Indispensable to

Achieving Prosperity
in Our Industry

Timely, reliable
industry data
that will help
you monitor
key performance
areas such as:
Return on equity
Gross margin
Gross margin per employee
Gross margin on net sales
Payroll expense to gross
margin
Cost of goods sold to average

FROM THE AMERICAN SUPPLY ASSOCIATION

2012 Edition

Operating Performance Report

Understanding financial ratios and the impact of this type of analysis
could mean the difference between simply operating your business
or excelling in your industry.

What is the OPR?

The OPERATING PERFORMANCE REPORT represents the most complete, accurate and
up-to-date comparative financial performance information available anywhere for the
PHCP/PVF wholesaling industries. This study is designed to serve as a customized,
easy-to-understand, actionable tool for you to evaluate your companys operating results,
identify profit leaks and measure employees productivity.

Whats in it for you?

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PROFILE: Submit your completed survey by April 30, 2012 and receive a quick
turnaround summary prole for an early glimpse at your companys performance.
COMPANY PERFORMANCE REPORT CPR: This customized report contains specic nancial information
about your company so you can compare your companys performance against industry averages and more.

Included ONLY for participating ASA members.

PROFIT/BUDGETING TOOL KIT: Along with the Company Performance Report, this easy-to-use, Excel-based

tool will help you gauge the impact of changes in your own rm in the areas of sales, gross margin, expense, inventory,
and receivables as compared to your 2011 numbers. Included ONLY for participating ASA members.

PARTICIPATION
DEADLINES
TO RECEIVE AN
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY PROFILE

APRIL 30
for an early glimpse at
your companys performance

OTHERWISE

JUNE 4

THE OPERATING PERFORMANCE REPORT OPR: The full, detailed report with information compiled

from hundreds of participating distributors to show overall, industry performance.

Participants receive an $80 discount on the Confidential Business Valuation that helps to
determine the market value of your company. This discount is in addition to the $250 savings for ASA members.
Additional information enclosed.

What does it cost?

The participation cost for ASA members is $249 per company / $599 for non-members.

Its easy to participate!

1 TO DOWNLOAD THE QUESTIONNAIRE FORM, VISIT

https://www.iisecure.com/2012ASAOperatingSurvey.pdf
or call 630.467.0000

2 Complete the confidential questionnaire form

Send to Industry Insights, Inc. via mail or fax to the address

The ASA Operating Performance

Report is provided by Industry
Insights, Inc. a management
consulting firm. ASA, its officers,
directors or staff assume no liability
for the accuracy or interpretation
of the information provided by
this service. All surveys are kept
confidential by Industry Insights, Inc..

3 or number indicated on the form.

HEADQUARTERS
American Supply Association
1200 N. Arlington Heights Rd.
Suite 150
Itasca, IL 60143

tel: 630.467.0000
fax: 630.467.0001
web: asa.net
e-mail: info@asa.net

CONFIDENTIAL
AMERICAN SUPPLY ASSOCIATION
2012 ANNUAL OPERATING PERFORMANCE SURVEY
(Based on 2011 Financial Results)
This 2012 ASA Operating Performance Report (OPR) survey
(of 2011 financial results) promises to be the most timely and
comprehensive profile of industry performance results ever
published. By filling out as much information as possible, you
will be assured of receiving a detailed, CONFIDENTIAL
Company Performance Report analysis of your own business.
This 20 plus page, personalized profile will show your results
next to industry benchmarks for gauging strengths and
weaknesses, and improvement opportunities. In addition, ASA
member participants will also receive a confidential OPR
Financial Insights Tool on an interactive CD that is pre-loaded
with your firms figures and allows you to easily assess various
what-if profit improvement scenarios.
This invaluable managerial tool, which is only available to ASA
members, is nowhere else available, and would cost hundreds
of dollars to have independently prepared for your business.

Enter figures from your completed year that ended

nearest to December 31, 2011. While full year data is
required, you do not need to wait for
audited/adjusted results from your accountant.

Please report round numbers only; show dollar figures

without pennies.

