ABACUS Deadline Extended: Still Time to Participate

American Booksellers Association member bookstores now have until 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday, October 11, to submit their 2016 financial data to the ABACUS-16 survey.

ABA member bookstores can begin the submission process by going to www.ABACUSbenchmarking.com. Please note that you will have to set up a new ABACUS account from the secure ABACUS-16 website.

“Bookstores still have an opportunity to participate in this exclusive ABA member program — a one-of-a-kind tool that hundreds of independent bookstores have found to be critical in their financial and strategic planning,” said Dan Cullen, ABA senior strategy officer. “These booksellers have said repeatedly that the relatively brief amount of time required to participate in the survey provides immense payoffs when they receive their customized ABACUS store reports. And this year, with our new partners at Industry Insights, there will be even more functionality and tools to examine your data. But this is the last call for participation.”

Once stores submit their 2016 financial data — which should take approximately 30 minutes — they are eligible to apply for the Avin Mark Domnitz Scholarship to attend the upcoming Winter Institute (January 22–25 in Memphis, Tennessee) by sending an e-mail with “Domnitz Scholarship” in the subject line to Cullen. The e-mail should include the applicant’s name, staff title, store name, and store contact information.

By submitting their store data for ABACUS-16, stores will receive a detailed individual store performance report that analyzes their financial results, including relevant and insightful benchmarking comparisons across a number of criteria.

As part of this new partnership with Industry Insights, in addition to the customized printed report, bookstores participating in ABACUS-16 will be able to access a secure and private online searchable results tool that allows users to compile ABACUS data using criteria that they select.

Booksellers with questions about submitting to ABACUS-16 are encouraged to contact Michael Becher, CPA, of Industry Insights at (614) 389-2100, ext. 114, or at [email protected]. Booksellers who have general questions about ABACUS can contact ABA’s Dan Cullen via e-mail or at (800) 637-0037, ext. 7560.