Sentiment about the U.S. economy improved slightly — but not nearly enough to be considered a positive outlook — in the latest quarterly Business and Industry Economic Outlook Survey by the AICPA and CIMA.

For a breakdown of the results, the JofA podcast welcomed back Ken Witt, CPA, CGMA, associate director–Management Accounting Research & Development.

He discusses finance decision-makers' views on tariffs and inflation and the 12-month projections for revenue and profit.

What you'll learn from this episode:

· The "softening" related to domestic economic conditions — and why that's not enough to overcome mainly negative sentiment.

· The percentage of executives who foresee a recession this year or next.

· Finance leaders' approaches in response to tariffs.

· The top challenges beyond inflation facing survey respondents.

· How respondents feel about the state of the global economy.