You might, for instance, get money through a litigation victory or selling an asset. You can calculate and analyze different types of revenue for your business purposes or for calculating other ratios. Businesses are primarily successful based https://kelleysbookkeeping.com/how-to-create-a-small-business-budget/ on how much money they make or their revenue. But while anyone can roughly grasp revenue, what it means and why it’s essential, revenue as a business figure is a little more complex, especially when you compare it to other metrics like income.

When goods or services are sold on credit, they are recorded as revenue, but since cash payment is not received yet, the value is also recorded on the balance sheet as accounts receivable. Revenue is the value of all sales of goods and services recognized by a company in a period. Revenue (also referred to as Sales or Income) forms the beginning of a company’s income statement and is often considered the “Top Line” of a business.

What Does Revenue in Business Mean?

You or your accountant should calculate revenue at the end of each quarter at the bare minimum. Revenue is a crucial element of any balance sheet, which collects essential metrics and shows you your company’s financial health. While revenue is an essential metric, it is distinct from other key metrics such as operating income, gross revenue and total profits. The net profit, for example, is the amount of money you get to keep or count as profits based on the sale of goods. There are several deductions that may be taken from revenues, such as sales returns and sales allowances, which can be used to arrive at the net sales figure.

Investment bankers may also use revenue as a way to inform investing decisions. Even other finance professionals, like analysts in private equity, will encounter revenue on financial statements and may use it as part of their analysis. In the case of government, revenue is Revenue Definition the money received from taxation, fees, fines, inter-governmental grants or transfers, securities sales, mineral or resource rights, as well as any sales made. Governments collect revenue from citizens within its district and collections from other government entities.

Deductions from Revenue

Expenses are deducted from a company’s revenue to arrive at its Profit or Net Income. Revenue is the total amount of money a company brings in from selling goods or services, but that may be more complicated than it sounds. There are different types of revenue, either from various sources or from specific times in the transaction process. The company’s performance is measured to the extent to which its asset inflows (revenues) compare with its asset outflows (expenses). Net income is the result of this equation, but revenue typically enjoys equal attention during a standard earnings call.