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Some inquiries, such as e-commerce and leased employment, have been removed from the 2007 Economic Census forms. To better reflect the changing economy and to help ensure proper classification of establishments, the "Detail of Receipts/Revenue" inquiry (Item 22) has been revised on all service industry forms.

2. Does it matter if my business collects the information in a fiscal year rather than a calendar year?

Most items can be reported based on the company's fiscal year. However, please report employment and payroll data for the 2007 calendar year. At the end of the form there is a "Certification" question (Item 30) where you can enter the time period covered by the report.

3. What is meant by "Enterprise Support"?

The term "Enterprise Support" refers to establishments that provide management, supervision, general administrative functions, and supporting services for other establishments of the same company. Generally enterprise support establishments do not provide services to the general public or to other business firms.

4. How do I report international receipts or revenue (Item 5)?

Report international receipts or revenue for services performed for foreign parent, subsidiaries, branches, and companies not affiliated with your company. Exclude receipts or revenue generated by foreign parent, subsidiaries, and branch locations.

5. What are leased employees (Item 7)?

A leased employee is a full- or part-time employee of a business or organization that has contracted with an employee leasing company (also known as a Professional Employer Organization) to obtain human resource management services. The employee leasing company provides a wide range of human resource and personnel management services, such as payroll accounting, payroll tax return preparation and filing benefits administration, recruiting, and labor relations management to the client business. The employee leasing company and client organization operate as co-employers with regard to the human relations responsibilities to the employees covered by their contract. The employee leasing company pays wages and employment taxes for the leased employees out of its own accounts. Exclude full- or part-time employees whose payroll was filed under an employee leasing company's Employer Identification Number (EIN).

6. Should leased employees be included in "Employment and Payroll" (Item 7)?

No, exclude full- or part-time employees whose payroll was filed under an employee leasing company's Employer Identification Number (EIN). Only report employment and payroll for employees who were 1) working at this establishment, 2) whose payroll was reported on your Internal Revenue Service Form 941, Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return, and 3) filed under the EIN shown in the mailing address or corrected in Item 1.

7. What is meant by "Number of employees for pay period including March 12th" (Item 7)?

The March 12th date is the standard used by the Internal Revenue Service on Form 941, Employer�s Quarterly Federal Tax Return. All businesses are required to report their number of employees for this time period to facilitate reporting and to ensure consistency across industries. For example, many retail businesses hire extra employees during the holidays. Therefore, their fourth quarter employment will be significantly higher than their first quarter employment, whereas other types of businesses may not add staff during the holidays.

8. What are fringe benefits (Item 7)?

Fringe benefits are the employer's costs for social security tax, unemployment tax, workmen's compensation insurance, state disability insurance pension plans, stock purchase plans, union-negotiated benefits, life insurance premiums, and insurance premiums on hospital and medical plans for employees at this establishment.

9. What if my "Kind of Business or Activity" is not listed (Item 19)?

Please choose "Other kind of business or activity" at the end of the list, and briefly describe your establishment's principal business activity in the space provided.

10. What is "Geophysical surveying" (Item 19)?

"Geophysical surveying" consists of gathering, interpreting, and mapping physical strata occurring within the earth. Geophysical surveyors specialize in locating and measuring the extent of subsurface resources, such as oil, gas, and minerals. They may also conduct surveys for engineering purposes.

11. What if my establishment conducts several kinds of business (Item 19)?

Please choose the one box that best describes the principal kind of business your reporting establishment conducts. If your principal business is not listed, please choose "Other kind of business or activity" at the end of the list and briefly describe it in the space provided.

12. What are "Support Services" (Item 21)?

"Support Services" are services provided by one establishment of a multi-establishment firm that assists in the business operations of the firm. These establishments rarely provide services to the general public or other business firms. Examples of support services include: warehouse services; maintenance or repair services; bookkeeping or accounting services; and management, administrative, and legal services.

13. What if my service or business products are not listed in the "Detail of Receipts/Revenue" (Item 22)?

Please use the "All other receipts or revenue" line in Item 22 to provide information for any previously unlisted product line(s) and give a brief description.

14. What is "Basic and applied research" (Item 22)?

Research undertaken to gain new knowledge and/or to develop practical applications for the knowledge acquired through research.

15. What is included in "Basic and applied research in the physical and engineering sciences" (Item 22)?

Physical sciences are focused on condensed matter, atomic, molecular, nuclear, plasma, classical physics, etc. Exclude physics associated with another discipline such as astrophysics, geophysics, and biophysics. Engineering science focuses on various combinations of mathematical and scientific principles to goods, services, and processes. Examples include aerospace, aeronautical and astronautical, biomedical, civil, computer, communications engineering etc.

16. What is included in "Basic and applied research in biotechnology" (Item 22)?

Basic and applied research services focused on biotechnology include genetic engineering, industrial biotechnology, diagnostic applications, genetic technologies, site-directed autogenesis or mutagenesis, transgenesis, and process biotechnology.

17. What is included in "Basic and applied research in the life sciences, excluding biotechnology" (Item 22)?

Biological sciences focus on the scientific study of the structure, function, reproduction, growth, heredity, evolution, behavior, and distribution of living organisms. The focus is also on relations to natural environments and the scientific study of biological issues related to medical health and medicine. Medical and health science focus on clinical science, immunology, neurosciences, pharmacology, public health etc.

18. What is included in "Basic and applied research in the social sciences and humanities" (Item 22)?

Social science focuses on the scientific study of social systems, social institutions, and social behavior. Examples include psychology, economics, education, political science, justice, etc. Humanities focuses on the scientific study and understanding of history and archeology, performing arts, language, literature, philosophy, religion, etc.

19. What is included under "Licensing of rights to use intellectual property" (Item 22)?

"Licensing of rights to use intellectual property" includes receipts from granting permission to use intellectual property to other entities for the purpose of commercializing (i.e., using the property in its business operations). This includes the rights to use the intellectual property in product design, manufacturing, or business processes; and/or to publish, reproduce, distribute, rent, adapt, etc.

20. What is meant by "outright sale" of intellectual property (Item 22)?

Production of intellectual property for �outright sale� includes production of intellectual property on own account for outright sale. The sale of the property includes all property rights and the producing establishment does not retain any rights of the future use of the property. Examples are where an inventor selling a patent, or a songwriter selling a music composition outright.

Last revised: August 30 2007 11:08:20

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PS-54059 - Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (Enterprise Support)

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1. What is different with the 2007 Economic Census forms compared with the 2002 Economic Census forms?