Please report on the basis of your total firm rather than

for individual branches.

Refer to the accompanying Description of Operating

Expense Categories for help in filling out lines 4
through 10.

If you need help, call Tom Noon of Industry Insights at

614/389-2100 ext. 107 (or email: tnoon@indins.com);
or, if you prefer, fill out what you can and forward your
financial statements to Industry Insights. We will fill out
the rest of the form for you to the extent possible.

All responses will be kept in strictest confidence by

Industry Insights, Inc.

Use the enclosed, self-addressed envelope to return

this confidential form to:

GENERAL INFORMATION

This confidential questionnaire is designed to require a

minimum of effort on your part. For your convenience,
you have the option of filling out this entire form, or only
the first and last pages. Please keep in mind, however,
the more information you provide, the more you will get
back about your company.
If you cannot fill out every line, just do what you
can. It is OK to leave blanks.

Industry Insights, Inc.

PO Box 4330
Dublin, OH 43016
Or, if you prefer, FAX or email your results to Tom Noon of
Industry Insights at:
614/389-3816; tnoon@indins.com

Early Response Deadline: April 30, 2012

(to receive a quick turnaround "Executive Summary Profile" of your business)

Final Response Deadline:

June 4, 2012
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CONFIDENTIAL
AMERICAN SUPPLY ASSOCIATION
2012 ANNUAL OPERATING PERFORMANCE SURVEY
(Based on 2011 Financial Results)
Line #
1
2

AMOUNT IN $
(omit cents)

INCOME STATEMENT ITEMS

Net Sales (Include direct shipments. Deduct claims, returns & allowances but not cash discounts
allowed on sales. Exclude sales taxes.)
Cost of Goods Sold (Include inbound transportation costs. Subtract purchase claims, returns and
allowances but not cash discounts and/or vendor rebates on purchases) (FIFO basis)*.

10

11

Gross Profit on Sales (Line 1 minus Line 2) (FIFO Basis)

12

Selling Expenses (refer to definition sheet)

13

Delivery Expenses (refer to definition sheet)

14

Warehouse Expenses (refer to definition sheet)

15

General & Administrative Expenses (refer to definition sheet)

16

Occupancy Expenses (refer to definition sheet)

17

Other Operating Expense (refer to definition sheet)

18

10

Total Operating Expenses (Sum of Lines 4 through 9)***

19

11

Net Operating Profit (Line 3 minus Line 10) (FIFO)

20

12

Non-Operating Income (Include cash discounts and/or all vendor rebates on purchases, rental income,
profits on the sale of fixed assets, dividend income, commissions earned, interest earned and other
income items not directly related to the primary operations of the business)
Non-Operating Expenses (Include cash discounts allowed on sales, interest paid, losses on sales of
fixed assets, and other non-operating expenses or losses not already included above)

14

Net Profit Before Taxes (Line 11 plus Line 12 minus Line 13) (FIFO)

23

15

Income Tax (Federal, State & City) (Optional; final audited/adjusted year-end figures are not necessary)

24

16

Net Profit After Income Taxes (Line 14 minus Line 15) (FIFO) (Optional)

13

Line #
17

21

22

25

AMOUNT IN $
(omit cents)

BALANCE SHEET ITEMS

Cash (Include savings accounts, CDs & other temporary investments)

26

18

Accounts & Notes Receivable, Trade (Net)

27

19

Inventory (FIFO Basis)

28

20

Other Current Assets (Such as prepaid items, supplies, etc.)

