Economic Activity Survey - Transport, Postal and Warehousing

Employment is a headcount of all people who worked for the business as working proprietors, partners, salaried directors or other employees during the last pay period ending in June within the survey reference period.

Report the number of people, not the number of full-time equivalent employees.

Report employment for this pay period even if it is not the final pay period in the business’s financial reporting year. Count each person only once.

If the business is unincorporated, such as a sole trader, partnership or joint venture, report all working proprietors and partners.

Do not complete this question if the business is incorporated, such as a company.

Report a headcount of all other people who worked for the business, including:

• salaried directors
• fixed-term employees
• casual employees who were paid through its payroll during the last pay period ending in June within the survey reference period and for whom Pay As You Go withholding tax was deducted.

Do not include non-salaried directors in Employment.

Report working proprietors and partners who were not paid through the payroll under Working proprietors and partners, not under Employees.

Do not include businesses or individuals contracted by the business if they:

• have a registered Australian Business Number (ABN); and
• are paid on a fee-for-service, invoice or commission-only basis.

Do not include staff who worked for the business during the last pay period ending in June within the survey reference period but were paid through another business, such as a labour-hire company.

Report payments received for providing services, whether providing services is a primary or secondary activity of the business.

Include:

• royalties income
• rent, leasing and hiring income
• delivery charges separately invoiced for goods sold.

Income received from non-government sources

Report payments received from non-government sources under Income received from businesses and the general public for services.

Examples include:

• freight transport
• vehicle towing
• taxi and ridesharing services
• warehousing and storage
• repair and service income
• advertising income
• project management fees
• contract, subcontract and commission income
• management fees or charges received from related and unrelated businesses 
• income from hiring out equipment with an operator, commonly called wet hire
• income from hiring out equipment without an operator, commonly called dry hire.

Income received from government

Report payments received from government for providing services under Income received from federal, state and local government for services.

This includes funding received for contracted public transport services.

Report under Income from services any sales of goods that are bundled with a service and invoiced together with that service.

If goods are invoiced separately from an accompanying service, report the income from those goods under Sales of goods.

Report income from goods that the business:

• mined, manufactured or otherwise produced itself; or
• arranged for another party to produce under a contract, subcontract, commission or fee-for-service arrangement.

Where another party produced the goods, report the income here only if the business owned both:

• the materials used to produce the goods
• the finished goods.

Report materials, parts, components and consumables purchased for producing, processing or packaging these goods under Purchases of materials, electricity, fuels and water.

Report income from ready-made goods that the business purchased and resold without changing them.

Include wholesale and retail sales of these goods.

Examples include:

• transport equipment, such as shipping containers, purchased locally or imported from an overseas manufacturer and then resold in Australia
• food and beverages sold in their original packaging, such as bottled water or confectionery.

These goods must be invoiced separately from any service provided.

Report the cost of purchasing these goods under Purchases of finished goods for resale.

Report government funding received for the ongoing operations of the business. This includes funding used to operate programs or pay business overheads, such as:

• wages and salaries
• rent
• food and other operating expenses.

Do not include payments received for providing services to government. Report these payments under Income from services.

Report income from sources not already included in another income item on the form.

Include donations and bequests where the donor receives no material benefit other than a tax deduction, if eligible.

If the donor receives a material benefit, such as advertising, report the income under Income from services.

Do not report payments received from sales of goods or the provision of services under Other income, even where selling goods or providing services is not a primary or secondary activity of the business. Report these payments under the relevant income question.

Report the profit or loss from the sale of an asset under Other income. Report a profit as a positive value and a loss as a negative value.

Report asset revaluations and impairments as a net gain or loss under Other income. Do not report negative revaluations or impairments as an expense.

Report the total proceeds received from selling the asset as a disposal under the relevant category in Capital expenditure and disposal of assets.

Example 1: Asset sold for more than its revalued value

For example, if an asset is revalued to $1,200 and then sold for $1,500, report:

• $1,500 as a disposal under the relevant asset category
• $300 under Other income.

