ACC 498: Financial Statement Analysis: Other databases and resources

Industry codes are used to identify and organize industry and industry sectors. A variety of systems are used, but some of the most common are listed here.

Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) - system classifies business establishments by their primary type of activity with each SIC code representing a different industry. A company may have more than one SIC code, depending on the diversity of its business activities. SIC codes may be searched at http://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/sicsearch.html by code or keyword.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) - is used in the United States, Mexico and Canada.  This system is replacing the SIC codes, but sources may still use SIC codes, either in combination with NAICS codes or alone.  Search by keyword, NAICS code or SIC code at https://www.census.gov/naics/

Additionally, you can find data compiled by the Census including business and industry sectors at  http://www.census.gov/econ/

Another resource for company and stock information is the SEC. www.sec.gov and EDGAR.

The SEC’s EDGAR database provides free public access to corporate information, allowing you to quickly research a company’s financial information and operations by reviewing registration statements, prospectuses and periodic reports filed on Forms 10-K and 10-Q. You also can find information about recent corporate events reported on Form 8-K but that a company does not have to disclose to investors.

EDGAR also provides access to comment and response letters relating to disclosure filings (made after August 1, 2004), and reviewed by either the Division of Corporation Finance or the Division of Investment Management.