Census Bureau Refreshes Business Money Quiz for 2026 Efficiency
Published Date: 1/20/2026
Notice
Summary
The Census Bureau is updating its Annual Integrated Economic Survey, which asks over 300,000 businesses about their money matters each year. Starting in 2026, they’ll use new industry codes, pick a fresh group of businesses to survey, and tweak questions to make it easier and faster to answer. These changes help keep the data accurate and reduce the time businesses spend filling out the survey.
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 2 costs, 0 mixed.
Mandatory annual survey for businesses
The Annual Integrated Economic Survey (AIES) is mandatory and will ask 305,340 businesses to respond. The average time to complete the survey is 2 hours and 15 minutes, for a total reported burden of 687,015 hours, and it is conducted annually under Title 13 U.S.C. Sections 131 and 182.
Modular survey design to cut burden
Starting with the upcoming AIES revisions, the Census Bureau will implement a modular and subsampled content strategy to reduce respondent burden while still meeting data users' needs. These changes are part of the revisions being implemented beginning with the survey year 2025 (collected in calendar year 2026).
New product and capital expenditure details for some industries
The AIES will begin collecting North American Product Classification System (NAPCS)-based product data from retail, wholesale, and services businesses and will collect capital expenditures by type (structures and equipment) and select capital expenditure details such as finance leases and software. These new collections are part of the survey revisions.
Removal of selected reporting questions
The AIES revisions remove certain questions, including depreciable asset questions and select company-level questions (leased employees and research and development spending) and select revenue details. These removals apply as part of the revisions described for the survey.
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