DATABASES

BACH is a database containing harmonized annual accounts statistics of non-financial enterprises from nine European countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain).

The BACH database was set up in 1987 by the ECCBSO in cooperation with the European Commission, in order to compensate the lack of a database allowing inter-country comparisons. Hence, the database was conceived as a useful tool to analyze the structure and performances of the non-financial companies in the selected countries, exploiting the statistical records from the national bodies which collect annual account data.

The BACH database provides harmonized annual accounts statistics for:

• nine European countries


• at least 10 financial years (from 2000 onwards)


• the 95 major harmonized items of the balance sheet (expressed in percentage of the balance sheet total), of the profit and loss account and of the notes (expressed in percentage of the turnover)


• the business sectors corresponding to the NACE rev. 2 (last version of the Statistical European Classification of Economic Activities) broken down into divisions (2 digits)


• three different size types (defined according to the turnover)


• either for a variable sample (as much companies’ accounts as possible each year) or for a sliding sample over two years (the same companies’ accounts over the two years).

During the last decades, significant improvements were made in the BACH database. The revised database provides aggregated data based on the most recent sectoral classifications (NACE Rev. 2). Moreover it also contains coverage rates as well as comprehensive and harmonized descriptions of the national datasets.

The BACH-ESD database contains financial ratios for non-financial incorporated European companies and provides sectoral benchmarks to compare the financial performances of single firms with their respective sectoral and size aggregates.

The primary aim of the database is to provide consistent and comprehensive figures for the credit risk analysis of the credit and financial institutions.

Currently, the benchmark statistic includes 28 ratios for Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

The ratios are shown in quartiles as these statistical measures are quite robust with regard to values of very large corporation and other extreme values are included in the sample.

The ratios are differentiated by NACE rev.2 code (up to two digit level in the public version) and firm sizes.