Non-Financial Corporations are all commercial companies except those providing financial services. Most companies in Ireland are in this sector, and they do everything including farming, manufacturing, trading, renting, publishing, caring and gambling. Non-Financial Corporations create most of the Output, Value Added and employment in the economy.
Non-Financial Corporations are for-profit entities, that is market entities. For example, charities providing accommodation for the homeless below market prices are Non-Profit Institutions Serving Households, while hostels and hotels that are providing a similar service at market prices are Non-Financial Corporations. Airlines are privately owned and commercial and are in this Non-Financial sector. Irish Rail (Iarnród Éireann) provides transport services but it is in the Government Institutional Sector because it is controlled by government and is not commercial.
Some commercial profit-making entities are owned by Government, for example, the ESB. These are Public Non-Financial Corporations if they are market entities controlled by Government. See also the Public Sector for more information.
Corporations are independent legal entities. They are usually established in Ireland at the Companies Registration Office. A self-employed taxi driver who is operating for profit, but has not set up a company is in the Household sector because their transport service is not a separate legal entity from their household. There are also 'quasi-corporations' which are like corporations and so are in this sector. A branch of a foreign company that operates in Ireland without establishing a legal entity here is a quasi-corporation. A large partnership that operates like a company while not being formally set up as one is also a quasi-corporation.
When corporations get very large they are often split up into many different corporations that form a group. In National Accounts, each company in the group is treated separately. This means that if, for example, a group of companies in the food production business has a treasury arm that manages its debts and Financial Assets, then the treasury arm will be taken out and put in the Financial Corporations sector.
In National Accounts we include all Non-Financial Corporations operating in Ireland in the accounts. This means that if a Foreign-Owned Corporation has a branch here, then it is included. If an Irish-owned corporation has a branch in another country, then that branch is excluded. Corporations headquartered here, but with little other activity in the country (Redomiciled PLCs) are also Non-Financial Corporations.
