Why I talk about economic indicators so often.

One of the frustrations I have experienced as an auditor is the statistical information made visible by the AICPA and publications from others is that the economic data mentioned routinely lags behind two or three quarters on the date it is published. Another trade association reports giving trends in the religious communities, but the survey information is provided late in the year for the prior calendar year.
The result is when I’m working on an audit or review several months later, the readily available economic data is from the start of the fiscal year I’m analyzing. Sometimes the data is for the prior fiscal year I’m considering. That doesn’t do me much good.
Long time ago I came across a comment that CPAs ought to start tracking key economic indicators on their own.
What a great idea!
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