The source of all data are tax returns filed with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. The most recent edition covers approximately 4.7 million active corporate federal income tax returns, including those owned or controlled by foreign persons. The publication profiles corporate performance in two analytical tables for each industry. Table I reports operating and financial information for all corporations, those with and without net income. Table II provides the same information as Table I, but only for corporations with net income. It provides 50 performance indicators for each industry. At the end of each industry section, performance indicators for the last ten years are shown. Data are grouped into 16 categories by size of assets in each industry. About 180 lines of business are covered.

Norms in actual dollars for revenue and capital factors such as net receivables, inventories, and total assets are given. It also gives average operating costs in percent of net sales for: cost of operations, pensions and benefits, compensation officers, wages and salaries, taxes and more.

RMA, the Risk Management Association, is a not-for-profit professional association serving the financial services industry. This national association of bank, loan, and credit officers uses information provided by loan applications to compile the Statement Studies. Financial statements on each industry are shown in common size, and are accompanied by widely used ratios. In general the data for a particular industry appear on both the right and left hand pages. The heading Current Data Sorted By Assets is on the far left. The center section of the double page contains the Comparative Historical Data, with the All Sizes column for the current year shown under the heading 4/1/xx-3/31/xx. Comparable data from past editions of the Annual Statement Studies also appears in this section. To the far right is the display Current Data Sorted by Sales. The information shown at the top of each page includes the identity of the industry group; its Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) or North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) number; a breakdown by size categories of the types of financial statements reported; the number of statements in each category; the dates of the statements used; and the size categories. For instance, (16 4/1/98-9/30/99) means that 16 statements with fiscal dates between April 1, 1998 and September 30, 1999, make up parts of the sample. More than 600 industries, at the four-digit SIC level and at the six-digit NAICS level are covered.

RMA reports three values for each ratio: the upper quartile, median, and lower quartile. For any given ratio, these figures are calculated by first computing the value of the ratio for each financial statement in the sample. These values are then arrayed -- "listed" -- in order from the strongest to the weakest. The array of values are then divided into four asset categories of equal size. The upper quartile is that point at which 1/4 of the array of ratios falls between the strongest ratio and the upper quartile point. The media is the middle value and the lower quartile is that point at which 3/4's of the array falls between the strongest ratio and the lower quartile point. By reporting three values for each ratio, the researcher is able to compare a particular company with the "average" (median) company, as well as with the "typical" companies in the top and bottom halves of the sample.

First time users of the Annual Statement Studies should check the definitions and explanations for ratios provided in the preface. There is also a subject index of industries, an index by SIC/NAICS number, and a bibliography of other sources of financial ratios.

RMA data should be regarded only as general guidelines and not as absolute industry norms. Other considerations that can result in variations among different companies engaged in the same general line of business are different labor markets; geographical location; different accounting methods; quality of products handled; sources and methods of financing; and terms of sale.

This publication is produced from business credit reports and financial statements for more than 400,000 companies. It covers 800 industry groups organized in broad categories. Similar to the Annual Statement Studies, three values for the ratios are calculated: upper quartile, median, and lower quartile. The data are not grouped by size of company and no historical information is provided. Reports are given for 14 key ratios for each industry that indicate solvency, efficiency, and profitability.

Most publicly held companies publish an annual report containing income statement and balance sheet data along with other financial information. Many companies now post their annual reports on their web sites.

Publicly owned companies are required to file a 10K report with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) each year. These reports contain income statement and balance sheet data and other information on the company's past and current performance and expected future prospects. 10K reports can be found at the SEC web site EDGAR.

There are publications devoted to the needs of a particular industry. Trade journals provide a wide range of current information about the industries they cover. They also publish detailed information on industry trends and industry statistics, some of which are difficult to find elsewhere.