Just the Facts: The Cost of Regulatory Requirements

Regulatory compliance is known to be a complicated, taxing, and confusing process for many businesses – especially small businesses. The U.S. Chamber recently conducted a survey on the effects complex regulations have on small businesses’ time and bottom line, and we have the highlights below:

• 51% of small businesses say that licensing, certification, and permit requirements make it harder to grow their business

• 47% of small businesses say that their business spends too much time fulfilling regulatory compliance requirements

• 69% of small businesses say they spend more per employee to comply with regulations than larger competitors

• 44% of small businesses say they have to outsource compliance tasks, causing further financial burden

89% of small business owners and decision makers report they are confident in their compliance knowledge, and if concerns arise, they turn to:

• Google search – 77%

• Other business owners – 67%

• Consultants – 65%

• Outside legal counsel – 59%

Areas of compliance that small business owners and decision makers report spending a great deal or fair amount of time on each year are:

• Taxes – 73%

• Recordkeeping – 73%

• Payroll – 62%

• Licensing, permits, and/or (re)certification – 59%

• Cybersecurity, data protection, and privacy – 53%