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Concepts and definitions

Commodity

Commodities refer to tangible or intangible instruments that directly (consumables) or indirectly (capital goods) satisfy people's needs.

Tangible assets comprise both goods, as well as materials and supplies. Services are intangible assets. (Other intangible assets can be, for example, data in digital format or the production right of some tangible asset).

Commodity production (industrial output) also includes so-called industrial services. Industrial services include remodelling, processing, working and other such finishing, maintenance, repairs and installations. Industrial services have their own PRODCOM service titles in the commodity statistics' PRODCOM product name register.

Some industrial services are, however, classified as non-industrial services in the Standard Industrial Classification (TOL), for example, maintenance and repair of vehicles and repair and maintenance of office equipment and computers, so they do not belong to the inquiry on manufacturing commodities. This also applies to design and programming of software, as well as consulting and other computer and related activities.

Turnover

Turnover is recorded in the Business Register according to profit and loss statement, except in the cane of practitioners of a trade for whom it is formed from proceeds from the trade. Data on turnover are not recorded for enterprises in certain industries. The most important of these is financial intermediation and insurance and pension funding activity.

Turnover is deemed to comprise sales profits from the actual activity of a party with a legal obligation to keep books, after deduction of granted discounts, value added tax and other taxes based direct on sales volume. In addition to the sales adjustment items, income transfer and passage through items are deducted from sales. These are items belonging to another party with a legal obligation to keep books, which only technically go through the books of this other party obliged to keep books. Paid sales freight, commissions and credit losses are not deducted from turnover.

If the length of the accounting period deviates from 12 months, turnover is converted in the Business Register statistics to equal 12 months. As of the statistical year 2001, the turnover for a statistical year in the Register of Enterprises and Establishment concerns the accounting period that ends during the statistical year under review. Prior to this, turnover concerned the accounting period that ended between 1 April of statistical year and 31 March of statistical year +1.