Glossary of audit related terms

A free subscription that may be canceled at the whim of the publisher.

A subscription with a nonzero price that may or may not have been paid for yet. This definition of the word "paid" conflicts with its usage for non-audited publications, where it means a subscription for which the publisher has already received payment.

A person that fits the definition of the field served by the publication. The publisher usually defines the field served with an eye to maximizing advertising revenue. However, the definition must stay within the limits prescribed by the audit bureau. For example, you cannot claim that your publication serves "all" buyers of gears and sprockets. You can only say that your publication is sent to buyers of gears and sprockets and you must back up that claim by asking prospective subscribers whether they buy or intend to buy gears and sprockets.

The qualification date is used to determine the age of qualified subscribers for the Publisher's Statement. In general, only subscribers that have qualified within three years may be included in the qualified circulation.

On the publication definition screen you can set up the publication so that qualification data is not required in order for subscriptions to be classified as qualified.  In that case the qualification date will be the date of the qualification data or the date of the most recent paid order, which ever is more recent. (Click here for more details on the audit tab of the publication definition screen.)

A subscription that has more than one copy being delivered to one person who will redistribute them to other unidentified persons.  For some audit bureaus these subscriptions are known as "Multi-copy, same addressee".

Paid multi-copy subscriptions that are purchased to promote the professional or business interests of the purchaser. According to ABC, "Qualified purchasers of sponsored sales shall be defined as businesses or individuals having a consumer presence. Third party subscription selling organizations or other vendors to the publication circulation industry shall not be recognized as qualified sponsored purchasers."  Multi-copy individually addressed subscriptions that are purchased by an employer for their own employees should be classified as single subscriptions.

For ABC and BPA, in order to be included in the qualified circulation, a subscriber must receive at least six months of continuous service. A person that is added to the subscriber list just before the audit issue and then dropped immediately afterward must be counted as a rotated (noncontinuous) subscriber. Similarly, if you let a subscription expire, then return it to the active list two months later so that one or two issues are missed, the auditor may classify the subscription as rotated (noncontinuous). The QuickFill Audit System does not support noncontinuous audits.

Verified circulation is a class of circulation used by ABC audited consumer magazines. "Verified Individual Use" subscriptions are free subscriptions that are mailed to individual subscribers based on their desirable demographics. "Verified Public Place" copies are distributed in bulk to hotel rooms, doctor's waiting rooms and other similar locations. QuickFill fully supports ABC audited magazines with verified circulation.

Every subscription to an audited publication must be classified under one of the categories shown in the table below. The table lists the code used to classify the subscription in QuickFill together with the corresponding terminology used by each of the audit bureaus.:

 

Code

Description

BPA

ABC Business

ABC Magazine

VAC

NPI
(was NPS)

Non-paid individual

Non-paid individual

Non-paid individual

Reported as VI if request type is personal direct, otherwise reported as NPL

Non-paid individual requester

NPL

Non-paid list source

Reported as NPI

Reported as NPI

Analyzed non-paid list source

Reported as NPA

NPB

Non-paid bulk

Non-paid multi-copy same addressee

Non-paid multi-copy same addressee

Analyzed non-paid bulk

Non-paid bulk

NPA

Non-paid association

Reported as NPM

Non-paid association

Reported as NPL

Non-paid association, group, directory

NPM

Non-paid membership benefit

Non-paid membership benefit

Reported as NPA

Reported as NPL

Reported as NPA

NPR

Qualified non-paid rotated

Reported as NQO

Reported as NQO

Analyzed non-paid market coverage

Non-paid rotated

PI
(was QPS)

Qualified paid single

Qualified paid individual

Qualified paid individual

Paid individual subscription

Paid individual subscription

PC

Paid combination

Reported as PI

Reported as PI

Paid combination subscription

Reported as PI

PS
(was QPG)

Paid sponsored

Sponsored individually addressed

Sponsored individually addressed

Sponsored sales

Reported as PI

PA
(was QPA)

Paid association

Reported as PM

Paid association

Paid association deductible

Paid association, group, directory

PAN

Paid association non-deductible

Reported as PM

Reported as PA

Paid association non-deductible

Reported as PA

PM

Paid club membership

Paid membership benefit

Reported as PA

Paid club membership

Reported as PA

PMN

Paid club membership non-deductible

Reported as PM

Reported as PA

Paid club membership non-deductible

Reported as PA

PB
(was QPB)

Paid bulk

Paid multi-copy same addressee

Paid multi-copy same addressee

Reported as PS

Paid bulk

PD

Paid deferred

Reported as PI

Reported as PI

Paid deferred

Reported as PI

PL

Paid loyalty

Reported as PI

Reported as PI

Paid loyalty

Reported as PI

PP

Paid partnership

Reported as PI

Reported as PI

Paid partnership

Reported as PI

PPN

Paid partnership non-deductible

Reported as PI

Reported as PI

Paid partnership non-deductible

Reported as PI

VI

Verified individual

Reported as NPI

Reported as NPI

Verified individual use

Reported as NPI

VPP

Verified public place

Reported as NPB

Reported as NPB

Verified public place

Reported as NPB

NQA

Non-qualified advertiser

Non-qualified advertiser and agency

Non-qualified advertiser or agency

not reported

Non-qualified advertisers, agencies

NQP

Non-qualified paid

Non-qualified paid

Non-qualified paid

not reported

Reported as NQO

NQR

Non-qualified rotated

Non-qualified rotated or occasional

Non-qualified non-continuous market coverage

not reported

Reported as NQO

NQS

Non-qualified samples

Non-qualified trade shows, conventions

Non-qualified trade shows, conventions

not reported

Non-qualified trade shows, conventions

NQO

Non-qualified other

Non-qualified other

Non-qualified miscellaneous

not reported

 

Non-qualified sales, file, other

 

The means by which you receive the request for a subscription or the information source you use to determine that the person is qualified. These include:

 

Code

Description

PDW

Personal direct written

PDT

Personal direct telecommunication

PDI

Personal direct Internet or email

CDW

Company direct written

CDT

Company direct telecommunication

CDI

Company direct Internet or email

MI

Membership individual

MO

Membership organization

NRW

Non-request written

NRT

Non-request telecommunications

NRI

Non-request Internet or email

AR

Association roster

BD

Business directory

FR

Field reports

LIC

Licensees

LIS

Lists

OTH

Other sources

 

The following codes are only for subscriptions that are classified as "Verified Public Place".

DHC

Doctor/health care providers

PCS

Personal care salons

FRF

Fitness/recreational facilities

EDL

Education/learning facilities

BPR

Business/professional services

AUT

Automotive outlets

TRA

Transportation outlets

GOV

Government/civil services

HTL

Hotels/lodges

SPR

Specialty locations/retail

IRH

In-room hotel/lodging

OPP

Other public place

 

The following codes are only for subscriptions that are classified as "Verified Individual Use".

CRD

Card holders

CHD

Charitable donors

CLM

Club members

CON

Contest entrants

EDU

Educators

EVP

Event participants

EXE

Executives

INR

Individually requested

LCH

License holders

MBY

Merchandise buyers

ORM

Organization members

PPR

Partnership program

PRO

Professionals

SUB

Publication subscribers

PDB

Public database members

SPH

Season pass holders

SBY

Service buyers

SRE

Survey respondents

TKB

Ticket buyers

WRE

Warrantee registrants

OIU

Other individual use

 

See Also