2013 Survey of Service Industries: Real Estate Brokers

Integrated Business Statistics Program (IBSP)

Reporting Guide

This guide is designed to assist you as you complete the 2013 Survey of Service Industries. If you need more information, please call the Statistics Canada Help Line at the number below.

Help Line: 1-800-972-9692

Your answers are confidential.

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects which could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act.

Statistics Canada will use information from this survey for statistical purposes.

Table of contents

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Business activity
Reporting period information
Revenue
Expenses
Industry characteristics
Sales by type of client
International transactions
General information
Data-sharing agreements
Record linkages

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Business activity

The description on file for this business comes from the North American Industrial Classifications System (NAICS). This database contains a limited number of activity classifications. The classifications on file might be applicable for this business, even if it is not exactly how you would describe this business’s main activity.

By selecting "Yes, this is the main activity.", you indicate that the description is applicable, and it describes the main economic activity which typically generates the most revenue for this business.

By selecting "No, this is not the main activity.", you indicate that this description is not applicable as a main or a secondary activity of this business. You will be given a chance to describe this business’s main activity.

If none of the above activities describes your main source of revenue, please call 1-800 972 9692 for further instructions.

Reporting period information

Here are twelve common fiscal periods that fall within the targeted dates:

• May 1, 2012 to April 30, 2013
• June 1, 2012 to May 31, 2013
• July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013
• August 1, 2012 to July 31, 2013
• September 1, 2012 to August 31, 2013
• October 1, 2012 to September 30, 2013
• November 1, 2012 to October 31, 2013
• December 1, 2012 to November 30, 2013
• January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013
• February 1, 2013 to January 31, 2014
• March 1, 2013 to February 28, 2014
• April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014

Here are other examples of fiscal periods that fall within the required dates:

• September 18, 2012 to September 15, 2013 (e.g., floating year-end)
• June 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013 (e.g., a newly opened business)

Revenue

1. Sales of goods and services (e.g., fees, commissions, services revenue)

Report net of returns and allowances.
Sales of goods and services are defined as amounts derived from the sale of goods and services (cash or credit), falling within a business’s ordinary activities. Sales should be reported net of trade discount, value added tax and other taxes based on sales.

Include: Sales from Canadian locations (domestic and export sales); Transfers to other business units or a head office of your firm. Exclude: Transfers into inventory and consignment sales; Federal, provincial and territorial sales taxes and excise duties and taxes; intercompany sales in consolidated financial statements.

2. Rental and leasing revenue

Include: Rental or leasing of apartments, commercial buildings, land, office space, residential housing, investments in co-tenancies and co-ownerships, hotel or motel rooms, long and short term vehicle leasing, machinery or equipment, storage lockers, etc.

3. Commissions

Include: Commissions earned on the sale of products or services by businesses such as advertising agencies, brokers, insurance agents, lottery ticket sales, sales representatives, and travel agencies – (compensation could also be reported under this item (for example, compensation for collecting sales tax).

4. Subsidies (including grants, donations and fundraising)

Include: Non-repayable grants, contributions and subsidies from all levels of government; Revenue from private sector (corporate and individual) sponsorships, donations and fundraising.

5. Royalties rights, licensing and franchise fees

A royalty is defined as a payment received by the holder of a copyright, trademark or patent.

Include revenue received from the sale or use of all intellectual property rights of copyrighted materials such as musical, literary, artistic or dramatic works, sound recordings or the broadcasting of communication signals.

6. Dividends

Include: Dividend income; Dividends from Canadian sources; Dividends from foreign sources; Patronage dividends. Exclude: Equity income from investments in subsidiaries or affiliates.

7. Interest

Include: Investment revenue; Interest from foreign sources; Interest from Canadian bonds and debentures; Interest from Canadian mortgage loans; Interest from other Canadian sources. Exclude: Equity income from investments in subsidiaries or affiliates.

8. Other revenue (please specify)

Include: Amounts not included in questions (1) to (7). intracompany transfers

9. Total revenue

(sum of questions 1 to 8)

Expenses

1. Cost of goods sold

Many business units distinguish their costs of materials from their other business expenses (selling, general and administrative). This item is included to allow you to easily record your costs/expenses according to your normal accounting practices.

