Income Statement

The Income Statement

The traditional activity-oriented financial statement issued by business enterprises is the income statement. Read about income statement herePrepared for a well-defined time interval, such as three months or one year, this statement summarizes the enterprise’s revenues, expenses, gains, and losses. Revenues are transactions that represent the inflow of assets as a result of operations—that is, assets received from selling goods and rendering services. Expenses are transactions involving the outflow of assets in order to generate revenue, such as wages, rent, interest, and taxes.

A revenue transaction is recorded during the fiscal period in which it occurs. An expense appears in the income statement of the period in which revenues presumably resulted from the particular expense. To illustrate, wages paid by a merchandising or service company are recognized as an immediate expense because they are presumed to generate revenue during the same period in which they occurred.

If, however, the wages are paid to process merchandise that will not be sold until a later fiscal period, they would not be considered an immediate expense. Instead, the cost of these wages will be treated as part of the cost of the resulting inventory asset; the effect of this cost on income is thus deferred until the asset is sold and revenue is realized.

In addition to disclosing revenues and expenses (the principal components of income), the income statement also lists gains and losses from other kinds of transactions, such as the sale of plant assets (for example, a factory building) or the early repayment of long-term debt. Extraordinary—that is, unusual and infrequent—developments are also specifically disclosed.

More Accounting Entries

Accounting information can be classified into two categories: financial accounting or public information and managerial accounting or private information.

Specialized Accounting

Financial Reporting

Traditionally, the function of financial reporting was to provide proprietors with information about the companies that they owned and operated. Read about financial reporting here

Accounting Principles

Accounting as it exists today may be viewed as a system of assumptions, doctrines, tenets, and conventions, all encompassed by the phrase “generally accepted accounting principles.”Read about accounting principles here

The Balance Sheet

Of the two traditional types of financial statements, the balance sheet relates to an entity’s position, and the income statement relates to its activity. The balance sheet provides information about an organization’s assets, liabilities, and owners’ equity as of a particular date (such as the last day of the accounting or fiscal period). Read about income balance sheet here

Regulations and Standards in the United States

Until 1973, accounting principles in the United States had traditionally been established by certified public accountants. Read about Accounting Regulations and Standards in the United States

Source: “Accounting and Bookkeeping”Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia

See Also

Bookkeeping in the World


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