Example 2: Asset sold for less than its revalued value

If an asset is revalued to $1,600 and later then sold for $1,400, report:

• $1,400 as a disposal under the relevant asset category
• negative $200 under Other income.

Report contributions and other expenses incurred by the business to superannuation funds. This includes expenses relating to employer-funded defined-benefit schemes.

Do not include employees’ own superannuation contributions. Report these contributions under Wages and salaries unless they were salary sacrificed.

Report salary-sacrificed contributions under Salary sacrificed earnings for superannuation.

Do not include superannuation contributions for business owners who do not receive a wage.

If the business self-insures, include workers compensation provisions recognised as an expense.

Recognise a provision as an expense when:

• the related obligation is probable; and
• the amount of the expense can be reasonably estimated.

Payroll tax is imposed by state and territory governments when the total wage bill of an employer, or a group of employers, exceeds the applicable threshold.

Payroll tax rates and thresholds vary between states and territories.

Do not include Pay As You Go withholding amounts deducted from employee payments.

Report payments made to other businesses such as employment agencies, for temporary staff supplied on a fee or contract basis.

Include payments where the business supplying the staff is responsible for paying their employment entitlements.

Do not include payments to contractors or subcontractors operating under their own ABN.

Report gross wages and salaries before tax. Include:

• bonuses
• retainers
• leave
• redundancy payments
• employee contributions to superannuation, unless salary sacrificed
• provisions for employee entitlements.

Report salary-sacrificed superannuation contributions under Salary sacrificed earnings for superannuation.

Exclude wages that have been capitalised because employees worked on creating capital assets. Report these wages under Cost of capital assets developed in-house by employees of the business.

Report optional third-party insurance premiums for motor vehicles under Insurance premiums.

Do not report compulsory third-party insurance premiums paid as part of the vehicle registration process under Insurance premiums. Report these premiums under Other operating expenses.

Repayments made under a finance lease agreement consist of an interest component and a capital component.

Report only the interest component under Total interest expenses. Do not report capital repayments as an expense.

Report operating lease payments as follows:

• Interest component – include in Total interest expenses and Interest expenses in respect of operating leases.
• Depreciation component – include in Total depreciation and amortisation and Depreciation expenses in respect of operating leases.
• Operating expenses (for variable lease payments not included in the measurement of the lease liability, or service components previously embedded in the lease) – include in Rent, leasing and hiring expenses.

Key point: Purchases are reported when incurred, regardless of whether the goods are sold during the reporting period.

Purchases are not the same as cost of goods sold.

Purchases represent the amount spent by the business during the survey reference period. Some purchased items might remain in inventory at the end of the period.

Cost of goods sold, which is not collected in this survey, represents the amount spent only on goods sold during the survey reference period. It is calculated as:

Purchases plus opening inventories less closing inventories

Do not include purchases that have been capitalised as assets. Report these purchases under Capital expenditure and disposal of assets.

If the capitalised purchases relate to work performed by employees to develop capital assets in-house, also report them under Cost of capital assets developed in-house by employees of the business.

Include the following under Purchases:

• materials, parts, components and consumables used in production, processing and packaging
• office supplies, goods and equipment purchased to operate the business
• utility costs associated with the business.

Exclude:

• payments to other businesses for moving goods, which should be reported under Payments made to contractors for freight, cartage, delivery and transport services
• rent, leasing and hiring expenses
• payments to other businesses for services such as catering, internet, accounting or information technology support.

Report the purchase value of goods that the business intends to resell without transforming them.

Examples include:

• cargo containers purchased for resale to other businesses
• fuel purchased in bulk for resale.

Report payments made to third-party contractors and other businesses for moving:

• goods
• equipment
• other assets.

Include:

• inward freight
• outward freight
• transport of goods, equipment or other assets between different locations of the business where a third party provided the transport service.

Report payments for transporting passengers under Other operating expenses.

Report the operating expense component of operating leases under Rent, leasing and hiring expenses.

Include dry hire of equipment. Dry hire means hiring equipment without an operator, where employees of the business operate the equipment.