Include: Cost of raw materials and/or goods purchased for re-sale – net of discounts earned on purchases; Freight in and duty.

1. opening inventories

2. purchases

Include: raw material, goods purchased for resale and non-returnable containers
Exclude: change in inventories

3. closing inventories

4. cost of goods sold

(opening inventories plus purchases minus closing inventories)

2. Employment costs and expenses

(for all employees who were issued a T4):

1. Salaries, wages and commissions

Please report all salaries and wages (including taxable allowances and employment commissions as defined on the T4 – Statement of Remuneration Paid) before deductions for this reporting period.

Include: Vacation pay; Bonuses (including profit sharing); Employee commissions; Taxable allowances (e.g., room and board, vehicle allowances, gifts such as airline tickets for holidays); Severance pay.
Exclude: All payments and expenses associated with casual labour and outside contract workers (report these amounts at sub-question (3) - Sub-contracts).

2. Employee benefits

Include contributions to: Health plans; Insurance plans; Employment insurance; Pension plans; Workers’ compensation; Association dues; Contributions to any other employee benefits such as child care and supplementary unemployment  benefit (SUB) plans; Contributions to provincial and territorial health and education payroll taxes.

3. Sub-contracts

Sub-contract expense refers to the purchasing of services from outside of the company rather than providing them in-house.

Include: Hired casual labour and outside contract workers; Custom work and contract work; Sub-contract and outside labour; Hired labour.

4. Research and development

Expenses from activities conducted with the intention of making a discovery that could either lead to the development of new products or procedures, or to the improvement of existing products or procedures.

5. Professional and business fees 

Include: Legal services; Accounting and auditing fees; Consulting fees; Education and training fees; Appraisal fees; Management and administration fees; Property management fees; Information technology (IT) consulting and service fees (purchased); Architectural fees; Engineering fees; Scientific and technical service fees; Other consulting fees (management, technical and scientific); Veterinary fees; Fees for human health services; Payroll preparation fees; All other professional and business service fees.
Exclude: Service fees paid to Head Office (report at sub-question (21) - All other expenses).

6. Utilities 

Utility expenses related to operating your business unit such as water, electricity, gas, heating and hydro.

Include: Diesel, fuel wood, natural gas, oil and propane; Sewage. 
Exclude: Energy expenses covered in your rental and leasing contracts; Telephone, Internet and other telecommunications; Vehicle fuel (report at sub-question (21) - All other expenses).

7. Office and computer related expenses

Include: Office stationery and supplies, paper and other supplies for photocopiers, printers and fax machines; Postage and courier (used in the day to day office business activity); Diskettes and computer upgrade expenses; Data processing.
Exclude: Telephone, Internet and other telecommunication expenses. (report this amount at sub-question (8) - Telephone, Internet and other telecommunication expenses).

8. Telephone, Internet and other telecommunications

Include: Internet; Telephone and telecommunications; Cellular telephone; Fax machine; Pager.

9. Business taxes, licenses and permits

Include: Property taxes paid directly and property transfer taxes; Vehicle license fees; Beverage taxes and business taxes; Trade license fees; Membership fees and professional license fees; Provincial capital tax.

10. Royalties, franchise fees and memberships

Include: Amounts paid to holders of patents, copyrights, performing rights and trademarks; Gross overriding royalty expenses and direct royalty costs; Resident and non-resident royalty expenses; Franchise fees.
Exclude: Crown royalties

11. Crown charges

Federal or Provincial royalty, tax, lease or rental payments made in relation to the acquisition, development or ownership of Canadian resource properties.  

Include: Crown royalties; Crown leases and rentals; Oil sand leases; Stumpage fees.

12. Rental and leasing

Include: Lease rental expenses, real estate rental expenses, condominium fees and equipment rental expenses; Motor vehicle rental and leasing expenses; Studio lighting and scaffolding; Machinery and equipment rental expenses; Storage expenses; Road and construction equipment rental; Fuel and other utility costs covered in your rental and leasing contracts.

13. Repair and maintenance

Include: Buildings and structures; Machinery and equipment; Security equipment; Vehicles; Costs related to materials, parts and external labour associated with these expenses; Janitorial and cleaning services and garbage removal.

