Sector Questions

1. What activities should be included when reporting manufacturing activity?
   
2. I am a service provider, yet I received a manufacturing form, what should I do?
   
3. I am not a manufacturer because my establishment only assembles, so the form is not applicable to me, right?
   
4. My company is not a manufacturer.  What should I do?
   
5. If my company was bought or sold, does that mean I don't have to file the report?
   
6. My establishment changed its name and/or EIN.  Does that mean I don't have to file the report?
   
7. My establishment is out of business.  Am I still responsible for reporting?




Form Questions

8. What should I report for the "Sales, shipments, receipts or revenue" (Items 5 and 22)?
   
9. Our company only does a portion of the work on this product, then sends it to another one of our domestic plants to be finished, should I report this information (Item 5 and 22)?
   
10. What are E-Shipments and what is included (Item 5D)?
    
11. Which employees do I include in my Employment and Payroll (Item 7)?
    
12. What should I include in “annual number of hours worked by the production workers” (Item 7D)?
13. What do I include in Annual Payroll (Item 7E)?
    
14. What are "All other employees" (Item 7E2)?
    
15. What does Item 7F - "Employer's cost for fringe benefits" include?
    
16. How should I report Inventories (Items 9, 10, and 11)?
17. What is LIFO (Items 9 and 10)?
    
18. What do I include in "Capital expenditures for depreciable assets" (Item 13B)?
    
19. What should be included in depreciation (Item 13)?
    
20. How do I report rental payments for my building since my rent includes both land and the building (Item 14A)?
    
21. What are considered "costs" (Item 16)?
    
22. What is included in the "Cost of materials, parts, containers, packaging, supplies, etc. used for manufacturing processes, repairs, services for others, or other operating supplies." (Item 16A1)?
    
23. What are some examples of the types of materials, parts, containers and packaging that I should be reporting as selected expenses (Item 16A1)? 
    
24. What is excluded from production related costs (Item 16)?
    
25. What should I report in “Cost of purchased fuels consumed for heat and power or the generation of electricity” (Item 16A4)?
    
26. Where do I report fuels used as raw materials in the production of a product (Item 16)?
    
27. What does the “Cost of purchased electricity” include (Item 16A5)?
    
28. My electricity costs are included in my lease so I do not have these costs available to report (Item 16A5).  What should I report?
    
29. Since my electricity costs are included in my lease I do not have detailed information on the quantity of purchased electricity my establishment uses (Item 16B).  What should I report?
    
30. Where should I include the cost of contract work or work done by others on our materials)?
    
31. What is included in Item 16D - "All other operating expenses"?
    
32. What are “Wholesaling activities” (Item 22)?
    
33. What do I do if I don't see any of my establishment's products listed in Item 22?
    
34. Where should I report resales of imports (Item 22)?
    
35. What if I don't keep shipments or cost of materials by location?
    
36. How do I update the name and/or address on the report?
    
37. Can I use estimates to complete the report form?
    
38. I did not receive a form for one of my establishments.  What should I do?
    
39. I need more time to complete the form.   How can I request a time extension?
    
40. I want to ask additional questions.  How can I contact?
    
41. Is the completion of this form required by law?

Manufacturing activity involves the mechanical, physical, or chemical transformation of materials, substances, or components into new products.  The assembly of component parts of manufactured products is considered manufacturing, except in cases where the activity is appropriately classified in Sector 23, Construction.  Report separate data for each establishment.  Report all activities (manufacturing, fabricating, processing, and assembling) conducted by the establishment.

INCLUDE:

• Maintenance of plant and equipment
• Receiving and shipping activities
• Warehousing and storage
• Research
• Recordkeeping
• Health and Safety
• Cafeteria and other services

EXCLUDE:

• Sales branches and sales offices
• Research laboratories
• Retail stores
• Mining activities
• General administrative offices
  

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The manufacturing sector does include establishments engaged in the following activities that are often thought to be in the services sector:

