.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} It’s time once again to tell Uncle Sam a little bit about your business. And the bigger your company, the more he wants to know.

Approximately 9,600 Greater Des Moines businesses will receive 2007 Economic Census forms in the mail in December. The U.S. Census Bureau, which has conducted the survey every five years since 1967, describes it as the nation’s most comprehensive measure of business and industry.

This year, about 4.5 million businesses will be asked to participate, and the Census Bureau anticipates that more companies than ever will choose to file their information electronically.

The census results, which are expected to become available by early 2009, can be used by businesses to evaluate their market share, gauge product and sales trends, assess salary levels and choose new site locations.

“It’s a heavily used source of information for business owners,” said Sherry Shafer, director of the Small Business Development Center at Drake University. The SBDCs regularly assist start-up companies in using data from the Economic Census and a number of other sources.

“You’re getting an awful lot of good market information, and it’s local, not just on a national basis,” she said. “We would encourage them to participate (in the census), because to make an important business decision, you need information.”

About 85 percent of the businesses queried in 2002 complied with the census. Though participation is mandated by law, the bureau has had little funding to enforce the $5,000 penalty for noncompliance, and relies largely on businesses recognizing the importance of the data collected, say officials.

Any business that is subject to the payroll tax may be asked to participate, though larger employers are more likely to be selected than smaller businesses, said Paul Zeisset, a special assistant for the Economic Census. Businesses have until Feb. 12 to reply, but they may request a filing extension.

About one in five companies chosen, primarily recent start-ups and smaller businesses, will receive simple “classification” forms that have check boxes and don’t ask for any financial information, Zeisset said. Those forms, which have already been mailed out, “should take just five minutes to complete,” he said.

The rest of the forms ask for detailed financial information and take an average of one hour to complete, according to the Census Bureau, though some companies in manufacturing or other complex industries may need several hours. Also, each business is required to complete a form for each operating location, so retailers and other multi-site operations can face a significant task in filing their reports.

“We’ve already established a relationship with those companies and in some cases have mailed them forms in advance,” Zeisset said.

Another way businesses can ease their time burden is to file electronically. In 2002, about 12 percent of businesses filed their forms electronically, and among companies with multiple locations, the electronic filing rate was about 35 percent. The bureau expects about 50 percent of large, multi-unit businesses will file electronically this year. Upgrades to the system for 2007 will make it easier for businesses to import their data onto the forms, Zeisset said.

“Frankly, if I just had one store, I might file electronically just for the novelty of it, because it may not save you any time,” he said. “But if you’re filing 10 or 100 forms, the ability to cut and paste data from your system onto the forms will save you quite a bit of time.”

For more information about the 2007 Economic Census, visit www.business.census.gov.