results – turnover (II) Share of the turnover of SMEs by economic sectors in % sectors B to N (excluding L) according to NACE Rev. 2; Sources: Austrian Institute for SME Research

14/14 under the premises stated before the following conclusions can be drawn: share of SMEs in % highest with the current definition (only employees) smallest if using employees and turnover information if using the EU-definition including employees, turnover and/or balance sheet total, the share of SMES lies in-between and is closer to the current definition Conclusions

Website: Mitglied bei / Member of Thank you for your attention!