• Apparel jobbing and contracting
• Assembling from purchased components
• Commission processing of materials owned by others
• Creating trade show exhibits
• Dental laboratories
• Developing and making prototypes, engineering and other services directly related to aerospace industries
• Embroidery
• Job casting, stamping, and machining
• Lapidary work
• Leather and hide tanning and finishing
• Machine shops, including those operating on a job-order basis
• Manufacturing and delivering ready-mixed concrete
• Milk pasteurizing and bottling
• Milling of grains and vegetables
• Plating, galvanizing, polishing, etc., of materials owned by others
• Poultry dressing
• Printing, prepress, and postpress work, including binding
• Repair of ships on floating drydocks
• Developing and making prototypes, engineering and other services directly related to aerospace industries
• Retail bakeries
• Sawmills
• Seafood, fresh-packaged or frozen
• Smelting
• Tire re-treading
• Wood preserving
  

If you do not manufacture products at the location shown in the address box of the report form, please indicate the nature of your business in the remarks section, provide a contact name and telephone number (Item 31), and return the form to us.

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Assembly of finished goods into a new product (value added) is considered manufacturing and we need you to complete the questionnaire.

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If you do not manufacture products at the location shown in the address box of the report form, please indicate the nature of your business in the remarks section, provide a contact name and telephone number (Item 31), and return the form to us.

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No, we are collecting economic activity by location. Fill in the appropriate data as applicable and Item 3 - "Operational status."  If the operation has continued as it had during the 12-month period, just under new ownership, please complete the form and fill in Item 3 as well. If you owned the company for only part of the year and only have records for a partial year, please complete the form for the period under your ownership and report the number of months in operation (also update Item 3).

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No, we are collecting economic activity by location. If the manufacturing activity is still in operation at the location listed in the address label, we will need the data.  Make corrections to the name of your business directly on the form.  The EIN can be corrected in Item 1.  You may help us to update our records by also filling out Item 3 - "Operational status."

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Yes, you are still responsible for reporting the data for the months operated during the survey year and returning the form with information about its condition in Item 3, Operational Status.

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• Cash sales
• Credit sales
• Service receipts
• Rental receipts
• Leasing receipts
• Service agreement
• R&D and prototyping

The value in Item 5A should be the same as the value reported in Item 22, (code 9900000000). Also, this value should be comparable to the total reported for (2016). If the two figures are not comparable, please explain in the remarks section at the end of the form.

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Yes. Please report the value of shipments in Items 5A and 22.  In addition, report the “value of products shipped to other domestic plants of your company for further assembly, fabrication, or manufacture" in Item 5C.

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E-Shipments include the sales or receipts from any transaction completed over the Internet, EDI Network, Intranet, Local Area Network (LAN), Extranet, electronic mail (E-mail) or other online system. Transactions are agreements between buyer and seller to transfer ownership of, or rights to use goods or services. Payment for these goods or services may or may not be made online.

INCLUDE:

• Online orders accepted for manufactured products by customers
• Online orders for manufactured products by other domestic plants of your company for further assembly, fabrication, or manufacture
• Online orders accepted by a corporate sales office but filled by the manufacturing plant
• Any agreement negotiated online, including electronic mail (E-mail) between buyer and seller on price and terms of a transfer of ownership of, or rights to use goods or services
• Telephone transactions using interactive voice response systems

EXCLUDE:

• Orders for manufactured products by customers over facsimile machine or switched telephone network
• Online billing where the order or contract was not negotiated online

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Report the number of employees working at this establishment, both full and part time, whose payroll was reported on IRS form 941 (Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Form Return), and filed under Employer Identification Number (EIN) shown in the mailing address or corrected in Item 1.

INCLUDE:

• All persons on paid sick leave, paid holidays, and paid vacation during these pay periods
• Officers at this establishment, if a corporation
• Spread on stock options that are taxable to employees as wages

EXCLUDE:          

• Temporary staff obtained from a staffing service (These are to be included in Item 16D1).
• Leased employees (human resources and human resource management services provided to a client business by leasing companies operating co-employment relationships). Such companies specialize in providing a wide range of human resource and personnel management duties such as payroll, accounting, payroll tax preparation and filing, and benefits relations. These companies include these employees in their EIN SSA withholding filings.
• Members of the Armed Forces and pensioners carried on your active rolls
• Proprietors or partners, if an unincorporated concern.
• The following types of food processing establishments should exclude agricultural workers or fishing crews from this report:
• Sugar mills which are part of sugar plantations
• Fruit or vegetable canning or freezing plants with farms associated with their operations
• Fish canning, freezing or packaging plants with fishing operations associated with the plant

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INCLUDE:

All hours worked or paid for, except hours paid for vacations, holidays or sick leave. If an employee elects to work during their vacation period, report only actual hours worked by the employee.

