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This guide is designed to assist you as you complete the 2012 Annual Wholesale Trade Survey. If you need more information, please call the Statistics Canada Help Line at the number below.
Help Line: 1-800-858-7921
A - Introduction
Reporting instructions
Main business activity
Revenue,cost of goods sold and expenses
B - Revenue
C - Cost of goods sold
D - Expenses
E - Distribution of operating revenue by location and type of customer
F - Events that may have affected your business unit
G - Key variables by province/territory of operation
H - Province/country of origin and destination of goods sold
I - Comments
This guide is designed to provide additional information to assist you in completing the questionnaire. The Annual Wholesale Trade Survey is divided into nine sections identified with capital letters A to I. Each of the sections is further subdivided into headings and question numbers. Guideline items in this guide correspond to sections and question numbers that are on the survey questionnaire.
The introduction includes information on the survey purpose, coverage, data-sharing agreements, confidentiality of the data provided, information on the return of the questionnaire, and a warning about fax or other electronic transmission disclosure. Please read this information.
If the name of the person completing the questionnaire is not the same as the one indicated in the preprinted area (on page 9), please provide the information requested at the bottom of page 9. Should there be questions about the information provided, Statistics Canada will then be able to contact the appropriate person.
1. Please print in ink.
2. Please report all dollar amounts in Canadian dollars (CAN$).
3. All dollar amounts reported should be rounded to the nearest whole dollar (e.g., $55,417.40 should be rounded to $55,417). All percentages reported should be rounded to the nearest whole percent (e.g., 37.3% to 37%, 75.8% to 76%).
4. Please include all electronic commerce transactions.
5. When precise figures are not available, please provide your best estimates.
1. Principal source of revenue
A business unit is defined as the lowest level of the firm for which separate records are kept for details such as revenue, expenses and employment.
Statistics Canada defines business units in the wholesale sector as follows:
Wholesale merchants are engaged in the buying and selling of goods on their own account (i.e., take title of the goods). In addition, they may provide, or arrange for the provision of logistics, marketing and support services, including packaging and labelling, breaking bulk, inventory management, shipping, in-store or co-op promotions, handling of warranty claims and product training. Wholesale merchants are known by a variety of trade designations depending on their relationship with suppliers or customers or the distribution method they employ. Examples include wholesalers, wholesale distributors, drop shippers, (takes an order and be responsible for the transportation of a product from the manufacturer to the final customer), rack-jobbers (wholesaler who will place his display cases in client stores and usually consigns the merchandise they hold), import-export merchants, dealer-owned co-operatives and banner wholesalers.
Wholesale agents or brokers are engaged in the buying and/or selling, on a commission or fee basis, goods owned by others. Wholesale agents and brokers are known by a variety of trade designations including import-export agents, wholesale commission agents, wholesale brokers, and manufacturer’s representatives and agents. Buying groups who combine the purchasing power of their members and guarantee supplier payment for which members pay a fee, annual dues, etc., to the buying group, are also included.
If your business unit does not meet either of these definitions, please call 1-800-858-7921 for further instructions.
Enclosed with the questionnaire is a supplement that lists all identified wholesale operations. Please update any new openings, closures, changes of address and changes of ownership for these wholesale operations occurring within the fiscal year being reported on your questionnaire.
2. Main lines of merchandise and services
Please list up to three main lines of merchandise and services sold by this business unit and indicate the estimated percentage of the total operating revenue associated with each one.
Reporting period information
Please report information for your fiscal year (normal business year) ending between April 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013. Indicate the start and end dates.
Sections B, C and D are designed to gather information from your business unit’s financial records. Not all of the itemized details in the three sections apply to every business unit. Please report for those items that are relevant to your business unit.
All revenue reported should exclude sales taxes (GST/HST, PST and TVQ) and be net of returns, discounts, sales allowances, and charges for outward transportation by common or contract carriers. Do not deduct the value of trade-ins.
1. Sales of all goods purchased for resale, net of returns and discounts or rebates provided to your clients
Include:
Do not deduct the value of trade-ins.
Exclude:
2. a) Commission revenue and fees earned selling merchandise on behalf of others
Please report the gross amount of commission and fees earned by this business unit while acting as an agent or broker selling goods owned by other businesses.
2. b) Value of goods where commission and fees were earned by you acting as an agent or broker
As supplementary information to the reported commission revenue, please report the sale value of those goods upon which you have reported earning a commission or fee.
3. Sales of goods manufactured as a secondary activity by this wholesaling business unit
Please report revenue from sales of goods of own manufacture.
4. Labour revenue from repair and maintenance
Include:
Parts used in generating installation, repair and maintenance revenue are to be included at question 1 above.
5. Revenue from rental and leasing of office space, other real estate, goods and equipment
Include:
6. All other operating revenue
Report all other operating revenue not reported above.
Include:
Exclude:
Please report these amounts at question 8 below.
7. Total operating revenue
The sum of questions 1 to 6 above, excluding 2b.
8. Non-operating revenue
Non-production-related revenue of this business unit.
Include:
9. Total revenue
The sum of questions 7 and 8 below.
1. Opening inventory and 3. Closing inventory
Report inventories at book value (i.e., the value maintained in your accounting records).
Include opening and closing inventories of all types such as:
Closing inventory should reflect all inventory adjustments.
Exclude:
2. Purchases of goods
Please report the purchases of new and used goods for resale and, if applicable, raw materials.
