What changed and when?
Quarterly Business Review Report
Beginning with the Quarter 1, 2005 Quarterly Business Review (QBR) data, the Department stopped providing the QBR tables using Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes and converted the tables to North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes. This change took effect with the release of the Quarter 1 data in July 2005.
Gross Business Income and Taxable Retail Sales Reports
Beginning with the Calendar Year 2005 data, the Department will stop providing data using SIC codes and will begin to only provide data based on NAICS codes. This change will take effect with the release of the Calendar Year 2005 data in May of 2006.
What are SIC and NAICS codes?
Both Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) and North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes identify a firm's primary business activity. For example a firm with SIC 571 primarily sells retail furniture. A firm with NAICS 311 is primarily engaged in food manufacturing.
These codes were developed by the federal government and are used by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as well as many other U.S. statistical agencies. In 1997, OMB adopted NAICS as its new industry classification system.
Every registered Washington firm is assigned a SIC or NAICS code. SIC codes can be up to four digits and NAICS codes can be up to six digits. The Quarterly Business Review (QBR) and the other Create a Report functions use these codes to group firms together in order to create useful information. Because the national standard changed from the use of SIC codes to the use of NAICS codes, in November 2004 the Department stopped assigning SIC codes and now only assigns NAICS codes.
For a list of SIC codes click here. For a list of NAICS codes click here.
What is the difference between a SIC and a NAICS code?
NAICS codes provide a greater level of detail about a firm's activity than SIC codes. NAICS includes 1,170 industries and SIC includes 1,004 industries. There are 358 new industries recognized in NAICS, 250 of which are services producing industries.
Additionally, NAICS codes are based on a consistent, economic concept, while SIC codes are not. For NAICS codes, establishments that use the same or similar processes to produce goods or services are grouped together. Industries under the SIC codes were grouped together based on either demand or production.
Unlike SIC codes, the NAICS codes were developed by the U.S. federal government in cooperation with Canadian and Mexican statistical agencies. Because both Canada and Mexico use NAICS for their industry classifications, government and business analysts are now able to compare directly industrial production statistics collected and published in the three North American Free Trade Agreement countries. Additionally, NAICS provides for increased comparability with the International Standard Classification System (ISIC, Revision 3), developed and maintained by the United Nations (This information was taken from the U.S. Census Bureau web site, http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naicsdev.htm).
Why did the data change?
The conversion to NAICS codes is an effort to coincide with national standards.
How does this change impact the data?
Quarterly Business Review Report
Although the format of the QBR tables will remain similar, converting to the new codes required some noticeable changes to our online system. Because the SIC data does not seamlessly convert to NAICS, the SIC and NAICS data cannot be compared.
For example, a firm classified in SIC 7359 Business Services (Not Elsewhere Classified) could now be classified under NAICS 491110 Postal Service, or NAICS 541340 Drafting Services, among others.
Gross Business Income and Taxable Retail Sales Reports
The conversion to NAICS will minimally impact the Gross Business Income (GBI) and Taxable Retail Sales (TRS) reports. Currently these reports contain both SIC and NAICS data dating back to 1994. If you presently rely on SIC codes to trend industry activity, you will need to convert your historical databases to NAICS codes. Because the SIC data does not seamlessly convert to NAICS, the SIC and NAICS data cannot be compared.
To see how a particular SIC code corresponds to NAICS click here.
To see how a particular NAICS code corresponds to SIC click here.
What do I do if I need historical QBR data?
For those who want historical SIC data the Department added an option to the
QBR report system that allows you to choose between NAICS data or historical SIC data.
For those who need historical QBR tables in the NAICS version, the Department released all of the QBR data for year 2004 (including quarterly and calendar year data) in the NAICS version with the Quarter 1, 2005 data. If you need NAICS data prior to 2004, please refer to the following chart:
QBR Table
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Here's how to search using the online report system...
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| Table 1 - Total Gross Business Income (Provides industry data for a particular time period.) |
Click on the tab titled Gross Business Income. Select the years, NAICS, and output format. For a list of NAICS codes and descriptions, click on the link titled "...list of NAICS..." |
| Table 2 - Summary of Excise Tax Return (Provides a summary of the Department's excise tax return for a particular time period.) |
This data is not contingent on SIC or NAICS. Therefore, use the historical QBR SIC report to get historical data for table 2. |
| Tables 3a and 4a - Total Taxable Retail Sales by County and Selected City (Provides a summary of taxable retail sales by location and time period.) |
This data is not contingent on SIC or NAICS. Therefore, use the historical QBR SIC report to get historical data for tables 3a and 4a. |
| Tables 3 and 4 - County and City Taxable Retail Sales (Provides industry data by location and time period.) |
Click on the tab titled Taxable Retail Sales. Make sure the "Local" radio button is selected. Then choose the years, locations, tax type, NAICS, and output format. For a list of NAICS codes and descriptions, click on the link titled "...list of NAICS..." |
| Table 5 - Business and Occupation Tax (Provides industry data for a particular time period.) |
The Department does not currently have a report available on the web site to obtain historical business and occupation tax data using NAICS codes. If historical business and occupation tax data is needed please contact us by e-mail or call (360) 570-6074. |
| Table 6 - State Retail Sales Tax (Provides industry data for a particular time period.) |
Click on the tab titled Taxable Retail Sales. Make sure the "Statewide" radio button is selected. Then select the years, NAICS, and output format. For a list of NAICS codes and descriptions, click on the link titled "...list of NAICS..." |
| Table 7 - Public Utility Tax (Provides a summary of the public utility taxes for a particular time period.) |
The totals for each of the public utility taxes are not contingent on SIC or NAICS. Therefore, use the historical QBR SIC report to get historical data for table 7. |
If you have any questions, please contact Statistics and Reports.