Introduction
This guidance is designed to help you complete the Annual Purchases Survey (APS) questionnaire. Please refer to this guidance if you are having any difficulties with completing the questionnaire. Where appropriate, more guidance information is also printed beneath the questions. However, if you require further assistance, please telephone the APS team on 0300 1231 217.
Guidance on completing the questionnaire
Section A, Question 1: Reporting Period
Your reporting period should cover 2024. Your return should relate to a business period 6 April 24 to 5 April 25.
If you have traded for only part of the year, please provide figures for the period in which you were trading.
If no figures are available for that period - if less than 6 months of trading, please provide an explanation in the Comments box at the end of the questionnaire.
All values reported are to the nearest £000.
Section B, Question 2: Total Purchases
Total Purchases provided on your Profit & Loss Account - Total expenditure reported on Energy, Goods and Materials for the above reporting period. (It is advisable to complete section C, D and E before completing section B).
Section C, Questions 3 and 4: Purchases of Energy, Water and Waste
Should these be below £500, please leave as zero.
Should the value be between £500 and £1000, please round up to the nearest thousand.
i.e., if you are working from home and these are included in the Household bills, please leave a comment on the Comments box at the end of the questionnaire.
Section D, Questions 5 and 6: Purchases of Services
Collects information regarding your business expenditure on services. This would include all services you have used to run your business daily. This would also include sub-contractors, or any outsourced services.
Section E, Questions 7 and 8: Purchases of Goods, Materials and Related Services
This section relates to all company purchases of goods for the whole period. At the end of each Section, there are blank boxes for any additional codes. Should you require any further boxes, please enter the codes, values and explanations in the Comments box at the end of the questionnaire.
Section F: Summary of Purchases and Comments Box
Include any significant differences resulting in an impact on the data returned, also any changes in the accounting approaches you have taken.
i.e. change of accounting standards such as IFRS.
Further information to help you complete the survey
Should you require any help regarding Standard Industrial Codes (SIC) codes, a full list of SIC codes are available on the Companies House website: Nature of business: Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes
PDF versions of the questionnaire are also available should this be easier for your completion. This is available on the Request a business survey form - Office for National Statistics