14. Amortization and depreciation

Include: Direct cost depreciation of tangible assets and amortization of leasehold improvements; Amortization of intangible assets (e.g., amortization of goodwill, patents, franchises, copyrights, trademarks, deferred charges, organizational costs).

15. Insurance

Insurance recovery income should be deducted from insurance expenses.

Include: Professional and other liability insurance; Motor vehicle and property insurance; Executive life insurance; Bonding, business interruption insurance and fire insurance.

16. Advertising, marketing, promotion, meals and entertainment

Include: Newspaper advertising and media expenses; Catalogues, presentations and displays; Tickets for theatre, concerts and sporting events for business promotion; Fundraising expenses; Meals, entertainment and hospitality purchases for clients.

17. Travel, meetings and conventions

Include: Travel expenses; Meeting and convention expenses, seminars; Passenger transportation (e.g., airfare, bus, train, etc.); Accommodations; Travel allowance and meals while travelling; Other travel expenses.

18. Financial services 

Include: Explicit service charges for financial services; Credit and debit card commissions and charges; Collection expenses and transfer fees; Registrar and transfer agent fees; Security and exchange commission fees; Other financial service fees.
Exclude: Interest expenses (report at sub-question (19) - Interest expense).

19. Interest expense

Report the cost of servicing your company’s debt.

Include: Interest; Bank charges; Finance charges; Interest payments on capital leases; Amortization of bond discounts; Interest on short-term and long-term debt, mortgages, bonds and debentures.

20. Other non-production-related costs and expenses

Include: Charitable donations and political contributions; Bad Debt expense; Loan losses; Provisions for loan losses (minus Bad debt recoveries); Inventory adjustments

21. All other costs and expenses (including intracompany expenses)

Include:
Production costs; Pipeline operations, drilling, site restoration; Gross overriding royalty; Other producing property rentals; Well operating, fuel and equipment; Other lease rentals; Other direct costs; Equipment hire and operation; Log yard expense, forestry costs, logging road costs; Freight in and duty; Overhead expenses allocated to costs of sales; Other expenses; Cash over/short (negative expense); Reimbursement of parent company expense; Warranty expense; Recruiting expenses; General and administrative expenses; Interdivisional expenses; Interfund transfer (minus expense recoveries); Exploration and Development (including prospect/geological, well abandonment & dry holes, exploration expenses, development expenses); Amounts not included in sub-questions (1) to (20) above.

22. Total expenses

(sum of lines 1 to 21)

Industry characteristics

Brokerage services

1. Commissions earned from real estate and lots

Include commissions and fees earned from:

• Assisting buyers and sellers with the sale or re-sale of homes, buildings, businesses, lands and properties (include in trust amounts), while acting in an agency capacity;
• Assisting owners of real estate to rent buildings, units, land and other types of real estate, while acting in an agency capacity;
• Providing real estate auction services.

Exclude:

• Advising clients on property matters, but not acting in an agency capacity; please report this amount in this section, at question 3;
• Handling rentals for an owner as part of an ongoing property management service; please report this amount in this section, at question 7.

1. sales of residential real estate and lots
2. rental of residential real estate and lots
3. sales of commercial real estate and lots
4. rental of commercial real estate and lots

2. Revenue received from independent real estate associates

Include commissions, fees and other revenues that are paid by independent real estate sales persons to this surveyed business. Some examples of these are desk fees, deal fees, charges for office space/use, publicity and advertising.

3. Revenue from real estate consulting services

Providing advice and guidance to clients regarding real estate. Includes advice on real estate-related accountancy, financing and similar matters that are provided to the client independently of the actual provision of accountancy, financial and similar services.

Include:

• Expert witness services related to real estate;
• Commercial and industrial location finding services.

Exclude:

• Advising clients on property matters, while acting in an agency capacity; please report this amount in this section, at question 1.

4. Revenue from real estate appraisal services

Providing assessments of the value of real estate, in order to assist clients in buying, selling or financing the purchase of real estate or in dealing with tax matters.

Include:

• Conducting general real estate appraisals;
• Reviewing of others’ appraisals;
• Conducting appraisals for taxation purposes.