Do not include wet hire of equipment. Wet hire means hiring equipment together with an operator. Report wet hire under Other operating expenses.

Do not include expenses associated with hiring staff.

For more information, please refer to AASB 16 Leases.

Expense questions on the form are intended to be mutually exclusive. Report operating expenses that are not included in another expense item on the form.

Include:

• wet hire of equipment, meaning equipment hired together with an operator
• payments to contractors and other businesses not reported elsewhere on the form
• payments for services delivered by contractors, subcontractors and consultants who are not employees and do not receive a payment summary
• compulsory third-party motor vehicle insurance paid as part of the vehicle registration process
• travel and accommodation expenses, including expenses incurred by employees undertaking professional development or training.

Exclude:

• dry hire, meaning equipment hired without an operator, which should be reported under Rent, leasing and hiring expenses
• payments to contractors and other businesses for freight, cartage, delivery and transport services
• capitalised contractor payments, which should be reported under Other capitalised costs
• donations made to other parties where no benefit is expected
• expenses already reported elsewhere on the form.

Do not include depreciable assets under Inventories. Report these assets under the relevant category in Capital expenditure and disposal of assets.

Report inventories under the following categories.

Raw materials, fuels and containers:

Report goods held for use in producing other goods or providing services.

Examples include paper supplies used in printing newspapers and raw food used to prepare meals.

Work in progress less progress payments billed:

Report goods that require further work or transformation before they are ready for sale, such as partially assembled machinery.

Report the value of work in progress inventories after deducting progress payments billed.

Finished goods, including inventories for resale:

Report goods that will be sold in their current condition, including goods purchased for resale.

Note: Report acquisitions and disposals of new and used assets under each relevant asset category. Include assets acquired under finance leases. Exclude right-of-use assets acquired under operating leases. Only report assets acquired or disposed of during the survey reference period.

Capital expenditure is the amount spent during the survey reference period to acquire non-current assets. This includes expenditure to purchase or upgrade productive assets, such as buildings or machinery, to increase the capacity or efficiency of the business.

If contractors carry out capital work, include those contractor payments under Other capitalised costs.

Report the value of an asset acquired under a finance lease, such as a company car, under the relevant asset category:

• land, buildings and infrastructure
• machinery and equipment
• information technology
• intangible assets
• any additional industry-specific category shown on the form.

Do not report all balance-sheet assets. Report only assets acquired or disposed of during the survey reference period.

Additions

Report expenditure on assets on an accrual basis.

Include:

• capital work in progress under the relevant asset category
• assets acquired through finance leases during the survey reference period
• leasehold improvements to a right-of-use asset under Land, buildings and infrastructure.

Exclude:

• additions to inventories
• assets created for new or existing operating leases where the business is the lessee.

Under AASB 16, the lessor reports the value of the underlying asset.

Disposals

Report proceeds from selling an asset to another person or business.

Disposals can also include discarding an asset.

Report only the proceeds from the disposal.

Report costs incurred and capitalised during the survey reference period when employees developed an asset that:

• is intended for use by the business; and
• is not intended for sale.

Examples include:

• software developed for internal use
• a building or equipment constructed to be rented to customers as an income-earning asset.

Also report these costs under the relevant asset category in the main Capital expenditure and disposal of assets question.

Report the costs under the following categories.

Capitalised wages and salaries

Report capitalised wages, salaries and associated labour on-costs paid to employees for their work on the project.

Do not include the cost of people who were not paid through the payroll. Report these costs under Other capitalised costs.

Other capitalised costs

Report payments to other businesses for goods or services used as inputs to the project.

Do not include wages paid to employees working on the project. Report these wages under Capitalised wages and salaries.

Complete this section only if the survey form includes the multi-state operations question.

Report Employment and Wages and salaries for each state or territory where the relevant staff are based.

If staff travel interstate or overseas for work, report them against the state or territory where they are usually based.

Report income from sales of goods and services for each state or territory where the sale was made or the service was provided.

Export sales to be reported against the state or territory from which the sale was made.