What are SICs and NAICS, and how are they different? Which should I use?
SIC (pronounced S-I-C) stands for Standard Industrial Classification, (http://www.osha.gov/cgi-bin/sic/sicser5) and NAICS (pronounced “nakes”) stands for North American Industrial Classification System. (http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html) They are both systems for identifying the industry to which an activity belongs. The SIC system is the older system that is being phased out; NAICS the new system that is being phased in. As the name implies, NAICS applies to Canada and Mexico as well as the U.S.; the SIC system was specifically for the U.S. alone. According to the NAICS Website: The SIC system was developed in the 1930s, and although revised several times since then, it did not accurately reflect the structure of the modern economy. “The SIC system was not based on a consistent economic concept; some industries are demand based while others are production based. NAICS is based on a consistent, economic concept: economic units that use like processes to produce goods or servic