Exclude:

• Providing advice about real estate and property matters, not associated with providing an appraisal; please report this amount in this section, at question 3.

5. Revenue from real estate listing services

Providing a register of real estate offered for sale in an area, in a printed directory, electronic database or other format.

6. Revenue from rental or leasing of property directly owned by the business unit

Include :

• The revenue received from the rental or leasing of property owned by this business unit only if it is earned as part of the normal real estate broker operations of the business unit.

Exclude:

• Income generated from the rental or leasing of properties that are owned or partially owned by the business as investment properties or other types of operations that are not related to the real estate broker operations.

1. residential
2. commercial

7. Other sales of goods and services – please specify:

Include:

• Ongoing property management services;
• Referral fees (i.e. from mortgage brokers, financial institutions, etc.);
• Bad debt recoveries;
• Miscellaneous sales and service revenue.

8. Total sales of goods and services

(sum of questions 1 to 7)

Commercial property refers to all types of non-residential (including industrial and agricultural) real estate.

Percentage breakdown of the total reported at question 1.

Commercial property refers to all types of non-residential (including industrial and agricultural) real estate.

Percentage breakdown of the total reported at question 6.

Selected expenditure information

9. Commissions and fees paid to independent real estate salespersons

Include all commissions and fees paid to independent real estate sales persons if they are by some means contracted to you.

Exclude commissions paid to your employees. These should be reported in salaries and wages, in ""Expenses"", question 2.

10. Commissions and fees paid to other real estate brokers / real estate agencies

Include all commissions and fees paid to other real estate brokers for their actions in assisting in real estate transactions.

11. Total commissions paid to non-employees

(sum of questions 9 and 10)

Number of independent real estate salespersons during this reference period

Include persons that are licensed to sell or trade in real estate and are contracted to work for your enterprise; these independents may themselves be licensed or registered as brokers but if they are contracted to work as an independent salesperson, they are treated as such.

Personnel

12. During this reporting period, how many independent real estate salespersons were there?

International transactions

1. This section is intended to measure the value of international transactions on goods, services, royalties and licenses fees. It covers imported services and goods purchased outside Canada as well as the value of exported services and goods to clients/customers outside Canada. Please report also royalties, rights, licensing and franchise fees paid to and/or received from outside Canada. Services cover a variety of industrial, professional, trade and business services.

General information

Data-sharing agreements

To reduce respondent burden, Statistics Canada has entered into data-sharing agreements with provincial and territorial statistical agencies and other government organizations, which have agreed to keep the data confidential and use them only for statistical purposes. Statistics Canada will only share data from this survey with those organizations that have demonstrated a requirement to use the data.

Section 11 of the Statistics Act provides for the sharing of information with provincial and territorial statistical agencies that meet certain conditions. These agencies must have the legislative authority to collect the same information, on a mandatory basis, and the legislation must provide substantially the same provisions for confidentiality and penalties for disclosure of confidential information as the Statistics Act. Because these agencies have the legal authority to compel businesses to provide the same information, consent is not requested and businesses may not object to the sharing of the data.

For this survey, there are Section 11 agreements with the provincial and territorial statistical agencies of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and the Yukon.

The shared data will be limited to information pertaining to business establishments located within the jurisdiction of the respective province or territory.

Section 12 of the Statistics Act provides for the sharing of information with federal, provincial or territorial government organizations. Under Section 12, you may refuse to share your information with any of these organizations by writing a letter of objection to the Chief Statistician and returning it with the completed questionnaire. Please specify the organizations with which you do not want to share your data.

For this survey, there are Section 12 agreements with the statistical agencies of Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

For agreements with provincial and territorial government organizations, the shared data will be limited to information pertaining to business establishments located within the jurisdiction of the respective province or territory.

Record linkages

To enhance the data from this survey and to minimize the reporting burden, Statistics Canada may combine it with information from other surveys or from administrative sources.

Please note that Statistics Canada does not share any individual survey information with the Canada Revenue Agency.

Please visit our website at www.statcan.gc.ca/survey-enquete/index-eng.htm or call us at 1-800-972-9692 for more information about these data-sharing agreements.

Thank you!