Income statement

"Profit and loss" redirects here. For other uses, see Profit and Loss (disambiguation).
"Top line" redirects here. For the 1988 Italian film, see Alien Terminator.

An income statement (US English) or profit and loss account (UK English)[1] (also referred to as a profit and loss statement (P&L), statement of profit or loss, revenue statement, statement of financial performance, earnings statement, operating statement, or statement of operations)[2] is one of the financial statements of a company and shows the company’s revenues and expenses during a particular period.[1] It indicates how the revenues (money received from the sale of products and services before expenses are taken out, also known as the “top line”) are transformed into the net income (the result after all revenues and expenses have been accounted for, also known as “net profit” or the “bottom line”). It displays the revenues recognized for a specific period, and the cost and expenses charged against these revenues, including write-offs (e.g., depreciation and amortization of various assets) and taxes.[2] The purpose of the income statement is to show managers and investors whether the company made or lost money during the period being reported.

One important thing to remember about an income statement is that it represents a period of time like the cash flow statement. This contrasts with the balance sheet, which represents a single moment in time.

Charitable organizations that are required to publish financial statements do not produce an income statement. Instead, they produce a similar statement that reflects funding sources compared against program expenses, administrative costs, and other operating commitments. This statement is commonly referred to as the statement of activities. Revenues and expenses are further categorized in the statement of activities by the donor restrictions on the funds received and expended.

The income statement can be prepared in one of two methods.[3] The Single Step income statement takes the simpler approach, totaling revenues and subtracting expenses to find the bottom line. The more complex Multi-Step income statement (as the name implies) takes several steps to find the bottom line, starting with the gross profit. It then calculates operating expenses and, when deducted from the gross profit, yields income from operations. Adding to income from operations is the difference of other revenues and other expenses. When combined with income from operations, this yields income before taxes. The final step is to deduct taxes, which finally produces the net income for the period measured.

Usefulness and limitations of income statement

Income statements should help investors and creditors determine the past financial performance of the enterprise, predict future performance, and assess the capability of generating future cash flows through report of the income and expenses.

However, information of an income statement has several limitations:

                - INCOME STATEMENT GREENHARBOR LLC -
                 For the year ended DECEMBER 31 2010
  
                                               €          €
                                             Debit     Credit
Revenues
GROSS REVENUES (including INTEREST income)             296,397
                                                      --------
Expenses:
  ADVERTISING                                6,300
  BANK & CREDIT CARD FEES                      144
  BOOKKEEPING                                2,350
  SUBCONTRACTORS                            88,000
  ENTERTAINMENT                              5,550
  INSURANCE                                    750
  LEGAL & PROFESSIONAL SERVICES              1,575
  LICENSES                                     632
  PRINTING, POSTAGE & STATIONERY               320
  RENT                                      13,000
  MATERIALS                                 74,400
  TELEPHONE                                  1,000
  UTILITIES                                  1,491
                                                       --------
      TOTAL EXPENSES                                   (195,512)
                                                       --------
NET INCOME                                              100,885

Guidelines for statements of comprehensive income and income statements of business entities are formulated by the International Accounting Standards Board and numerous country-specific organizations, for example the FASB in the U.S..

Names and usage of different accounts in the income statement depend on the type of organization, industry practices and the requirements of different jurisdictions.

If applicable to the business, summary values for the following items should be included in the income statement:[4]

Operating section

Expenses recognised in the income statement should be analysed either by nature (raw materials, transport costs, staffing costs, depreciation, employee benefit etc.) or by function (cost of sales, selling, administrative, etc.). (IAS 1.99) If an entity categorises by function, then additional information on the nature of expenses, at least, – depreciation, amortisation and employee benefits expense – must be disclosed. (IAS 1.104) The major exclusive of costs of goods sold, are classified as operating expenses. These represent the resources expended, except for inventory purchases, in generating the revenue for the period. Expenses often are divided into two broad sub classicifications selling expenses and administrative expenses.[5]

Non-operating section

Irregular items

They are reported separately because this way users can better predict future cash flows - irregular items most likely will not recur. These are reported net of taxes.

