1997 Economic Census of Wholesale Trade

SELECTED DEFINITIONS FOR WHOLESALE TRADE INDUSTRIES

Annual Payroll ($1,000) -- 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 
uninorporated 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 as that used by the Internal 
Revenue Service (IRS) on Form 941.

Number Of Employees -- Paid employees consists of 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.

Number Of Establishments -- An establishment is a single physical location 
at which business is conducted and/or services are provided. 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 activities or more 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  establishment reports for each of the 
different activities were obtained in the census.

Sales ($1,000) -- Includes the total sales, shipments, receipts, revenue, or 
business done by establishments within the scope of the economic census.  
	Sales include merchandise sold for cash or credit by establishments 
primarily engaged in wholesale trade; receipts from rental or leasing of 
vehicles, equipment, instruments, tools, etc.; receipts for delivery, 
installation, maintenance, repair, alteration, storage, and other services; 
and gasoline, liquor, tobacco, and other excise taxes which are paid by the 
manufacturer and passed on to the wholesaler.  Sales are net after deductions 
for refunds and allowances for merchandise returned by customers. Trade-in 
allowances are not deducted from total sales. Total sales do not include 
carrying or other credit charges; sales (or other) taxes collected from 
customers and forwarded to taxing authorities; and nonoperating income from 
such sources as investments, rental or sale of real estate, etc.  
	Sales in this report do not include wholesale sales made by manufacturers, 
retailers, service establishments, or other businesses whose primary activity is 
other than wholesale trade. They do include receipts other than from the sale of 
merchandise at wholesale, e.g., service receipts, retail sales, etc., by 
establishments primarily engaged in wholesale trade.
	Sales figures include sales of all establishments in business at any 
time during the year. Sales shown for agents and brokers represented the value 
of the goods involved in the transactions rather than the commissions received 
or earnings.