The Accountants Confidence took a slight drop for the second month in a row, with many respondents expecting a slowdown toward the end of the year as part of the "natural" economic cycle.
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 came in at 54.03, down from the previous month's 54.89, though still well above the 50 mark that separates expectations of growth from expectations of contraction. The 6-Month ACI, meanwhile, came in at 55.82, down a bit from last month's 56.61.
Most of the index components showed slight declines, but while a few respondents anecdotally noted weakness in their own firms' performance, most expected higher growth in the future, particularly in the mid-term.
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.