Main Street Monday — QuickBooks Data Reveals the Financial Impact of COVID-19 on Small Businesses

June 7, 2021

Caity Roach
Editor

Main Street Monday — QuickBooks Data Reveals the Financial Impact of COVID-19 on Small Businesses

“From bowling alleys to dentists, and from coast to coast, no small business was immune to the challenging circumstances that COVID-19 presented this year,” says Alex Chriss, Executive Vice President at Intuit QuickBooks. “Despite these challenges, our data shows that small businesses are on a path to recovery, demonstrating the resilience and tenacity that small businesses embody for all of us. The spirit of resilience and recovery is evident across the entire QuickBooks platform, and Intuit is committed to helping businesses learn new ways to grow and thrive in the future.”

According to a new report by Intuit QuickBooks,  U.S. small businesses are on the road to recovery from the financial losses experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are the highlights from QuickBook’s survey of 1 million small businesses with 10 or fewer employees:

  • The pandemic’s impact on small business revenue was most severe in April 2020 when revenue dropped by 22% nationwide (approximately $4.6 billion).

  • In general, businesses in high-density, urban areas — especially on the East and West Coasts — experienced a greater negative financial impact than those in rural areas. Brooklyn and San Francisco were among the worst-hit cities.

  • The industries that experienced the largest drop in annual revenue due to the pandemic include oil and gas (down 20%), recreation (down 20%), local transport (down 19%), movies (down 15%), hotels and lodging (down 12%), education (down 11%), and museums (down 11%).

  • Industries that experienced the largest increase in revenue after one year of COVID-19 include finance (up 14%), agriculture (up 11%), fishing and hunting (up 10%), building and garden materials (up 10%), utilities (up 10%), forestry (up 8%), and crop production (up 8%). These industries only experienced a short-term dip early in the pandemic.

  • The impact of the winter lockdowns was uneven. Public-facing businesses that are most reliant on face-to-face interactions — such as restaurants, bars, hotels, and recreation businesses — were hit harder.

  • By March 2021, small businesses in every state (except Hawaii which is down 4%) were ahead of their pre-pandemic revenue performance.

Click here to access the full report and learn more about QuickBooks’ sample, data, and methodology.