Enterprise Statistics

About the Enterprise Statistics Program

PURPOSE

To provide periodic and comprehensive company-wide data, including company support organizations and selected financial activities. The United States Code, Title 13, authorizes this program and provides for mandatory responses.

COVERAGE

All private enterprises and their establishments operating in the United States during 2007 are covered by the 2007 Enterprise Statistics Program, except those enterprises primarily operating in the following NAICS industries:

• 11 - Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting
• 482 - Rail Transportation
• 491 - Postal Service
• 521 - Monetary Authorities - Central Bank
• 525 - Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles
• 6111 - Elementary and Secondary Schools
• 6112 - Junior Colleges
• 6113 - Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools
• 8131 - Religious Organizations
• 81393 - Labor Unions and Similar Labor Organizations
• 81394 - Political Organizations
• 81399 - Other Similar Organizations (except Business, Professional, Labor, and Political Organizations)
• 814 - Private Households
• 92 - Public Administration

The 2007 Economic Census also covered selected activities of governments. These establishments consisted of hospitals, liquor stores, university press publishers, and Federal Reserve Banks. Except for Federal Reserve Banks, which were not covered at the time of the last (1992) Enterprise Statistics Report, government establishments covered by the 2007 Economic Census are also included in the prototype 2007 Enterprise Statistics tables.

In addition to excluding Federal Reserve Banks (NAICS 521110) as within scope for the prototype 2007 Enterprise Statistics tables, two changes were made to the industry classification for 2007 Economic Census establishment records. Establishments providing certain service activities for other establishments of the same company are classified as "auxiliaries" and not in the industry that covers these services, such as Warehousing and Storage (NAICS 493) and Scientific Research and Development Services (NAICS 5417). This change makes the treatment of these establishments equivalent to that of central administrative offices (NAICS 551114); that is, they are categorized as nonoperating establishments and are not considered in assigning an Enterprise Classification System category.

CONTENT

The prototype 2007 Enterprise Statistics tables include counts of the number of firms, their establishments, sales and receipts, annual payroll, and employment. The data are crosstabulated by industry specialization ratio and employment size categories. Not all data are available in each table.

FREQUENCY

Conducted as part of the economic censuses; Enterprise Statistics data were produced for 1954, 1958, 1963, 1967, and every 5 years thereafter until 1992.

The Census Bureau will fully resume publication of Enterprise Statistics reports with the 2012 Economic Census. In developing methodology for use with the 2012 Enterprise Statistics reports, the Census Bureau prepared several prototype tables using the 2007 Business Register and administrative records

METHODS

The Census Bureau has used two main sources of information to compile the economic censuses since 1954. Federal income tax returns provide all of the information for firms with no paid employees (nonemployers); Census Bureau forms, supplemented with information from these tax returns, provide the information for firms with paid employees.

For the 2007 Economic Census, with one exception, the industry, geography, and special subject reports cover only firms with paid employees. The exception is the "Economy-Wide Key Statistics" table, which shows establishment counts and sales and receipts for both firms with paid employees and for nonemployers firms. This limited presentation of combined data primarily reflects the fact that information for nonemployer firms are derived only from Federal income tax returns, and there is limited information on industry classification and complete NAICS detail is not available.

For the prototype 2007 Enterprise Statistics report, the data in the basic tables also cover only firms with paid employees. Table C shows the number of establishments and companies and the sales and receipts of firms without paid employees. Because of the limited level of industry coding for nonemployer firms, this table shows the data for nonemployer firms for either the equivalent ECS category or for ECS categories grouped to match the available level of industry coding. The exclusion of data for nonemployers from the basic enterprise tables has the greatest impact on the number of establishments and companies, which for nonemployer firms are assumed to be the same - i.e., they are assumed to operate only a single establishment. Because nonemployer firms have no paid employees, the exclusion of these firms from the basic tables has no impact on information on the major measures of diversification and firm size.

For industries covered in the 2007 Economic Census, there were 28.6 million firms, of which those with paid employees accounted for about 25 percent. For sales and receipts, these firms with paid employees accounted for 97 percent of the total.

PRODUCTS

For the 1992 and earlier Enterprise Statistics Programs, the following reports were published:

Large Companies reports provide national statistics for companies with 500 or more employees about two and one-half years after the reference year. Data include selected company operating and financial data by industry, industry diversification patterns, employment and asset size, and historical comparisons.

Auxiliary Establishment reports provide national and state data for auxiliary establishments about 3 years after the reference year. Statistics include location, primary functions, employment by type of work, and selected operating and financial data.

Company Summary reports provide basic data for all census covered multi-unit companies about three and one-half years after the reference year.

USES

The Bureau of Economic Analysis used data from the 1992 and earlier Enterprise Statistics Programs for input-output studies and to calculate the Gross Domestic Product. The Small Business Administration used the data to determine industry size standards for small businesses. The Census Bureau used the data to benchmark results of the Plant and Equipment Survey.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Enterprise Statistics data provide the only source of economy-wide company-level statistics and data to relate the activities of companies and their affiliated establishments.