Only one in five smaller companies believes that the Budget, to be unveiled tomorrow, will have a significant impact on their business.
Research by the Forum of Private Businesses found that only 22% were factoring the outcome of the Budget into their plans for 2010.
Only 19% of smaller firms also expected the election to affect their strategies.
Thomas Parry, research manager at the Forum, said: “I think there’s a certain amount of cynicism about this year’s Budget and this research reflects that.
“A lot of business owners are simply presuming that there’s going to be another budget straight after the election so they’re not paying it too much attention.
“The things they are concerned with at the moment are the more pressing issues associated with running a business in a struggling economy.”
The leading concern for smaller employers were sales and turnover (77%), profitability (71%) and cash-flow (69%).
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Meanwhile a survey by professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) found that nearly half of employers were putting off making decisions on their pension schemes until after the Budget and general election, in case pension changes were announced.
The survey of about 200 UK employees found that 48% were deferring pension decisions while 30% were putting on hold intended changes to pensions.