NOTE:  Overtime should be reported as actual hours worked and not as straight time equivalent hours.

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Report the payroll that was included on IRS Form 941 (Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Form Return).

INCLUDE:

• Employee's Social Security contributions, withholding taxes, group insurance premiums, union dues, and savings bonds.
• In gross earnings: commissions, dismissal pay, paid bonuses, employee contributions to pension plans such as 401(k), vacation and sick leave pay, and the cash equivalent of compensation paid in kind.
• Spread on stock options that are taxable to employees as wages
• Salaries of officers of this establishment, if a corporation
• Paid holiday leave
• Paid personal leave
• Paid funeral leave
• Paid jury duty leave
• Paid military leave
• Family leave

Nonproduction bonuses**

• Cash profit-sharing
• Employee recognition
• End-of-year
• Holiday
• Payment in lieu of benefits
• Referral
• Other

**Report only the extent that these are included in the employees' taxable pay.  Costs associated with these programs that are not taxable to the employee should be reported in Employer-Paid Annual Cost for Fringe Benefits (Item 7F).

EXCLUDE

• Payroll for temporary staff and leased employees. Report this figure in Other Operating Expenses (Item 16D1).
• Employer's cost for fringe benefits
• Payments to agricultural employees, fishermen, members of the Armed Forces, and pensioners carried on your active payroll
• Payments to proprietors or partners if this is an unincorporated concern

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Employees in the following job categories:

INCLUDE:

• Supervision above line-supervisor level
• Sales (including a driver salesperson)
• Sales delivery (truck drivers and helpers)
• Advertising, credit
• Collection
• Installation, and servicing of own products
• Clerical and routine office functions
• Executive purchasing
• Finance
• Legal
• Personnel (including cafeteria, etc.)
• Professional and technical

EXCLUDE:

• Proprietors and partners, if an unincorporated concern

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Legally required payments for all programs required under Federal and state legislation. Include in Item 7F3:

• Premium equivalents for self-insured plans and fees paid to third-party administrators (TPAs)
• Spread on stock options that are taxable to employees at this establishment as wages

         EXCLUDE:

• Employee contributions
• Disbursements from trusts or funds to satisfy health insurance claims
• Employer's cost for fringe benefits costs paid to a professional employer organization as part of a co-employment arrangement.  (Report these costs in item 16D1).

Employer payments to programs financed jointly by employer and employee contributions.  Include employer payments for:

• Insurance premiums on hospital and medical plans (Report in Item 7F1)
• Life insurance premiums (Report in Item 7F3)
• Premiums on supplementary accident and sickness insurance (Report in Item 7F1)
  

In reporting payments for insurance, report net payments (i.e., gross payments less any offsetting dividends, refunds, or other reductions in premiums).

Report payments or allocations for:

• All pension plans regardless of method of administration (Items 7F 2a and b)
• Supplemental unemployment compensation plans (Item 7F3)
• Welfare plans (Item 7F3)
• Stock purchase plans in which the employer's payment is not included (Item 7F2b)
• Deferred profit sharing plans (Item 7F2b)

The items listed above are generally considered as deferred rather than current income to employees and are not subject to withholding of income tax. If the payments or allocations by the company are made to a fund, do not report payments to employees out of these funds. However, include payments made directly to retired employees or their survivors that do not pass through a fund.

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Inventory values that are owned by this establishment should be reported in Item 9, regardless of where the inventories are stored.  Report inventories in a manner consistent with how you report them to the Internal Revenue Service. Report the value of inventories by valuation method in Item 10 and the value of inventories stored outside of the United States in Item 11.

Inventories that are centrally stored for a multi-location company (operates at more than one physical location) should be assigned to each responsible establishment as if separately owned by them.

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Last In - First Out method of inventory valuation.

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Capital Expenditures are capital outlays that are chargeable to the fixed assets account and for which depreciation or amortization reserves are maintained.