29

21

Total Current Assets (Sum of Lines 17 through 20)

30

22

All Other Assets (Any Assets not included above)

31

23

Total Assets (Sum of Lines 21 and 22) (Equal to Line 28) (FIFO)

32

24

Total Current Liabilities (Due in less than 1 year)

33

25

Total Long-Term Liabilities (Due in more than 1 year)

34

26

Total Liabilities (Sum of Lines 24 and 25)

35

27

Total Net Worth (or Owner's Equity) (FIFO)**

36

28

Total Liabilities & Net Worth (Sum of Lines 26 and 27) (Equal to Line 23)

37

* If on LIFO, subtract your "Annual Additions to your LIFO reserves" from your cost of goods sold to obtain FIFO cost of goods sold.
** If on LIFO, add your total LIFO reserve to your book net worth to get your FIFO net worth.
*** If you are a Subchapter S Corporation or a partnership, allocate an appropriate management salary for Owner-Managers to the applicable operating expense category(s) and to total
operating expense. This would be an amount similar to what would have to be paid to a non-equity owning manager or managers. Doing this will assure that your numbers will be
comparable to corporations paying separate management salaries.
1201/tn

Line #
29
30
31
32
Line #
33
34
35
36
37
38
Line #
39
40
41

42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52a

AMOUNT IN $
(omit cents)

COMPENSATION DATA

Total Payroll Expenses (Include salaries, bonuses and commissions paid to all employees, including
owners; exclude fringe benefits and payroll taxes)
Total of Fringe Benefit Payments and Payroll Taxes (Include Company pension and profit sharing payments plus
FICA, Workman's Compensation, Unemployment, Group Insurance, etc., for all employees, including owners)
Gross Income of the Highest Paid Employee, Including Owners (refer to the person's W-2 statement gross
income - as from salaries, commissions and bonuses, but excluding fringe benefits and payroll taxes.)
Gross Income (as above) of the Second Highest Paid Employee (Including Owners)

Dollar Amount of Direct (Drop) Shipment Sales

Dollar Amount of Warehouse Sales (Counter & Delivery)
Total Sales (Sum of Lines 33 and 34) (Equal to Line 1)
Dollar Amount of Gross Profit on Direct (Drop) Shipments
Dollar Amount of Gross Profit on Warehouse Sales (Report on FIFO Basis)
Total FIFO Gross Profit (Sum of Lines 36 and 37) (Equal to Line 3)

41

42
45
46
47
48
49

AMOUNT IN $
(omit cents)

ADDITIONAL DATA
Previous Year's Net Sales
Previous Year's Ending Inventory (FIFO Basis)
Average Number of Employees During 2011 (Include all management personnel and all other employees.
Convert part-time employees into full-time equivalents depending upon how much they worked relative to
full-time employees. For example, two half-time employees each working twelve months would be counted
as one employee. For calculation of full-time equivalent, assume 2080 hours for the year is one FTE)
Percent of Total 2011 Sales that were made for Cash (estimate if necessary)
Were you on a LIFO Inventory valuation system during 2011?
Total Number of Customer Invoices During the Year (optional)
Annual # of Billing Lines on Customer Invoices (optional)
Interest Paid in 2011 (also include this amount on Line 13)
Percent of Warehouse Sales coming from Non-Stock Items (optional)
Total 2011 Depreciation Expense
Average Accounts Payable (i.e., an average based on the end of each quarter or month)
Amount of Year-End Profits Retained in the Business After Any Dividends or Profit Sharing Payouts
Dollar Amount of Bad Debt Expense
Total Dollar Amounts of All Vendor Rebates (including cash rebates as well as credits; estimate if necessary)

Total Dollar Amount spent on Employee Training (i.e., seminar or tuition costs, related travel, etc.)

54
55
56

Total Training Hours per Employee

Total number of SKUs (i.e., stock keeping units, or items stocked)
What was your firms 2011 same store sales increase or decrease (i.e., exclusive of mergers,
acquisitions, new locations, etc.)?
What was your 2011 customer returns (on stock items) as a % of sales?
Total Number of Branches

1201/tn

40

$
$
$
$
$
$

53

59
60
61
62
63

39

AMOUNT IN $
(omit cents)

Do you capitalize the portion of vendor rebates that will not be collected until next year (i.e., put this
amount into inventory or other current assets)?

