1. 1 Overview of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Business Register Profiling Operations Presented to International Roundtable on Business Survey Frames– Wiesbaden Group on Business Registers Eddie Salyers Eddie.Joe.Salyers@Census.GOV 301-763-2638

2. 2 Key Concepts and Definitions The BR’s Units Business/Statistical –Establishment –Enterprise –Enterprise segment (e.g., alternate reporting unit) Administrative –EIN unit –SSN unit } Standard Statistical Units } Variable } Mainly for IRS tax reporting

3. 3 Establishment Definition An economic unit, usually at a single physical location, where business is conducted or where services or industrial operations are performed Also... –The BR’s smallest, most discrete business unit –The unit to which NAICS (industry_ codes apply –The basic enumeration unit for the economic census (most industries)

4. 4 Enterprise Definition An economic unit comprising one or more establishments under common ownership or control A BR enterprise consists of: The top U.S. parent and its establishments All U.S. subsidiaries in which the top U.S. parent has more than 50% interest (ownership or control)

5. 5 EIN Unit Definition A taxpaying entity that the Internal Revenue Service has assigned a unique identifier known as an Employer Identification Number (EIN) Represents a business organization (e.g., corporation or partnership), not an individual business owner (person) May be used for payroll tax reporting or income tax reporting or both May or may not be an employer Submaster EIN: any EIN that belongs to a multiunit

6. 6 SSN Unit Definition A taxpaying entity that represents a sole proprietorship business, the owner of which is one person identified by a Social Security Number (SSN) Represents one IRS Form 1040, Schedule C income tax return for “Profit or Loss From Business” The BR may record up to 3 SSN Units for an individual business owner, where each one represents a different business (Schedule C )

7. 7 Business Organization Basic Types (Complexity) Single-establishment enterprise: –An enterprise that operates just one establishment (i.e., at one physical location) –A.k.a. a single unit or SU Multi-establishment enterprise –An enterprise that operates two establishments or more (2-plus locations) –A.k.a. a multiunit or MU –May be-- Simple: one EIN, no subsidiaries Complex: –Two EINs or more and/or –One subsidiary or more

8. 8 Single Unit For all practical purposes, the enterprise, establishment, and EIN unit are one and the same in this special case. = = =

9. 9 Multiunit A more complex MU may have: Multiple EIN units

10. 10 Administrative Data Internal Revenue Service –Business Master File (BMF) –Payroll tax returns –Business income tax returns Bureau of Labor Statistics –NAICS code –Multiple Location Indicator –Addresses Social Security Administration –NAICS Codes for New Businesses

11. Administrative Data SourceFrequency Annual Volume (Number of Records) Business Master File (Complete)Annually in May of each year24 million Business Master File (Supplements) Monthly except May18 million Payroll Tax Returns (IRS Forms 941 & 943) Weekly (current processing of quarterly returns) 25 million Sole Proprietorships’ Business Income Tax Returns (IRS Form 1040, Schedule C) Weekly (current processing of annual returns) 22 million Other Business Income Tax Returns (Forms 990, 1065, 1120) Weekly (current processing of annual returns) 10 million Social Security Administration Industry Codes (Form SS-4) Monthly1.8 million Bureau of Labor Statistics Industry Codes Quarterly1.5 million Total102.3 million

12. 12 Profiling Company Organization Survey –Register proving survey directed to selected enterprises –Maintains information about the establishment composition, organization, and activity of enterprises –Annual survey initiated in December of the reference year with collection and processing that spans January - August

13. 13 Profiling Company Organization Survey (COS) Content –Ownership or control by a United States parent –Ownership or control by a foreign parent –Inventory of establishments, verifying or collecting the following for each: Primary and secondary name Physical location EIN used for payroll tax reporting NAICS Employment for pay period including March 12 First quarter and annual payroll Year-end operating status

14. Company Organization Survey Sample - MUs Multi-Unit Companies (MUs) –Universe of 177,000 companies with1.7 million establishments –42,000 multi-unit companies with 1.3 million establishments in sample 14

15. Company Selection Exclusions - MUs Companies with no currently active establishments Totally foreign, agriculture and government companies 15

16. Company Selection Inclusions - MUs Companies in annual survey samples Company with at least one active Island Area establishment (excluding Puerto Rico) Active company with 250 or more employees 16

17. Company Selection Inclusions - MUs Active company with 50 to 249 employees and at least one manufacturing establishment Targeted Companies based on administrative record signals 17

18. COS Target Sample - MUs Companies with less than 250 employees Movers and Deaths 18

19. COS Target Sample - MUs Movers –At least 5 active establishments –At least 25% change in payroll from 4 th quarter prior year to 1 st quarter current year –Greater than 10% change in payroll from 1 st quarter prior year to 1 st quarter current year 19

20. COS Target Sample - MUs Deaths –At least 3 EINs with at least one reporting an inactive Form 941 filing requirement 20

21. COS Target Sample - MUs Each targeted company is assigned a priority status code Included cases based on priority –Recent movers selected before deaths 21

22. COS Target Sample – SUs Single Units (SUs) = Single Location Employer Companies 6 Million Employers Purpose of Sample – To Identify Companies operating at more than one location (Splitters) 22

23. COS Target Sample – SUs Sample categories –Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) identifies as having more than one location –Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Identifies as being subsidiary corporations –NAICS Industry Splitters Large cases in selected industries where expansion to multiple locations is common (i.e. Restaurants) –Establishments that switched county locations –Island Area Establishments identified by analyst 23

24. Company Organization Survey - Edits Changes in organizational structure, ownership, locations Inconsistencies in employment, payroll with administrative data and/or prior periods Industry changes Geographic changes Remarks 24

25. Company Organization Survey – Referrals - 2008 25 TypeCount Adds – New Locations147,000 Remarks79,000 Data Inconsistencies45,000 Sold Establishments23,000 Major Industry Change16,000 Ownership Change9,000 Blank Reports7,000 Other (Closed, EIN Failures, etc.)19,000 Total345,000

26. COS and Economic Census Referral Review and Resolution Paper Listings –Analysts –Clerical –Tracked by counting enterprise referral listings –Prioritized by size 26

27. Economic Census Years ending in “2” and “7” All multiunits / most single units COS incorporated in Census Approximately 50% more referrals 27

28. COS Referral Review and Resolution Directory Interactive Problem Solving Environment (DIPSE) –Research –Add new establishment –Update establishment –Delete establishment –Sold –Splitter 28

29. Conclusion Company Organization Suvey / Economic Census –Effective –Improvements Use BLS data to replace or supplement direct collection Review Sample Design Improve efficiency –More electronic reporting options –Improved software 29