The Banco de Portugal is publishing  number seven of its Booklets aiming at providing simple and accessible information on the Central Balance-Sheet Database (CSDB), namely on its objectives, its contents, how it works and how to access it. 

The CBSD is an economic and financial database built on a representative sample of Portuguese non-financial corporations. Information is based on accounting data for each company on a non-consolidated basis.

The main objective of the CBSD is to increase understanding of the economic and financial situation of Portuguese non-financial corporations. The CBSD provides the reporting companies with useful data for management and for an understanding of their positioning within their sector of economic activity. The CBSD also provides the Banco de Portugal with relevant data for its own remit, particularly in terms of statistics, economic analysis and financial stability. 

All data on the corporations in the CBSD are confidential. Only aggregate data are published on the CBSD page on the Banco de Portugal website. The CBSD also produces internationally comparable statistical aggregates for two databases: the BACH database (Bank for the Accounts of Companies Harmonised) and the European Sectoral References database. Access to these databases is possible from the CBSD page on the Banco de Portugal website.

The CBSD contains annual and quarterly data, usually obtained from responses to two surveys: (i) the annual CBSD survey; and (ii) the quarterly survey of non-financial corporations in co-operation with the National Statistical Institute (INE). Selection of non-financial corporations to be part of the annual and the quarterly surveys is made annually. However, any non-financial corporation can request to be included in the CBSD. All that is needed is to reply to the questionnaire on the CBSD page on the Banco de Portugal website.

In return for their co-operation on the annual survey, reporting companies receive information in the form of tables, a Summary Table containing economic and financial data relating to them and a Sectoral Situation Table with data on the sector and the size classification to which they belong.

On average, the CBSD collates annual data for approximately 17 thousand companies, from which normally around 15 thousand reported information also for the previous year. In terms of quarterly data, the CBSD covers approximately 3,200 companies per year, from which normally around 2 thousand reported information also for the previous year.

The  booklet is organised in a Question and Answer format and includes five chapters: 

• definition and objectives of the CBSD; 
• participating companies; 
• data processing and aggregation; 
• dissemination of data; 
• and changes envisaged in the processing, aggregation and dissemination of data. 

It also provides additional information on the origin and development of the CBSD, the legal and regulatory framework, communication channels and places where the CBSD office is located.