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Secure Deposit Box Reference Guide

Helping to shape the future for Enterprises in Ireland

The CSO collects trustworthy data and insights about our economy for use by households, communities, enterprises, decision-makers, public services and researchers.

The information we collect in our enterprise surveys is used by economists and researchers to understand the business economy, by policy makers across Government, and by individuals and enterprises who want more information on their sector. Enterprise surveys are not just about economic activity but also provide much needed information on how businesses are doing, how they are meeting new challenges like digitalisation and green transition, and how they contribute to our society.

Secure Deposit Box: Administrator & User Quick-Start Guide

The Secure Deposit Box allows respondents to securely upload information, documents, and supporting data to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Understanding Account Types

The first person to register an enterprise automatically becomes the Administrator. It is crucial to understand the difference between the three user roles when managing your team's access.


User Type	Description & Permissions
Administrator	The initial Enterprise contact and people appointed to manage the Secure Deposit Box account. Upload files for all available surveys. Create the main account. Invite colleagues to the Enterprise. Invite external parties to create affiliate accounts. Nominate Business Users/Affiliated Users for surveys. Grant and revoke Administrator access.
Business User	Users invited to the Secure Deposit Box by an Administrator. Upload files to available surveys. Request access to surveys.
Affiliated User	An external partner or collaborator granted authorised access. Upload files when assigned a survey. Cease affiliation when removed by the Administrator.

Account Setup & Registration

To get started, you will need the CSO Identifier and temporary PIN provided on your physical CSO correspondence.

Password Rules: Passwords must be at least 8 characters long and contain one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number, and one special character.

Email Rules: Provide a direct, monitored email address rather than a generic one (like info@address.ie).

Verification: You must verify your email address using the confirmation code sent to you; failing to verify can lock you out of your account.

Managing Internal Staff (Business Users)

To grant access to staff within your own enterprise:

Navigate to the User Management tab on the top green ribbon.

Enter the person's username and email address, then click Register Internal User to send an email invitation.

To upgrade a Business User to an Administrator, click the View More Details button next to their name.

Managing External Professionals (Affiliated Users)

To grant access to outside professionals so they can file on your behalf:

Navigate to the External User Management tab on the green ribbon.

Enter the external user's email address and click Search for External User.

If their email is not currently registered, click Request Sign up to send them an invitation to create an account.

If their email is already registered, click Request to send an affiliation invite.

Crucial Step: Once affiliated, you must manually assign them a survey from the drop-down list and click Allocate External User before they can upload anything.

To remove an Affiliated User's access, click Revoke Affiliation and confirm the warning.

Uploading Documents & Templates

Click the Secure Deposit Box tab on the green ribbon to view your assigned surveys.

To submit data, click the Upload File button next to the relevant survey.

Click Choose File, select your document, and click Upload.

File Limits: Files must be under 10 MB.

Accepted Formats: .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .xml, .csv, .pdf, and .zip .

Note: Uploaded documents cannot be deleted, so verify you are uploading to the correct survey and enterprise.

Help & Support

For general queries or to leave feedback on a survey, use the Contact Us tab on the green ribbon on the Secure Deposit Box site.

For further technical assistance, email sdb@cso.ie.

For survey specific questions please contact the survey specific contact which can be found on your survey request.

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