An income statement, also called a profit and loss statement or P&L, shows a company's revenue, expenses, and resulting profit or loss over a specific period of time, usually a month, quarter, or year.
Revenue minus cost of goods sold gives gross profit; gross profit minus operating expenses (salaries, rent, marketing, and so on) gives operating income; a few lines further down, after taxes and interest, is net income, the actual bottom line.
It's the statement most people mean when they ask how a company is doing, and it's also the one most sensitive to accounting method: the same company can show a different income statement under cash versus accrual accounting for the exact same underlying activity. Reading it alongside the cash flow statement is how to tell whether a profitable-looking month actually generated real cash.
Staxiom closes your books every month and gives you reports you can actually read. Built by founders, investors, CPAs and startup people.