The highlights from the questionnaire included profitability ratios that showed an increase in 2015. According to the questionnaire, Return on Assets (ROA) increased from 6.9% in 2014 to 9% in 2015. Return on Equity (ROE) also increased from 19% in 2014 to 25.3% in 2015. In 2014, days outstanding in A/R was 53.8 days, but that climbed to 55.4 days in 2015; however, for days outstanding in A/P saw the reverse trend with it being 35.6 days in 2014 compared to 33.4 days in 2015. Gross profit margins are crucial for any business, and the questionnaire revealed that on average, gross margins for all companies saw a marginal increase from 13.1% in 2014 to 15% in 2015. Finally, the bottom line - net incomes also rose marginally from 3.1% in 2014 compared to 4.4% in 2015.

There were specific companies that excelled in the comparative categories. The best in class, or the top 25 percent of the 869 companies that provided financial information from 2015, stood out several key areas. In 2015, the best in class companies had an ROA of 24%, compared to the average of 9%, and they had an ROE of 58.5% compared to the average of 25.3%. Best in class companies also saw an average gross profit margin of 18.4% in 2015 compared to the average of 15%. Additionally, the best in class averaged higher net income before taxes of 8.4% compared to the 4.4% earned by the average company. Finally, best in class companies saw debt to equity ratios of 1.2 compared to 1.8 on average, had a better fixed asset ratio (16.6% compared to 25.1% on average), and they also had better employee productivity seeing on average $60,000 in gross profit per employee compared to $46,000 for the average company.