Income statement

Income statement: a company financial statement that shows the difference between revenue and costs – in other words, income. Also known as the P&L. The income statement shows the financial performance of the company, in other words, whether it made or lost money over a specific period.

Note that the income statement represents profit and loss over a specific period (usually a month), unlike the balance sheet, which is a snapshot of the company’s value at a point in time.

An analogy would be one’s personal income statement, which would list one’s revenue (salary and other earnings) and expenses (car payments, restaurant bills, alimony …).

The most common format of the income statement in the corporate world is EBITDA.