The Business Enterprise Research and Development Survey (BERD) is conducted jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Science Foundation's National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES). The survey is divided into eight sections. Each section asks questions about different aspects of Research and Development (R&D) at your company. Due to the specialized nature of each section, it may be necessary to collaborate with colleagues in different departments to answer the questions.

To report online:

1. Sign-in or Register at https://portal.census.gov
2. Add your authentication code.
3. Report by clicking on “REPORT NOW.”  You can return to your account over multiple sessions to complete.
4. For assistance completing this survey, please sign-in to your Census Bureau account at https://portal.census.gov and send us a secure message or call the customer help line at 1-800-416-3262, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time.
5. Please visit How Do I Get Started? for additional information.
6. Please visit How-To Video for information on Signing into the Respondent portal, via your Census Bureau account.
7. For survey specific information, please visit our FAQs.

Question by Question Guidance

The following Excel files are designed to help companies with decentralized record keeping systems collect information related to specific sections of the BERD Survey.

This spreadsheet uses a visual basic macro to consolidate data from multiple workbooks. It is designed to be used by companies that have more than one completed section workbook for any survey section. In order for the consolidator to work properly, you must allow macros to run when opening this file. Further instructions are listed in the "FileInput" sheet of this file.

NOTE: This consolidator does not check for errors or illogical values. We suggest you check the resulting consolidated figures carefully to verify that the results are correct.

YOUR RESPONSE IS REQUIRED BY LAW. Title 13, United States Code, Sections 8(b), 131, and 182, Title 42, United States Code, Sections 1861-76 (National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended), and Section 505 within the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 authorize this collection. Sections 224 and 225 of Title 13 require your response. The U.S. Census Bureau is required by Section 9 of Title 13 to keep your information CONFIDENTIAL and can use your responses only to produce statistics. The Census Bureau is not permitted to publicly release your responses in a way that could identify your business, organization, or institution. Per the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015, your data are protected from cybersecurity risks through screening of the systems that transmit your data.

Title 13, United States Code, Section 9, requires the Census Bureau to keep your information CONFIDENTIAL and can use your responses only to produce statistics.  The Census Bureau is not permitted to publicly release your responses in a way that could identify your business, organization, or institution.  Per the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015, your data are protected from cybersecurity risks through screening of the systems that transmit your data.

Below are a few common items you can use to verify the legitimacy of this survey:

1. Ensure the Web address provided in the letter is a "census.gov" domain.
2. Correspondence sent in the form of a letter or email will contain reporting instructions and a phone number for survey assistance. Any email correspondence related to this survey will come from a census.gov address.
3. On the sign-in screen, a warning message should be present stating the respondent is accessing a U.S. Government computer.
4. Additionally, the upper right corner on all screens should display the OMB eight-digit number and expiration date. This number indicates that the OMB has approved the survey and has confirmed there is a need to collect the information.
5. The bottom of the sign-in screen should have a link for the “Burden Statement” which also contains the OMB eight-digit number.