Small businesses are the engines of our global economy, powering prosperity through job creation and innovation. As highlighted in the 2023 Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Index Annual Report, small businesses within the US, Canada, and the UK play an even more vital role in their economies, representing 98% of all firms and providing a third to almost half of all jobs in each country’s workforce. 

This year’s report focuses on an in-depth analysis of the contributions, health, and struggles of employer firms with 1-100 employees. While new and growing startups help pioneer breakthrough innovations and foster economic dynamism, we encourage policymakers to ensure small business support programs are structured in a way that helps ensure their resilience and success. 

Based on this year’s analysis of the small business landscape, we encourage policymakers to foster an environment that is conducive to small business economic growth and resiliency by:

• Encouraging bank-fintech partnerships to ensure small businesses have access to a diverse set of lenders.
• Modernizing payment systems, providing faster, easier-to-use, more transparent, and lower-cost payment services for small businesses.
• Encouraging the adoption of digital tools through scaling government resources in a way that helps small businesses modernize their business. 
• Minimizing regulatory and licensing barriers to starting small businesses, which lack the financial and human resources of large companies to comply with burdensome regulations.