MicroTest's approach to tracking client outcomes is based on these premises:

• The indicators should be few and focused on the key questions that managers must constantly answer with respect to the programs' effectiveness.
• The data collection process and analysis should be very simple.
• The approach should be looked at, not as outcomes assessment, but as outcomes monitoring. It should give managers information that will help improve programs and provide donors and other stakeholders with some indication that program services are "on the right track."

The outcomes tracking survey is designed to answer key questions related to clients' household and business outcomes, such as:

• Are clients in business?
• Does the business contribute income to the household?
• Are clients moving out of poverty?

Some of the questions that this outcomes tracking effort should help address include:

• Is there a trade-off between efficiency and outcomes?
• Do those organizations showing low costs and/or strong self-sufficiency indicators also have clients who report strong and positive outcomes?
• Is there a trade-off between targeting services to particularly disadvantaged clients and outcomes?
• How do different institutional settings affect client outcomes?