1997 Economic Census of the Utilities Industry

SELECTED DEFINITIONS FOR THE UTILITIES INDUSTRY

ANNUAL PAYROLL -- Payroll includes all forms of compensation such as 
salaries, wages, commissions, dismissal pay, bonuses, vacation 
allowances, sick-leave pay, and employee contributions to qualified 
pension plans paid during the year to all employees.  For corporations, 
payroll includes amounts paid to officers and executives; for 
unincorporated businesses, it does not include profit or other 
compensation of proprietors or partners.  Payroll is reported before 
deductions for social security, income tax insurance, union dues, etc.  
This definition of payroll is the same a that used by the Internal 
Revenue Service (IRS) on form 941.

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES -- Paid employees consists of the full-time and 
part-time employees, including salaried officers and executives of 
corporations.  Included are employees on paid sick leave, paid holidays, 
and paid vacations; not included are proprietors and partners of 
unincorporated businesses.  The definition of paid employees is the same 
as that used on IRS form 941.  Includes all employees who were on the 
payroll during the pay period including March 12.

NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS -- An establishment is a single physical 
location at which business is conducted.  It is not necessarily identical 
with a company or enterprise, which may consist of one establishment or 
more.  Economic census figures represent a summary of reports for 
individual establishments rather than companies.  For cases where a 
census report was received, separate information was obtained for each 
location where business was conducted.  When administrative records of 
other Federal agencies were used instead of a census report, no 
information was available on the number of locations operated.  Each 
economic census establishment was tabulated according to the physical 
location at which the business was conducted.  The count of establishments 
represents those in business at any time during 1997.  When two or more 
activities were carried on at a single location under a single ownership, 
all activities generally were grouped together as a single establishment.  
The entire establishment was classified on the basis of its major activity 
and all data for it were included in that classification.  However, when 
distinct and separate economic activities (for which different industry 
classification codes were appropriate) were conducted at a single location 
under a single ownership, separate establishments reports for each of the 
different activities were obtained in the census.

REVENUE -- Includes revenue from all business activities whether or not 
payment was received in the census year.  Revenue does not include sales 
and other taxes collected from customers and remitted directly by the firm 
to a local, state, or Federal tax agency.