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General

1.  Is this survey mandatory?

Yes. Your response is required by law. Title 13 of the U.S. Code requires businesses and other organizations that receive the questionnaire(s) to answer the questions and return the report(s) to the Census Bureau. The law also provides that copies retained in your files are confidential and immune from legal process.

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2.  What is the Service Annual Survey?

The Service Annual Survey (SAS) provides data that help to measure America's current economic performance. Using a sample of about 70,000 service firms, the SAS collects revenue; expenses; e-commerce sales; and, for some industries, exports, inventories, class of customer, and detail product lines based on the North American Product Classification System (NAPCS).

The government uses the data to determine economic policy; private industry relies on these data for planning and research.

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3.  Who uses the data?

1. The Bureau of Economic Analysis uses these data for the Nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimates and in developing the national accounts' input-output tables.
2. The Bureau of Labor Statistics uses these data as input to its producer price indices and in developing productivity measurements.
3. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services uses health services data to estimate expenditures for the National Health Accounts.
4. Trade and professional organizations use these data to analyze industry trends and benchmark their own statistical programs, develop forecasts, and evaluate regulatory requirements.
5. The media use these data for news reports and background information.
6. Private businesses use these data to measure market share, analyze business potential, and plan investments.

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4.  My firm is no longer in business. What should I do?

Complete the survey with the data for any period of time during calendar year 2007 that the company was in operation. We also need the date that the company went out of business.

If you sold your business, record the following in the Remarks section:

1. The name, address and telephone number of the company that purchased it
2. The purchaser's kind of business
3. The date of sale

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5.  Why don't you get the information you need from the IRS?

The Census Bureau uses IRS administrative data whenever possible. However, the IRS data does not provide the level of detail needed in most Census Bureau surveys. Also, some items are just not available from IRS data, e.g., merchandise/receipts lines, e-commerce, etc.

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6.  What is NAICS (North American Industry Classification System)?

NAICS is used to classify a business location's primary activity. NAICS replaced the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. You may access the following web site to learn more about NAICS:

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7.  I report data in the Quarterly Services Survey? Why can't you sum up the data?

The SAS collects additional data not included on the Quarterly Services Survey, including e-commerce and detailed expense data. Often, companies have final adjustments to their quarterly level that we wouldn't know about without the annual survey.

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Last revised: March 19 2008 13:58:15