Please report the laid-down cost to this business unit (including shipping and handling, if applicable).
Include:
If your accounting records do not permit you to make the distinction between goods purchased from outside the firm and goods manufactured by business units of your own firm, please provide your best estimate.
4. Cost of goods sold
The sum of questions 1 and 2 minus question 3.
1. Salaries and wages of employees
Please report all salaries and wages (including taxable allowances and employment commissions as defined on the T4 - Statement of Remuneration Paid) before deductions.
Include:
Exclude all payments and expenses associated with outside contract workers and casual labour for whom a T4 – Statement of Remuneration Paid was not issued such as:
Please report these amounts at question 8, next page.
2. Employer portion of employee benefits
Please report the employer portion of employee benefits.
Include:
3. Total labour remuneration
The sum of questions 1 and 2 or the total if you cannot provide the breakdown for Salaries and wages of employees and the Employer portion of employee benefits
4. Rental and leasing expenses
Include:
Exclude:
Please report this amount at question 8 next page.
5. Advertising and promotion
Include:
6. Amortization and depreciation expenses
Include the amortization and depreciation expenses on this business unit’s:
7. Management fees and other service fees charged by head office and other business support units
Include:
8. All other operating expenses
Report all other operating expenses not specified and reported above.
Include for example:
Exclude:
Please report these amounts at question 10 below.
9. Total operating expenses
The sum of questions 3 to 8 of this section.
10. Other expenses
Include:
11. Total expenses
The sum of questions 9 and 10 above.
1.You are asked to indicate the percentage distribution of total operating revenue by the location of your customers within or outside Canada. For example, 70% of total operating revenue is from customers in Canada and 30% is from customers outside of Canada.
2. For your Canadian customers, you are asked to report the percentage distribution of total operating revenue by the type of customer.
In the space provided, please make note of any factors (e.g., strike, layoffs, weather) that affected your business unit as compared to last year. Your response reduces the likelihood of further inquiries seeking to understand significant changes, from one year to the next, in reported values.
Section G applies only if you are reporting for more than one wholesale operation and the wholesale operations are located in more than one province/territory.
For example, if you are reporting for wholesale operations located in Nova Scotia and Ontario, you would report for the province/territory where your wholesale operations are located.
Please indicate whether you are reporting in either Canadian dollars ($) or in percentages (%) by ticking the appropriate box.
If you report in Canadian dollars, the Canada Totals should equal the totals reported in Sections B, C and D, at the indicated questions. If you report in percentages, the Canada Totals should equal 100%.
Why is Section H so important?
How to complete this section
In this section you are asked to provide – for your
total goods and for each province/territory in which you have wholesale business operations – the province/territory/country where your supplier is located (origin) and the province/territory/country where your customer is located (destination).
Please note that your best estimates are acceptable.
For costs of goods sold and sales of goods:
In dollars or percentages, report for each product the proportion of total cost of goods sold and sales of goods in each province/territory.
For origin:
Please provide the percentages that the cost of goods sold represented in each province/territory or foreign country where the goods were originally produced/ manufactured. An acceptable substitute would be the location of your supplier.
For destination:
Please provide the percentages of total sales in each province/territory or foreign country where the goods will ultimately be used. Acceptable substitutions would be your shipping destinations, location of your retail customers or location of your warehouses.
Please note:
Origin |
Destination |
---|---|
If your business operation(s) that is/are situated in Ontario bought goods from a supplier in the U.S.A. then the origin would be 100% U.S.A. |
If your business operation(s) that is/are located in Ontario, sold goods to customers in Ontario and Nova Scotia, and of the total sales by the business operation(s) in Ontario, 15% were in Ontario, and 85% in Nova Scotia, these would be the destination percentages of your sales. |
If your business operation(s) that is/are situated in Alberta purchased goods from both Saskatchewan and Ontario and this represented 10% and 90% respectively of the total purchases, the origin would be 10% for Saskatchewan and 90% for Ontario. |
If your business operation(s) in Alberta shipped the goods directly to your customer in Alberta (the “ship to address) then, the destination would be “Alberta. |
If your supplier for machinery is in California, but the machinery was shipped from a warehouse in Toronto, Ontario, to your address in Alberta, via Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A., the Origin you would report would be “Ontario - the “ship from address of your supplier. |
Example of a company that has business units with wholesale operations in two provinces:
Figure 1
You would complete Section H as follows:
1 | British Columbia | |||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
103 | Fresh fruit | |||||||||||||||||
N.L. | P.E.I. | N.S. | N.B. | Que | Ont. | Man. | Sask. | Alta | B.C. | Y.T. | N.W.T. | Nvt. | USA | China | Other | Total | ||
Cost of goods sold: | % Purchased from (origin) | 50 | 25 | 25 | 100% | |||||||||||||
Sales of goods: | % Sold to (destination) | 35 | 60 | 5 | 100% |
2 | Ontario | |||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
103 | Fresh fruit | |||||||||||||||||
N.L. | P.E.I. | N.S. | N.B. | Que | Ont. | Man. | Sask. | Alta | B.C. | Y.T. | N.W.T. | Nvt. | USA | China | Other | Total | ||
Cost of goods sold: | % Purchased from (origin) | 60 | 40 | 100% | ||||||||||||||
Sales of goods: | % Sold to (destination) | 30 | 70 | 100% |
Statistics Canada invites you to comment on any aspect of the survey. All comments are appreciated and reviewed.
Thank you!