The newly added rows, identified by ID numbers starting with 3, represent your company's operations within specific industries. These rows are categorized under groups of establishments classified within the relevant industry and reflect a compilation of activities from those establishments.
You may observe multiple rows pertaining to a KAU/industry for the same industry or NAICS code if your company has operations outside of the 50 states and DC. For instance, if your company has establishments in the 50 states and DC as well as in Puerto Rico under the same NAICS, you will encounter one industry row for the NAICS activity in the 50 states and DC and another industry row for the same NAICS in Puerto Rico.
Rows with ID numbers starting with 2 represent establishments falling under industries designated by NAICS codes for each KAU. These should correspond to the establishments reviewed in Step 1.
You are not required to report for establishments indicated in Steps 1 and 1B as having no activity in 2023. While these establishments won't be visible, their industry rows will still be present even if none of your establishments operating in that industry are currently active. You still need to input a value in the Sales, Shipments, Receipts of Revenue (RCPT_TOT_VAL) column for these rows. If there was no activity in this industry in 2023, you can enter zero and leave other cells blank for this row.
No, to ensure your data save properly, please DO NOT use or view multiple instances of the survey in the same browser simultaneously
Your company was selected for multiple surveys at the same time. Census Bureau Economic Surveys are a key source for official statistics and provide important measures of the American economy.
Click the “browser self check” link on portal.census.gov. This check will verify that all settings are correctly configured for accessing the survey. It also provides links to guide respondents through resolving any issues that do not display "Passed" in the "Results" column. The most common issues can be fixed by clearing the internet browser’s cache and cookies or enabling pop-ups.
If you are still unable to sign in, please contact the Census Bureau by calling the customer help line at 1-800-681-3012, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Federal Register Notices:
The AIES is being conducted concurrently with other economic surveys. Please keep in mind that responses to other surveys are still being processed. We kindly ask that you verify and make any necessary updates (e.g., company contact information, operational status, organizational changes, etc.) even if they have been previously reported.
Company - an organization that owns/operates one or more establishments nationwide. This includes all entities filed under one or more Employer Identification Numbers (EINs) and located in the United States. Company-level totals are collected for Sales, Shipments, Receipts, or Revenue; Employment; Payroll; First Quarter Payroll; Capital Expenditures; and Depreciable Assets. These figures are the aggregate of industry-level and establishment-level data within a company.
Industry - A specific sector of the economy or business activity that represents a group of establishments providing similar types of products, services, or activities.
Establishment - a single physical location in the United States where business is conducted or where services or industrial operations are performed.
The AIES is broken out into three steps:
Step 1: A spreadsheet with establishment level operating status - Each row in the spreadsheet is specific to an individual location. Additional rows may need to be added if all establishments are not accounted for on the prepopulated spreadsheet. This step focuses solely on operational status and does not require any financial data.
Step 2: Online survey questions about company level data - This section captures data encompassing all domestic activities for the company. It is not segmented by locations/establishments or industry.
Step 3: A spreadsheet with industry and establishment level data - Rows with IDs beginning in 2 pertain to a specific location/establishment. Rows with IDs beginning in 3 represent an industry, or the aggregate of the company's activity within an industry. Companies with manufacturing activity will also be required to complete the Product Data tab in Step 3.
Step 1B addresses follow-up inquiries pertinent to specific circumstances. Updates made in Step 1 can influence what appears in Step 1B and whether completion of Step 1B is necessary.
If all your establishments were operational in 2023 and none engaged in activities within a NAICS code with tax-exempt status, you will bypass this step entirely. However, if any establishments had an operational status (OPSTAT_STAT) other than 1, if new establishments were added, and/or if any establishments were involved in activities within a NAICS code with tax-exempt status, Step 1B is required to gather additional information about these specific establishments.
Step 1B will solely display establishments necessitating these follow-up inquiries. Establishments not falling into any of these categories will not be visible in Step 1B.
While it's not possible to modify the NAICS code for your primary business or activity, you have the option to edit the description write-in field in the adjacent column for prelisted establishments. This adjustment won't alter the NAICS code for the current survey year and won't be reflected in Step 3. However, it will serve as a notification to us after submission that your establishment might require classification under a different NAICS code for future survey years. Activity codes for newly added establishments will be requested in Step 1B.
Respond to the questions to the best of your ability based on the current business activity at your location. Utilize the Description write-in field in Step 1 and the Remarks section to provide any additional information, if needed.
The AIES requires data to be reported for your entire company. Step 1 asks for establishment-level data, Step 2 asks for company-level data, and Step 3 asks for both establishment-level and industry-level data.
To view survey questions without entering the survey instrument, you may use the Interactive Question Preview Tool. View this tool and other resources on the Information for Respondents page.
To view instructions to assist with gathering data for the AIES, you may use the AIES Instruction Manual. View this tool and other resources on the Information for Respondents page.
Verify whether the cell you are attempting to input data into is editable. The cells are color-coded as follows:
Ensure that you input valid values for the fields. Avoid using decimals or commas. As we request data reported in thousands, the system will automatically add zeros and a comma to indicate the thousands place. Any values entered that are not valid for the field will vanish and will not be stored. For further clarification on what can be entered into a field, click on the "i" icon next to the question/column header in the online spreadsheet sections of the survey.
Subsequently, simply sign into your account and click on "Report Now" on your survey card in the respondent portal to proceed.