The 1992 Census of Wholesale Trade, part of the 1992 Economic Census, covered wholesale trade as defined in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual: 1987 (SIC). It included all establishments with one or more paid employees primarily engaged in selling merchandise to retailers; other wholesalers; or industrial, commercial, institutional, farm, or professional users. Companies selling products to which they have title, as well as those acting as agents or brokers in buying or selling merchandise to others, are included. The census excluded governmental organizations classified in the covered industries except for wholesale liquor establishments operated by State and local governments. The basic tabulations in this report do not include data for establishments which are "auxiliary" (primary function is providing a service, such as warehouses) to other establishments within the same organization. Data for auxiliaries are presented in a subsequent report issued as part of the 1992 Enterprise Statistics reports. Wholesale firms without employees are excluded from the census. In the census of retail trade, the sales of firms with no paid employees are derived from administrative records of other Federal agencies rather than from a direct canvass. These sources proved impractical for wholesale firms without paid employees. In the census of wholesale trade, the sales value is the gross volume of business conducted. Firms which operated wholly or partly on a commission basis must provide both the gross volume of business conducted and commission receipts on census forms. Agents and brokers do not report to other Federal agencies the gross selling value of goods. Moreover, administrative records make no distinction between commission receipts and sales of products by wholesalers.