QuickBooks Survey Points to $118 Billion Holiday Spend at Small Firms
A QuickBooks survey puts planned holiday spending with small firms at $118 billion. Here is what the signal means and how to prepare for it.
A QuickBooks survey of holiday shoppers points to roughly $118 billion in planned spending with small firms. That is the headline. For owners and the accountants who advise them, the useful question is what to do with a signal like that before the season starts.
The number and its limits
The survey asked shoppers what they intend to spend with small businesses over the holidays. The answers added up to about $118 billion. We read figures like this for direction, not precision. Intention is not a receipt. Plans bend under price rises, shipping costs, and tighter household budgets. Still, the direction is the real news: shoppers are putting small firms on the list, not at the bottom of it.
The businesses this touches most
Retail comes to mind first, but the finding reaches further. Restaurants, salons, repair shops, and local service providers all compete for gift cards and seasonal bookings. Accountants should take note as well. A busy December creates work in January, and firms that plan for it now will have cleaner files later.
Get the books ready before the rush
Peak season is the worst time to discover a broken process. Reconcile bank and card feeds now, while volume is low. Confirm that sales tax settings match where you actually sell. Clean up old undeposited funds and unresolved matches, because holiday deposits will bury them otherwise. If inventory is part of your business, run a count before the first promotion, not after the last one.
Gift cards and returns deserve a plan
A gift card sale is cash today and a liability until redemption. Make sure your chart of accounts reflects that, or December revenue will overstate itself. Returns follow the same pattern in reverse: a quiet late December, then a wave in January. Decide now how refunds will post, who approves them, and how you will spot suspicious card activity during the rush.
Can you bank on the number?
No survey settles your forecast. Use the figure as a prompt to check your own history: last season’s sales, the cost of goods behind them, and the staff hours the peak demanded. If demand holds, you will want stock and staffing ready. If it softens, disciplined books make the slower season survivable. Either way, the preparation is the same.
A dry run beats a surprise
The next step is a rehearsal, not a debate about the total. Post a test gift card sale, a refund, and a card deposit in a sample file, then check where each lands on the reports you trust. Fix what looks wrong now. An hour of practice this month protects the whole quarter when the shop is at its busiest.