Small Businesses Favor Romney/Ryan Ticket in U.S. Presidential Election

Cutting red-tape and better health care options cited as crucial issues for U.S.-based small businesses

News provided by

Wave Accounting

Sep 11, 2012, 09:46 ET

TORONTO, Sept. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Wave Accounting (Wave), the disruptive creators of award-winning free small business accounting and payroll software, today announced the results of its small business opinion poll on the 2012 U.S. Presidential Election. Wave polled the U.S.-based portion of the company's more than 300,000 customers regarding their opinions on the candidates' potential impact on small business.

Key findings include:

  • On the question, "Who is better for small businesses," 53% of respondents chose Romney/Ryan, 39% chose Obama/Biden.
  • Reducing government red tape is the number one issue for Republican voting respondents, with an overwhelming 90% citing this issue as "crucial."
  • Among voters intending to vote Democrat, the most important issue is improving health care options for small businesses (77% called it "crucial.")
  • Size matters: Support for Romney/Ryan grows as company size grows. 47% of companies with 6-9 employees say they are definitely voting Romney/Ryan, vs. 45% among companies with 2-5 employees, and 43% among one-person businesses.
  • Support for the GOP ticket is strongest in the South where 57% of businesses favor Romney/Ryan.

"These insights represent the real opinions of real small businesses in America," said Kirk Simpson, CEO of Wave Accounting.

Recent "small business" surveys have included opinions from companies with hundreds of employees and many millions in revenue. Because Wave specializes in online solutions for real small businesses with 9 employees or less, the company can access key insights from a unique and significant segment of the market.

"This group makes up 95% of businesses in the U.S., yet their voices are badly underrepresented in media and politics," said Simpson. "Their opinions and needs are interesting, in some cases unexpected, and deserve to be heard."

The complete Wave Small Business Opinions Report — 2012 U.S. Presidential Election is available at www.waveaccounting.com/election2012.

About Wave Accounting (Wave)
Based in Toronto, Canada, Wave provides integrated online applications that help small business owners around the world run their businesses. Wave has raised more than $19 million in funding in a year and half, during which time it has signed up hundreds of thousands of small business customers around the world. Wave currently tracks more than $40 billion in small business income and spending; customers can sign up for free at WaveAccounting.com.  WavePayroll.com is available now in Canada. The U.S. version is currently in beta release; customers can sign up for advance invitations at http://wavepayroll.com/advance-invitation.

SOURCE Wave Accounting