Cumulative effect of changes in accounting policies (principles) is the difference between the book value of the affected assets (or liabilities) under the old policy (principle) and what the book value would have been if the new principle had been applied in the prior periods. For example, valuation of inventories using LIFO instead of weighted average method. The changes should be applied retrospectively and shown as adjustments to the beginning balance of affected components in Equity. All comparative financial statements should be restated. (IAS 8)

However, changes in estimates (e.g., estimated useful life of a fixed asset) only requires prospective changes. (IAS 8)

No items may be presented in the income statement as extraordinary items under IFRS regulations, but are permissible under US GAAP. (IAS 1.87) Extraordinary items are both unusual (abnormal) and infrequent, for example, unexpected natural disaster, expropriation, prohibitions under new regulations. [Note: natural disaster might not qualify depending on location (e.g., frost damage would not qualify in Canada but would in the tropics).]

Additional items may be needed to fairly present the entity's results of operations. (IAS 1.85)

Disclosures

Certain items must be disclosed separately in the notes (or the statement of comprehensive income), if material, including:[4] (IAS 1.98)

Earnings per share

Because of its importance, earnings per share (EPS) are required to be disclosed on the face of the income statement. A company which reports any of the irregular items must also report EPS for these items either in the statement or in the notes.

There are two forms of EPS reported:

Sample income statement

The following income statement is a very brief example prepared in accordance with IFRS. It does not show all possible kinds of accounts, but it shows the most usual ones. Please note the difference between IFRS and US GAAP when interpreting the following sample income statements.

Fitness Equipment Limited
                                  INCOME STATEMENTS
                                    (in millions)

  Year Ended March 31,                         2009          2008           2007
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Revenue                                  $14,580.2      $11,900.4      $8,290.3
  Cost of sales                             (6,740.2)      (5,650.1)     (4,524.2)
                                         -------------   ------------  ------------
  ''Gross profit                               7,840.0        6,250.3       3,766.1  ''
                                         -------------   ------------  ------------

  SGA expenses                              (3,624.6)      (3,296.3)     (3,034.0)
                                         -------------   ------------  ------------
  '''''Operating profit                        $  4,215.4     $  2,954.0     $   732.1  '''''
                                         -------------   ------------  ------------

  Gains from disposal of fixed assets           46.3            -             -
  Interest expense                            (119.7)        (124.1)       (142.8)
                                         -------------   ------------  ------------
  Profit ''before'' tax                          4,142.0        2,829.9         589.3
                                         -------------   ------------  ------------

  Income tax expense                        (1,656.8)      (1,132.0)       (235.7)
                                         -------------   ------------  ------------
  '''''Profit (or loss) for the year           $  2,485.2     $  1,697.9     $   353.6  '''''
DEXTERITY INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
                             CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
                                        (In millions)

  Year Ended December 31,                                     2009         2008         2007
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  [[Revenue]]                                                  $36,525.9   $29,827.6   $21,186.8
  [[Cost of sales]]                                            (18,545.8)   (15,858.8)   (11,745.5)
                                                         -----------  -----------  ------------
  ''[[Gross profit]]                                              17,980.1     13,968.8      9,441.3  ''
                                                         -----------  -----------  ------------

  Operating expenses:
    [[SG&A|Selling, general and administrative expenses]]           (4,142.1)    (3,732.3)     (3,498.6)
    [[Depreciation]]                                             (602.4)      (584.5)       (562.3)
    [[Amortization]]                                             (209.9)      (141.9)       (111.8)
    [[Impaired asset|Impairment loss]]                                       (17,997.1)          —            —
                                                         -----------  -----------  ------------
  Total operating expenses                                (22,951.5)    (4,458.7)     (4,172.7)
                                                         -----------  -----------  ------------
  '''''Operating profit (or loss)                             $ (4,971.4)  $  9,510.1   $   5,268.6   '''''
                                                         -----------  -----------  ------------