INCLUDE:

• Capital Expenditures during the year that were actually made during the year, not the final value of equipment put in place or the buildings completed during the year. (For long-term projects, use the cost of additions completed during the year only.)
• Capital improvements or new additions in progress are considered assets, as well as capital expenditures, and should be included in both figures.
• Capital Expenditures during the year for new construction whether on contract or by your own work force
• Replacements of existing capacity as well as additions to new capacity, if the costs are capitalized
• Assets include the value of all machinery and equipment, buildings, and capitalized improvements and repairs whether purchased or produced by employees of your own company.
• Assets include the value of any machinery and equipment or structure transferred to the use of this establishment by the parent company or one of its subsidiaries.

Buildings and Other Structures

INCLUDE:

• Elevators, blast furnaces, brick kilns, fractionation towers, ship ways and similar structures, as well as the usual factory, office and warehouse type buildings
• Equipment that is an integral part of the building or structure, such as elevators, verhead cranes, ventilating shafts, and fractionation towers
• Capitalized site improvements, such as roads, tracks, parking lots, fences, and utilities

Machinery and Equipment

INCLUDE:

• All production machinery (motors, lathes, punch presses, etc.) and transportation equipment (automobiles, trucks, etc.)
• All office equipment and machines; computers; furniture and fixtures for offices, cafeterias and dressing rooms; and warehouse equipment

EXCLUDE:

• Tools that are used in production and expensed, rather than capitalized. Report these in Item 16A1- "Cost of materials, parts, containers, packaging, etc. used."
• The value of non-depreciable land on which structures stand

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Include depreciation costs in accordance with Internal Revenue Service schedules for that type of machinery or equipment. Depreciation should apply to tangible assets only.

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If your rental payment for your building represents your charge for use of both the land and the building (report this figure in item 14A)?

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Cost is the delivered cost, which is defined as the amount paid or payable after discounts and including freight and other direct charges incurred by the establishment in acquiring the materials.  If not a contractor and the cost is zero, please include a reason in the remarks section.

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Report the delivered cost of materials. That is, the amount paid or payable after discounts, including freight and other direct charges incurred by the establishment in acquiring the materials.

If the establishment produces items subsequently consumed in further production, ONLY report the cost of original materials consumed.

INCLUDE:

• Materials consumed from inventories and materials shipped to this establishment from other establishments of the same company.
• Cost of production-related materials purchased by this establishment for other companies (contractors)

EXCLUDE:

• Non-production-related expenses that were paid to other companies (contractors) by this establishment. (Report these expenses in Item 16, Item 16, line D.)

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MATERIALS:  Lumber, plywood, paper, resins, sulfuric acid, alcohols, rubber, coking coal, crude petroleum, cement, clay, glass, steel sheet, steel scrap, copper rods, iron castings, metal stampings, and wire

PARTS:  Pumps, wheels, bearings, engines, gears, motors, hardware, and compressors

CONTAINERS:  Pails, drums and barrels, tubes, boxes and bags, and crates

SUPPLIES:  Bolts, screws and nuts, drills, tools, dies, jigs and fixtures which are charged to current accounts, welding rods, electrodes, acetylene, lubricating oils, cleaning supplies, stationery and office supplies, first aid and safety supplies, dunnage, and water.

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• Materials that are purchased, but not put into production or consumed (These should be reported in the Inventories Item 9, or as resales in Item 22 if sold to another party without further value added to them.)
• Depreciation charges against the plant and equipment
• Rent and rental allowances, interest payments, royalties and patent fees
• Machinery, equipment, materials and supplies chargeable to fixed asset accounts (These should be reported as capital expenditures in Item 13.)
• Overhead costs (advertising, telephone, insurance, engineering and marketing charges) UNLESS charges for such services are included in the price of the materials. 

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Report the total amount actually paid or payable during the year for all fuels consumed for heat, power, or the generation of electricity. Include anthracite and bituminous coal, coke, natural and manufactured gas, fuel oil, liquefied petroleum gas, gasoline, biofuels, and all other fuels including purchased steam. For selected industries such as Carbon Black, Blast Furnaces, and Coke Ovens, some of the above fuel types may be used as raw materials, as well as, being consumed as fuels. In such cases, the cost of these fuel types used as raw materials should be reported in Item 16A1.  The costs of these fuels used for energy should be reported in Item 16A4. Include in Item 16A4 fuel used to power onsite trucks, fork lifts, or other motor vehicles associated with the establishment.