Line #

WAREHOUSE AND DIRECT SALES DATA

52b

57
58

38

DETAIL OF ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE (YEAR END)

Current (0-30 Days Outstanding)
31 - 60 Days Outstanding
61 - 90 Days Outstanding
Over 90 Days Outstanding
Total Accounts Receivable (Sum of Lines 59 thru 62)

$
$

50
51
52

#
Yes
#
#
$

53
54
55
56
57

%
$
$
$
$
$

87
85
93
95
96
97

Yes

No

133
98

hrs.
#

125
99
100

%
%
#

58
59
60
61
63

124
127

AMOUNT IN $
(omit cents)

NUMBER OF INVOICES
#
#
#
#
#

%
No

$
$
$
$
$

64
65
66
67
69

CLASSIFICATION DATA
Ending month upon which fiscal year data is based:

Month

Number of locations (including headquarters) which are included in the data reflected on this survey form.

(1)
(2)

Product Sales Mix: Please indicate the percentage of your total company sales accounted for by each type of
product (estimate if necessary).
(4)
Plumbing Supplies & Equipment, Including Plumbing Pipe, Valves & Fittings
(5)
Hydronic & Warm Air Heating & Air Conditioning Supplies & Equipment
(6)
PVF ( Pipe, Valves & Fittings)
(7)
Other Supplies & Equipment
(8)
Other (please specify)
(9) 100% Total

SPECIAL OPTION
INDIVIDUAL COMPANY PERFORMANCE REPORT INDUSTRY GROUP COMPARISON PREFERENCES
If you prefer to specifically designate which industry segments to be included as comparatives in your own firm's individual company performance
report (rather than having the computer automatically make the determination), please do so by checking up to 6 boxes from the following groups.
Your firm's report will then include the industry comparatives for each box checked.
101 Plumbing Supply Firms--All Reporting Firms
112 Plumbing & P-V-F Firms--All Reporting Firms
102 Plumbing Supply Firms--Sales Under $15 Million
113 Plumbing & P-V-F Firms--Sales Under $35 Million
103 Plumbing Supply Firms--Sales $15-$25 Million
115 Plumbing & P-V-F Firms--Sales Over $35 Million
104 Plumbing Supply Firms--Sales $25-$50 Million
116 Plumbing & P-V-F Firms--High Profit Firms
105 Plumbing Supply Firms--Sales Over $50 Million
106 Plumbing Supply Firms--High Profit Firms
117 HVAC Firms--All Reporting Firms
118 HVAC Firms--Sales Under $25 Million
107 P-V-F Firms--All Reporting Firm
120 HVAC Firms--Sales Over $25 Million
108 P-V-F Firms--Sales Under $35 Million
121 HVAC Firms--High Profit Firms
110 P-V-F Firms--Sales Over $35 Million
122 All Reporting Firms
111 P-V-F Firms--High Profit Firms
123 Large Volume Firms (those with sales volume of $100 million & over)
SHOWROOMS (If applicable)
(Note: For purposes of this survey, a "showroom" is an area of at least 500 square feet which is set aside to show bathroom products
and
other related displays. Counter sales area should not be considered as part of your showroom.)
If you have showroom(s), how many showrooms do you have that:
90

#___________Sell wholesale only

91

#____________Sell retail only

92

#_____________Sell both wholesale and retail together

Please report how many of your showrooms are: #__________ freestanding; #__________ part of distribution facilities.
131

132

Showroom sales as a % of total net sales (estimate if necessary) _____________% 128

Average Number of Showroom Employees (in full-time equivalents) #_____________ 129

Do you track profit and loss information for showrooms separately from that of wholesale operations?

130

Yes

No

Indicate below to whom any questions regarding this form should be directed and to whom the final report should be sent.
Company Name
Phone #_____________________________ FAX # __________________________
Street Address________________________________________City_____________________________State__________ZIP _________________
Person to contact with questions about data________________________________________ e-mail address: ______________________________
Person to whom report should be sent (if different than above)
e-mail address: _______________________________
To what buying group, if any, does your firm belong?
(name of group) 80
Do you wish to have the final industry-wide report sent to you electronically?

126

Yes

No

If Yes, email address required: ________________________________________ _______________________________________________

In the future, would you prefer to complete and submit the survey online?

