8169.0 - Experimental Estimates for Australian Industry adjusted for Off-June Year Reporting, 2008-09 and 2009-10  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 30/11/2011  First Issue
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Contents >> Concepts and methods >> The Off-June Reporting Problem

THE OFF-JUNE REPORTING PROBLEM

The 2009-10 EAS had a reference period ending 30 June 2010; that is, the aim of the EAS was to measure economic activity over the 12 months from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010. Analysis of data from EAS shows that the majority of businesses report for this reference period, but for some industries a substantial fraction report for some other reference period. As noted above, 'off-June reporting' is more prevalent in industries with a high degree of foreign ownership, such as Mining, Manufacturing and Wholesale trade, as many countries use different accounting periods to Australia.

Considering the 2009-10 EAS, the 'off-June' reporting periods typically observed were

  • reporting period ending 31 December 2009
  • reporting period ending 31 March 2010; and
  • reporting period ending 30 September 2010

Consequently, where most data reported in Australian Industry are for the 12 months ending 30 June, some data can be reported for periods including the previous one or two quarters, or including the succeeding quarter, as demonstrated in Figure 2.

FIGURE 2. THE 2009-10 ECONOMIC ACTIVITY SURVEY REFERENCE PERIOD AND OBSERVED PERIODS OF OFF-JUNE REPORTING
Diagram: The 2009-10 Economic Activity Survey refrence period and observed periods of off-June reporting


Table 1 gives an estimate of the percentage of the population likely to report on a financial year basis, and their contribution to total industry IVA. The table is exclusive of non-employing entities whose turnover is below the bottom 2.5 percentile of their ANZSIC subdivision. All other businesses with less than 20 employees are included in the June reporting period, because they were ineligible for adjustment. Table 1 therefore represents the off-June reporting businesses which received an adjustment as part of the process described below.

Although businesses reporting for an off-June financial year may be in the minority, their contribution to overall estimates of IVA can be substantial. An example is the Mining industry, with 7% of businesses reporting for a non-standard financial year, contributing 57% of total industry IVA.

TABLE1. Prevalence of Off-June Year Reporting in EAS 2009-10, AND THE CONTRIBUTION OF THESE BUSINESSES TO IVA

Estimate of % of population by reporting period(a)
Estimate of % contribution to IVA by reporting period(a)
Financial year reporters
Off-June year reporters
Financial year reporters
Off-June year reporters
JUN
DEC
MAR
SEP
JUN
DEC
MAR
SEP

B Mining
93
6
1
0
43
51
6
0
C Manufacturing
99
1
0
0
70
24
3
2
D Electricity, gas, water and waste services
98
1
np
np
82
14
np
np
E Construction
100
0
0
0
91
7
2
0
F Wholesale trade
98
2
0
0
63
23
9
6
G Retail trade
100
0
0
0
96
3
1
0
H Accommodation and food services
99
1
0
0
86
10
1
3
I Transport, postal and warehousing
100
0
0
0
88
10
1
1
J Information media and telecommunications
98
1
0
0
76
10
11
3
L Rental, hiring and real estate services
100
0
0
0
93
5
1
0
M Professional, scientific and technical services
100
0
0
0
83
11
3
3
N Administrative and support services
100
0
0
0
87
11
1
1
P Education and training (private)
92
8
0
0
30
69
0
0
Q Health care and social assistance (private)
np
np
np
np
np
np
np
np
R Arts and recreation services
99
1
0
0
93
5
1
0
S Other services
99
0
0
0
91
7
1
1
Total selected industries
99
1
0
0
79
17
3
1

np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(a) Includes all businesses in scope of the experimental estimates, except for non-employing entities below a certain turnover threshold. Other businesses with less than 20 employees are included in the JUN category.


The impact of off-June reporting can vary between data items; that is, not only does the incidence and impact of off-June year reporting differ by industry subdivision, it also impacts upon the following data items differently:
  • Sales and service income
  • Wages and salaries
  • Other expenses
  • Closing inventories of raw materials
  • Opening inventories of raw materials
  • Closing inventories of finished goods (including work-in-progress); and
  • Opening inventories of finished goods (including work-in-progress)

Consequently, it was necessary to adjust these individual measures to satisfactorily account for each of the different types of off-June reporting within each ANZSIC subdivision.



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