  Interest income                                              25.3         11.7         12.0
  Interest expense                                           (718.9)      (742.9)      (799.1)
                                                         -----------  -----------  ------------
  Profit (or loss) from continuing operations
   ''before'' tax, share of profit (or loss) from
   associates and non-controlling interest               $ (5,665.0)  $  8,778.9   $  4,481.5   '''
                                                         -----------  -----------  ------------

  Income [[tax]] expense                                       (1,678.6)    (3,510.5)    (1,789.9)
  Profit (or loss) from [[associate company|associates]], ''net of tax''                (20.8)         0.1        (37.3)
  Profit (or loss) from [[non-controlling interest]],
   ''net of tax''                                                  (5.1)        (4.7)        (3.3)
                                                         -----------  -----------  ------------
  '''Profit (or loss) from continuing operations            $ (7,369.5)  $  5,263.8   $  2,651.0  '''
                                                         -----------  -----------  ------------

  Profit (or loss) from [[discontinued operations]],
   ''net of tax''                                              (1,090.3)      (802.4)       164.6
                                                         -----------  -----------  ------------
  '''''Profit (or loss) for the year                          $ (8,459.8)  $  4,461.4   $

Bottom line

“Bottom line” is the net income that is calculated after subtracting the expenses from revenue. Since this forms the last line of the income statement, it is informally called “bottom line.” It is important to investors as it represents the profit for the year attributable to the shareholders.

After revision to IAS 1 in 2003, the Standard is now using profit or loss for the year rather than net profit or loss or net income as the descriptive term for the bottom line of the income statement.

Requirements of IFRS

On 6 September 2007, the International Accounting Standards Board issued a revised IAS 1: Presentation of Financial Statements, which is effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2009.

A business entity adopting IFRS must include:

  1. an income statement displaying components of profit or loss and
  2. a statement of comprehensive income that begins with profit or loss (bottom line of the income statement) and displays the items of other comprehensive income for the reporting period. (IAS1.81)

All non-owner changes in equity (i.e., comprehensive income ) shall be presented in either in the statement of comprehensive income (or in a separate income statement and a statement of comprehensive income). Components of comprehensive income may not be presented in the statement of changes in equity.

Comprehensive income for a period includes profit or loss (net income) for that period and other comprehensive income recognised in that period.

All items of income and expense recognised in a period must be included in profit or loss unless a Standard or an Interpretation requires otherwise. (IAS 1.88) Some IFRSs require or permit that some components to be excluded from profit or loss and instead to be included in other comprehensive income. (IAS 1.89)

Items and disclosures

The statement of comprehensive income should include:[4] (IAS 1.82)

  1. Revenue
  2. Finance costs (including interest expenses)
  3. Share of the profit or loss of associates and joint ventures accounted for using the equity method
  4. Tax expense
  5. A single amount comprising the total of (1) the post-tax profit or loss of discontinued operations and (2) the post-tax gain or loss recognised on the disposal of the assets or disposal group(s) constituting the discontinued operation
  6. Profit or loss
  7. Each component of other comprehensive income classified by nature
  8. Share of the other comprehensive income of associates and joint ventures accounted for using the equity method
  9. Total comprehensive income

The following items must also be disclosed in the statement of comprehensive income as allocations for the period: (IAS 1.83)

No items may be presented in the statement of comprehensive income (or in the income statement, if separately presented) or in the notes as extraordinary items.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Professional English in Use - Finance, Cambridge University Press, p. 10
  2. 1 2 Helfert, Erich A. (2001). "The Nature of Financial Statements: The Income Statement". Financial Analysis - Tools and Techniques - A Guide for Managers. McGraw-Hill. p. 40. doi:10.1036/0071395415.
  3. Warren, Carl (2008). Survey of Accounting. Cincinnati: South-Western College Pub. pp. 128–132. ISBN 978-0-324-65826-2.
  4. 1 2 3 "Presentation of Financial Statements" International Accounting Standards Board. Accessed 17 July 2010.
  5. 1 2 http://www.economywatch.info/2011/06/income-statement.html
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