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Fuels used as raw material in the production of a product should be reported in Item 16A1 - "Cost of materials, parts, containers, packaging, supplies, etc. used for manufacturing processes, repairs, services for others, or other operating supplies."  Fuels used for energy in the production of a product should be reported in Item 16A4 - Cost of Purchased Fuels Consumed.

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Report the total amount actually paid or payable for electric energy purchased during the year from other companies, or received from other establishments of your company.

EXCLUDE:

The value of electricity generated and used at this establishment. The quantity (kilowatt hours) of such electricity should be included in Item 16B2.

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Contact your landlord, leasing agent or building management and obtain an approximate cost or a percentage of the lease and insert that value in Item 16A5).

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Contact your landlord, leasing agent or building management and obtain an approximate amount of electricity consumed in kilowatt hours. Estimates are fine. Report estimates of the quantity used in Item 16B1; report the estimated cost in item 16A4.

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If any contract work was done by others on materials furnished by your establishment, report the total payments made during the year for such work, including freight in and out in Item 16A3.

EXCLUDE:

The cost of materials worked upon, which should be reported in Item 16A1.

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INCLUDE:

• Research and Development
• Travel
• Training
• Sales commissions (not reported in Item 7 "Payroll")
• Janitorial services
• Transportation and delivery (not reported in Item 7 "Payroll")
• Franchise fees
• Trademark, and trade name usage costs
• Charitable contributions
• Selling, general and administrative costs
• Insurance
• Utilities not covered elsewhere
• Storage and overhead

EXCLUDE:

• Interest
• Losses or sales of securities
• Buildings
• Machinery, or equipment
• Extraordinary losses (bad debt, fire, flooding, etc.)
• Reserve funds
• Depreciation

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Wholesaling Activities (previously Resales) - The costs of imported or domestic products bought and sold or transferred from other establishments of your company and sold without further manufacture, processing, or assembly should not be reported here.

The cost of these wholesale products should be reported on Item 16, line A2 (Cost of products bought and sold without further processing).

The value of these wholesale products shipped by this establishment should be reported in Item 22 on the line appropriate for the type of Wholesaling activity being reported.

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Enter a description for the product(s), quantity (if applicable) and the value you produced in the “Other manufacturing revenue, not elsewhere classified” portion of Item 22. Report separately for each major kind of product produced.

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Resales of imports should be reported under Item 22, "Wholesaling activities.” DO NOT report resales of imports under manufactured product codes.

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A good estimate is acceptable if book figures are not available for specific items. We do not expect businesses to incur additional expenses to develop information not available from their records.

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Make any necessary changes to the mailing address and/or the physical location directly on the first page of the report form.

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Yes. A good estimate is acceptable if book figures are not available for specific items. We do not expect businesses to incur additional expenses to develop information not available from their records.

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If you did not receive, or are missing forms for some of your establishments, you may add locations in “Step 1 - Report Dashboard” in the Respondent Portal by clicking the “Add Location” button.  Below is the link to the Respondent Portal.  You will need your user ID and password.

https://portal.census.gov/portal

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Yes, you can file an extension on the Respondent Portal.  The website is: https://portal.census.gov/portal.   You will need to utilize your Email Address and established Password to access the system.  If you have not established your account, please use the authentication code provided on your letter to establish your account, before requesting a time extension. Once logged in, you can request additional time to complete your report forms.  You will get a new due date and a confirmation number.

The step-by-step instructions are provided below:

• Select the “Report Now” tab
• Click on the appropriate survey card.
• Click “Options” on your survey card.
• Select “Request extension” (if this option is greyed out, time extensions are not available)
• Click on the calendar icon or down arrow under “Extended Due Date”
• Select an available date in the calendar.
• Click “Submit”
• A confirmation message will appear on your screen, and your survey card will now display the original survey due date along with the extended date granted to you.

You can contact us using the Respondent Portal at https://portal.census.gov/portal or call us at 1-800-233-6136.

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Yes, the completion of this form is required by law.  The Census Bureau is bound by Title 13 of the United States Code to conduct the Census.  These laws not only provide the authority to conduct the Census, but also to provide protection for the information we collect.

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