ELKHART — The outlook of chief financial officers took a nose dive in the third quarter, with the Benchmark Business Index dropping significantly from earlier this year, according to a survey by an area business consulting and accounting firm.

“After seeing the fourth-quarter 2011 benchmark index increase 10 percent and hold steady in the first two quarters of 2012, it’s a bit worrisome to see it decline this much in the third quarter of this year,” said Terry J. Bush, a director at Kruggel Lawton CPAs.

The firm, based here and in South Bend, has been conducting the survey since 2010, and the drop from the third to the fourth quarter is the largest drop since the survey began.

The survey asked 47 area CFOs of for-profit companies about profitability, revenue and employment over the quarter. It also asked the CFOs for their perception of the economy and the outlook for their businesses.

“Unfortunately, all four survey metrics declined for the third quarter, leading to an almost 10-percent decrease in the overall benchmark index from the last quarter,” Bush said in a written announcement of the survey findings.

CFO outlook was the highest of the four measures, with employment being the lowest.

The combined score was 56.91 out of 100, lower than any other quarter since the survey began except the same quarter last year, when it was 55.92.

During the second quarter of this year the benchmark reached a high point of 62.38.