The KOF Business Tendency Survey is an instrument for quickly identifying current economic trends. Answers may be based on business leaders’ general awareness of the current economic situation. It is only necessary to consult business records in specific individual cases.
All questions relate to your operations in Switzerland. The questionnaire specifies the segment/sector allocation. The questionnaire may also focus on a specific area of the business. In this case, the answers should relate exclusively to this area of operations. For businesses that complete only one questionnaire on the other hand, answers should reflect the business tendency of the company as a whole.
Your data will be treated strictly confidential.
The following notes concerning individual questions are only intended as non-binding suggestions, as the circumstances of each individual business will differ considerably from others. However, we do ask that you stick to the same method for providing answers once it has been chosen.
The done constructions have to be accounted for. This is independent of the invoice process.
This question has been kept vague intentionally. The business situation is supposed to represent the overall economic condition of the business. It is up to respondents to decide whether to assess it with reference to fee rates, profits, the number of employees or a combination of these factors.
The field “comments” is reserved for general comments on the situation or references to particular operational circumstances etc.
This relates to the competitiveness of goods and services and is determined by production costs, innovativeness and other performance characteristics (quality, service) as well as the economic and legal framework conditions.
It is the volume of mandates, incoming orders, data and transactions, customer frequency, transport kilometres booked or objects sold/rented that result in a service provided by the company.
The Number of employees in full-time equivalent positions incl. apprentices, in Switzerland (in the company or the company division entered in the questionnaire) should be indicated as being too high if the workforce cannot be utilised in full owing to insufficient sales. It should be regarded as being too low if demand cannot be covered by the available staffing resources (overtime etc.).
In areas where no actual prices are used for the services, the development of a price-like value (e.g. fee and tariff rates, contribution rates) should be indicated. For service intermediaries where the own service accounts for a small share of the final price (travel agency, sale/rental of real estate, rental of machinery, equipment, vehicles and consumer goods, etc.), only the price of the intermediation or the earned premium - and not the final price - should be taken as a basis.
Alongside the profit margin it is important to take account in particular of sales volumes, as for instance rising sales will result in an improvement in the revenue position even if the profit margin remains constant (increase in the contribution margin).
As far as possible, answers should disregard normal seasonal fluctuations.
Seasonal fluctuations include, on the one hand, changes owing to normal seasonal closing times, for instance annual company holidays, bank holidays or regular recurring repairs, etc. Other seasonal fluctuations comprise variations due to normal seasonal factors. If the past few years show a basic trend in the period in question, please try and disregard this basic trend. For instance, if you know that demand has tended to rise slightly over the years in the period in question, it is not necessary to report the slight rise as an increase in the multi-year overview. You only need to report an increase that goes beyond this basic trend. Consequently, a normal seasonal change is a change that, over the past few years, can be considered as a normal or average trend for these months. However, this seasonal adjustment can be done roughly or on a more conservative basis
Technical facilities (capacity) include IT infrastructure as well as all premises, storage facilities, vehicles, machines etc. used by the business that are available for operational usage. They should be indicated as representing overcapacity if they cannot be utilised in full owing to insufficient demand. They should be regarded as being insufficient if they are the reason why demand cannot be met to the extent desired.