You are here: Economic Programs Overview Multi-Sector Business Expenditures Survey

BUSINESS EXPENDITURES SURVEY
(formerly the Assets and Expenditure Survey)

PURPOSE

To provide periodic estimates on capital expenditures, depreciable assets, and operating expenses for retail, merchant wholesale, and selected service firms. The United States Code, Title 13, authorizes this survey and provides for mandatory responses.

COVERAGE

Firms and legal entities classified as wholesale merchants NAICS 42, retail trade NAICS 44-45, or selected service industries, most of NAICS 54-92.

CONTENT

Data are collected on operating expenses, capital expenditures, and depreciable assets. Data on operating expenses include payroll and fringe benefits, taxes and license fees, depreciation and amortization charges, computer software purchases, lease and rental payments, utilities, advertising, accounting, data processing, and legal services. Data on capital expenditures and depreciable assets include capital expenditures by type, changes in depreciable asset accounts, capital and operating leases, and capitalized interest.

FREQUENCY

Data are requested for activities taking place during the census calendar year. Every 5 years since 1958, for years ending in "2" and "7." Firms are contacted early in the year following the reporting period.

METHODS

A mail-out/mail-back survey of 54,000 firms and Employer Identification Numbers (EINs) selected in samples for the Service Annual Survey; the Annual Trade Survey; and the Annual Retail Trade Survey. EINs may represent one or more establishments and firms may have one or more EINs. Samples for each of the component programs are stratified probability samples of employer businesses drawn after the preceding 5-year censuses, supplemented by area samples to identify new businesses and nonemployers in retail trade and selected service industries. Samples are revised to reflect known changes in business and organization structure.

National estimates are developed to supplement 5-year census data. Estimates (except for sales and receipts) are developed from the summation of weighted information adjusted by a process that benchmarks them to the corresponding economic censuses. The weights are the inverse of the probability of selection (or sampling rate) of sampling units in the survey.

PRODUCTS

Three reports are published 3 to 4 years after the census year with 3- and 4- digit industry detail. The wholesale and retail reports are published with their respective Economic Census Subject Series, Measures of Value Produced, Capital Expenditures, Depreciable Assets, and Operating Expenses. The service report is published in the census of services industries Subject Series, Capital Expenditures, Depreciable Assets, and Operating Expenses. Measures of value produced are estimated only for retail trade and merchant wholesale trade. Separate estimates for non-employers were published for 1992 but not 1987.

USES

The Bureau of Economic Analysis uses the estimates for benchmarking the national income and product accounts, capital stock accounts, and input-output tables. The Department of Health and Human Services uses the expense estimates to forecast rising medical costs. The Department of Labor uses the capital expenditures estimates for projecting industry spending and future employment estimates.

Market research firms use the estimates for market research and analysis. Trade and professional associations use the estimates for trade analysis.