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The Quarterly Financial Report Census Years (QFRCEN) program collects and publishes quarterly 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. The QFRCEN must be used if the Economic Census data is being used for a project. The QFRCEN contains data only for the Economic Census years.

The QFR covers: 1) Corporations that have a plurality of business activity in manufacturing industries, and domestic assets of $250,000 and over. 2) Corporations that have a plurality of business activity in mining, wholesale trade, retail trade, or selected service industries, and domestic assets of $50 million and over. 3) Corporations that are above industry specific receipt cut-off values.

The statistical data are classified by industry and by asset size.

Use of this data requires Internal Revenue Service (IRS) approval. The Census Bureau will coordinate all additional necessary reviews.

Detailed Methodology

Sample

The QFRCEN contains data only for the Economic Census years. The QFR target population consists of all corporations engaged primarily in manufacturing with total assets of $5 million and over, and all other corporations engaged primarily in mining, wholesale trade, retail trade, information, or professional and technical services (except legal services) industries with total assets of $50 million and over. The QFR sampling frame is developed from a file received annually from the IRS. This file contains selected information for corporations that filed Form 1120 with the IRS. Once this file is received, the QFR examines the information and assigns an initial NAICS industry code to each corporation. Then this file is stratified based on the NAICS code, size of total assets, and size of receipts. Corporations whose operations are within scope of the QFR and have total assets of $250 million and over may be included in the sample with certainty, based on industry-specific asset and receipt cutoffs. These certainty corporations are canvassed every quarter. All certainty cases from the prior years’ samples remain active in the QFR survey if they still meet the in-scope criteria.

Method of Data Collection

Survey (self- or interviewer-administered)

Frequency of Data Collection

Quarterly in Census Years

Reference Date

Last four months

Data Collection Notes

See https://www.census.gov/econ/qfr/documents/QFR_Methodology.pdf QFR utilizes a mail-out/mail-back survey. Approximately 4,600 large corporations in manufacturing, mining, trade, and selected service industries are mailed a long form. Approximately 5,000 selected small- and medium-sized manufacturing corporations are mailed a short form. The sample frame of firms is updated annually from Federal income tax records. Using the tax data, corporations are selected by stratified random sample, with strata by industry and asset size. Data for manufacturing corporations with assets between $250,000 and $250 million are estimated from a sample panel. Each quarter, one-eighth of the sample panel is replaced. Corporations selected in the sample report for 8 quarters.

Number of Cases

Dependent on sample size for any given year

Linkage Capabilities

Permanent Plant Number (PPN, Census establishment ID)

Quarterly Financial Report (Census years)

Description

Detailed Methodology