The University has worked with NZ accounting practices for over 35 years to provide benchmarking information for NZ businesses. The reports generated have become the industry standard for benchmarking NZ SMEs.
The full annual publication or individual category reports can be purchased for the 430 plus industry classifications reported.
About the Survey
The New Zealand Business Benchmarking Survey conducted by the University of Waikato, NZ Business Benchmarking Unit gathered financial business information on NZ SMEs. The data analyzed in the survey has been collected from NZ accountants and rigorously screened to generate robust financial information on NZ businesses. The statistics reported are widely recognized by business practitioners, government agencies and industry commentators as the accepted standard for benchmarking SMEs in NZ.
The 2017 financial year end statistics are available for purchase (the 2017 year was the last survey year run). Visit Purchase Survey Reports for an order form and more information.
Business Classifications reported utilise the ANZSIC structure along with Custom Classes, which have been added to provide more detailed business category reports. Over 430 industry classifications (listed from page six) involving SMEs were reported in the 2017 financial year end survey.
The Survey provides financial ratios covering income, profitability, overhead structure, ratios per person, liquidity, and capital structure for a range of NZ industries. The results are divided into two levels. Example of the ratios and reports (on pages four and five). The first level displays the aggregate results for all businesses within each classification, showing the range of results in different percentiles, and the average result for the best three performers based on Net Profit per Working Owner. The second level provides additional breakdowns of a classification's results based on total income, net profit per working owner, and location. The median results for these sub-groups (where the sample is sufficient to include them) are displayed side by side for comparison.
Information on purchasing the survey results are available on our Purchase Survey Reports page.