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The Global Insight

Do expenses appear on the income statement?

Author

John Johnson

Updated on February 10, 2026

In short, expenses appear directly in the income statement and indirectly in the balance sheet. It is useful to always read both the income statement and the balance sheet of a company, so that the full effect of an expense can be seen.

What is included in the common size income statement?

A common-size income statement is an income statement where each line item is expressed as a percentage of a base figure. This is usually total revenues or total sales. A common-size income statement serves a similar purpose to financial ratio analysis.

What expenses go on the income statement?

All expenses incurred for earning the normal operating revenue linked to the primary activity of the business. They include the cost of goods sold (COGS), selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A), depreciation or amortization, and research and development (R&D) expenses.

Does an income statement show sales?

In the context of corporate financial reporting, the income statement summarizes a company’s revenues (sales) and expenses, quarterly and annually, for the fiscal year. The final net figure and other numbers in the statement are of major interest to investors and analysts.

How do you calculate purchases on an income statement?

Thus, the steps needed to derive the amount of inventory purchases are:

  1. Obtain the total valuation of beginning inventory, ending inventory, and the cost of goods sold.
  2. Subtract beginning inventory from ending inventory.
  3. Add the cost of goods sold to the difference between the ending and beginning inventories.

What is a common size P&L?

Define Common-Size Income Statement: A common sized income statement is a profit and loss statement that lists individual accounts as a percentage of total revenue to make it easy to compare and analyze different companies.

How to calculate the common size of an income statement?

To common size an income statement, analysts divide each line item (e.g. gross profit, operating income, marketing expenses) by revenue or sales. Each item is then expressed as a percentage of sales. For example, gross margin is calculated by dividing gross profit by sales.

How are expenses listed on an income statement?

Then, business expenses are listed and deducted until you reach the bottom line, or net profit. Think of the income statement like this: You start with a whole pie (your total sales dollars).

Which is an example of a single step income statement?

A single-step income statement is a little more straightforward. It adds up your total revenue, then subtracts your total expenses to get your net income. Simple. Here’s an example single-step income statement we created for another hypothetical company, Dead Simple Coffee Inc.:

What makes up the top line of an income statement?

The income statement, or profit and loss statement, shows sales minus expenses. The top line is the total amount you earned in sales before subtracting any expenses. Then, business expenses are listed and deducted until you reach the bottom line, or net profit.