ABACUS

ABOUT ABACUS

As bookstores rethink strategies and operations in a post-COVID world, the insight from the ABACUS financial survey showing how your store compares with others — whether in terms of key expense categories or sales performance — has never been more important.

[1]ABACUS is a free annual report filled with detailed information highlighting how your store compares to other stores in a range of areas, including profitability, productivity, and financial management. Using the ABACUS report is like adding a financial officer to your staff; it clearly highlights areas that need improving and areas in which your store is succeeding.

This ABACUS reporting cycle will cover 2023 financial results, providing participating stores with useful data, an overview of an economy impacted by COVID-19, and informative graphs.

Much of the information needed to fill out the survey will come from a store’s income statement and balance sheet, and a year end z report from point of sale system, and all data shared through the ABACUS survey is confidential. It doesn’t have to be done all at once, the survey can be saved in progress and returned to at any time. The 2023 ABACUS survey [2] is now closed.

Participating stores will receive:

Industry-wide reports for 2023, including an executive summary, detailed survey results, and multi-year trend comparison tables,
Individual company performance reports — confidential, individualized reports shown alongside appropriate industry comparatives (for instance, net sales and profitability, etc) that give stores an easy way to interpret their ABACUS results and provide actionable feedback on the success and/or improvement areas for each respondent.
Access to interactive online report-generating tools
Excel data tables of the aggregated ABACUS results for 2022, to which stores can add their data for analysis.
And, if we have enough participation to ensure a good sample, a regional report to show how your store’s financials compare with others in your region.

Introduction to ABACUS

Using the ABACUS Report

10 ABACUS Report Areas to Review [6]
2022 Fall Regional Education: Decoding the P&L [7]
2022 Fall Regionals: Decoding the P&L [8]
Wi2020: Cost Cutting with ABACUS [9]
Ci2019: Intro to ABACUS: The Independent Bookstore's Benchmarking Report [10]
Wi2019: Using ABACUS as a Budgeting Tool [11]

Resources for Filling Out the 2023 ABACUS Survey

PDF Preview of the 2023 ABACUS Survey [12]
Filling Out ABACUS 2023: A Step-by-Step Guide [13]
Chart of Accounts with ABACUS Lines [14] (Download [15])
Video: ABACUS Survey Step-By-Step Workshop [16]
Lightning Talk: Filling out ABACUS [17]

For more information about ABACUS, check out the members-only materials on the ABA Education Resources page [18] (under "filter results by tags," select "ABACUS") or access the past five years reports [3]. A Chart of Accounts [19] with references to ABACUS line item data can be found in the Bookstore Resource Library [20].

Questions about ABACUS? Email ABA Chief Financial Officer, PK Sindwani [21].