Adoption of Hawker Sales Rule (Nov. 2004)

Effective January 1, 2005, the board voted to adopt Rule C 5.25 Hawker (Street) Sales requiring that newspapers electing to claim, as paid circulation, copies of newspapers sold through hawkers, maintain a reporting environment that will accurately determine sales from hawkers and support an ABC audit. Records supporting hawker sales include, but are not limited to: contemporaneous daily records by hawker location, identifying draw, returns, selling times, compensation and cash collections.

In reporting copies of newspapers sold through street salespersons (hawkers), it will be necessary that the publisher install and maintain records capable of being audited in accord with Bureau practices. These records and the system in which they report must be capable of providing a reporting environment which will accurately determine sales from hawkers.

Data which would enhance the reporting environment include, but are not limited to, contemporaneous daily records by hawker, by location, identifying draw, returns, selling times, hawker compensation and cash collections. Records should also be available outlining credit and compensation policies for independent distributors involved with hawker distribution.

The nature, timing and extent of audit procedures to be applied to claimed circulation for hawkers will be based on an assessment of the control environment, structure and reporting, historical results and other relevant conditions. From time to time, certain conditions may exist that could necessitate expansion of the audit program. This expansion may include extensive testing and/or direct hawker sales observations. These conditions include, but are not limited to, distributor and hawker pricing structure, sales incentives, return policies and the condition of the records involved. The conditions above would be reviewed by Bureau auditors in order to determine the appropriate audit procedures to be applied.

Posted 12/01/2004