To provide comprehensive and timely information on business financial conditions. This information is an important component in the overall assessment of the health of our Nation's economy. The information you provide will be used to prepare national measures of corporate profits and to formulate fiscal and monetary policy.
Currently, the QFR program covers the following industry subsectors, as defined by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS):
| Mining | 211-213 |
| Manufacturing | 311-316, 321-327, 331-337, 339 |
| Wholesale Trade | 423-425 |
| Retail Trade | 441-448, 451-454 |
| Selected Service Industries | 511-512, 515, 517-519, 541 (except 5411 Legal Services) |
The Quarterly Financial Report Program publishes up-to-date aggregate statistics on the financial results and position of U.S. corporations. Based upon a sample survey, the QFR presents estimated statements of income and retained earnings, balance sheets, and related financial and operating ratios for Manufacturing corporations with assets of $250,000 and over, and corporations in Mining, Wholesale Trade, Retail Trade, and Selected Service Industries with assets of $50 million and over or above industry specific receipt cut-off values. The statistical data are classified by industry and by asset size.
The survey is conducted quarterly. Companies report for each of their fiscal quarters and are included in published calendar quarter estimates depending on the month their books are closed. QFR data are published for each calendar quarter approximately 75 days after the end of the first, second, and third calendar quarters and approximately 95 days after the end of the fourth calendar quarter. Estimates are made for 36 types of business activities in the manufacturing, mining, wholesale trade, retail trade and selected service industry sectors. Each publication includes information on the most recently closed quarters for manufacturing, mining, wholesale trade, and selected service industries. Data for retail trades are available on a one-quarter lag basis, except in the fourth quarter, when the 95 days publication period permits synchronized presentation.
Each year, a QFR sampling frame is built from an annual IRS file of corporate entities who elect to file Form 1120 with the IRS. This frame is stratified by industry classification and size of total assets and gross receipts prior to sampling.
Nearly all corporations whose operations are within scope of the QFR and have total assets of $250 million and over are included in the sample with certainty and are canvassed every quarter. Simple random samples are selected from the eligible noncertainty units in the remaining industry-by-size strata. The sample in each cell is divided systematically into four panels that are introduced over the next year. Each noncertainty panel is in the survey for eight successive quarters. Each quarter, one noncertainty panel is rotated out and a new panel is rotated into the sample. This means that the noncertainty sample for adjacent quarters is seven-eights identical; one half of the sample is the same for quarters ending one year apart.
The Quarterly Financial Report is available approximately 75 days following the end of the first, second and third-calendar quarters, and approximately 95 days after the end of the fourth-calendar quarter. The press release schedule is as follows:
| Fourth Quarter 2016 | March 20, 2017 |
| First Quarter 2017 | June 6, 2017 |
| Second Quarter 2017 | September 6, 2017 |
| Third Quarter 2017 | December 5, 2017 |
| Fourth Quarter 2016 | March 20, 2017 |
| First Quarter 2017 | June 6, 2017 |
| Second Quarter 2017 | September 6, 2017 |
| Third Quarter 2017 | December 5, 2017 |
The Quarterly Financial Report publishes information on the most recently closed quarter for corporations in Manufacturing, Mining, Wholesale Trade, and Selected Service Industries, and the preceding quarter's data for Retail Trade corporations, except in the fourth quarter when the data are published together and is available on our web site the day of the press release.
The latest publication data can be found on the QFR website.
The Commerce Department regularly employs QFR data as an important component in determining corporate profits for the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and National Income estimates; the Federal Reserve Board uses QFR data to assess industrial debt structure, liquidity, and profitability; the Treasury Department estimates corporate tax liability through use of the QFR data; the Council of Economic Advisers and Congressional Committees utilize key indicators derived from QFR data as they design economic policies and draft legislation; the FTC utilizes the series as a basic reference point in analyzing the financial performance of American industries; and banking institutions and financial analysts draw upon the series in making investment evaluations.
Annual Capital Expenditure Survey