134

Yes

No

Participation fee: Please enclose your check, PAYABLE TO ASA, in the amount of $249 for members ($599 for non-members). Illinois residents include 8.75% sales tax.
Amount paid_________ check #________ date_______
or, credit card # (VISA/MC/AMEX) _________________________________________ Exp. Date_________ ID/Security Code_______
Billing contact___________________________ Billing address/city/state/zip____________________________________________________ Charge will appear from ASA.
Send to: Industry Insights, Inc., PO Box 4330, Dublin, OH 43016.
1201/tn

DESCRIPTION OF OPERATING
EXPENSE CATEGORIES
Selling Expenses

General Administrative Expenses

Selling executive salaries, commissions and bonuses; outside

and inside salespeople salaries, commissions and bonuses;
other selling personnel (clerical, secretarial and order
takers) salaries, bonuses and wages; selling personnel fringe
benefits (life insurance; hospitalization; other employee
insurance; social security taxes; unemployment taxes;
pension trust contributions; profit-sharing trust contributions;
other employee welfare; officer's life insurance).

Executive salaries and bonuses; supervisor salaries and

bonuses; other salaries and bonuses (including
buyers/purchasing employees as well as data processing
employees); general and administrative personnel fringe
benefits (life insurance; hospitalization; other employee
insurance; social security taxes; unemployment taxes;
pension trust contributions; profit-sharing trust contributions;
other employee welfare; officer's life insurance).

Selling related: supplies; stationery; printing; automobile

expense; travel and entertainment; dues and memberships;
conventions and meetings; education and training;
advertising; promotions; brochures; catalogs; showrooms;
merchandise shows; miscellaneous.

General and administrative related expenses (including

purchasing and data processing expenses): supplies;
stationery and printing; towel and uniform services;
telephone; insurance (property, automotive, etc.); license,
equipment and automobile rental; furniture and fixtures
depreciation; automobile expense; data processing supplies
and expenses; rental of data processing equipment; any
data processing service fees; bank card fees; education and
training; executive travel and entertainment; employment
advertising; collection expense; cash over or short;
donations; accounting services; legal services; other services;
directors fees; miscellaneous. Also includes bad debts
written off.

Delivery Expense
Delivery supervisor(s) salaries and bonuses; other delivery
personnel (clerical, secretarial, drivers) salaries, bonuses and
wages; delivery personnel fringe benefits (life insurance;
hospitalization; other employee insurance; social security
taxes; unemployment taxes; pension trust contributions;
profit-sharing trust contributions; other employee welfare).

Occupancy Expenses
Delivery related: supplies; gas and oil; tires; other
automotive supplies; towel and uniform services; trucks,
automobiles and other equipment repairs and maintenance;
insurance (automobiles and trucks); licenses; equipment
rental; trucks, automobiles and other equipment
depreciation; dues and memberships; education and
training; travel and entertainment; delivery services
(cartage, freight, express); miscellaneous.
Warehouse Expenses
Warehouse supervisor salaries and bonuses; other
warehouse personnel (clerical, secretarial, laborers, and
other) salaries, bonuses and wages; warehouse personnel
fringe benefits (life insurance; hospitalization; other
employee insurance; social security taxes; unemployment
taxes; pension trust contributions; profit-sharing trust
contributions; other employee welfare).
Warehouse related: supplies; towel and uniform services;
equipment repairs and maintenance; insurance (inventory);
equipment rental and depreciation; education and training;
travel and entertainment; miscellaneous.

Facilities management supervisor salaries and bonuses;

janitor and maintenance personnel wages; occupancy
personnel fringe benefits (life insurance; hospitalization;
other employee insurance; social security taxes;
unemployment taxes; pension trust contributions, profitsharing trust contributions; other employee welfare).
Janitor and maintenance supplies; building equipment
repairs and maintenance; janitor services; building and
building equipment insurance; real estate taxes; rent (if
applicable); building equipment rental; utilities (power, light,
water, heat); buildings and building equipment depreciation
(if applicable); miscellaneous.
Other Operating Expenses
All operating expenses not specified above.