As the tax reform process wound down to its eventual conclusion, the Accountants Confidence Index gave back a little bit of its November gains in December.
The ACI, published in partnership with ADP, is a monthly economic indicator that leverages the insights of accountants into the strength and prospects of businesses in the U.S. The 3-Month ACI rose to 56.05, down slightly from the previous month's 56.87, though well above the 50 mark that separates expectations of growth from expectations of contraction. The 6-Month ACI, meanwhile, came in at 57.77, down a bit from last month's 59.41.
The index components mostly declined, with the big exception being in firm's expectation for their own short-term growth.
The ACI is created from a monthly poll of the Accounting Today Executive Research Council, an online community of more than 1,500 tax and accounting professionals.