Difference between Revenue vs Income
What are Revenue and Income? Why are they different?
“Revenue” is a term used for the gross income for a particular period. It may be used for a particular individual, a trust, an institution, a partnership firm or other limited liability company. Revenue of a company is the income received directly from sales and is reported as “Sales Income” or “Gross Income”. The final profit amount calculated (Net Profit) is also known as “Income”.
Let us study much more about revenue and income in detail:
- The understanding, however, is the same – revenue is the raw income reported which includes all the expenses and (any other) payment obligations. In this section, we are going to consider the Revenue of a company.
- This should not be confused with profit. As this figure includes costs and expenses which are related to that period, it is just considered as total sales. This is the beginning point of a profit and loss statement.
- There are different levels at which each type of cost and expenses are subtracted from revenue (profit is calculated at each level). Net Profit is also derived to calculate the payout to be made by a company to its stockholders.
Consider the below hypothetical example of a Profit and Loss statement:
| Description | 20XX | 20XX |
| Revenue | 120,000 | 100,000 |
| Less: Cost of goods sold | 60,000 | 55,000 |
| Gross Profit | 60,000 | 45,000 |
| Less: Selling expenses | 9,000 | 8,000 |
| Less: Administrative expenses | 3,000 | 2,000 |
| Operating Profit | 48,000 | 35,000 |
| Less: Interest Cost | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| Less: Depreciation Expenses | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| Profit before Taxes | 35,000 | 22,000 |
| Less: Taxes @ 30% | 10,500 | 6,600 |
| Profit After Taxes (Net Profit) | 24,500 | 15,400 |
Revenue is also called “Sales” in a profit and loss statement. After deducting different types of expenses, different levels of profits are calculated (like Gross Profit; Operating Profit; Earnings before Interest, Depreciation, Taxes, and Amortization (EBIDTA), and Profit after Taxes (PAT)). Each of these types of profits has their own relevance, and hence their existence.
For example, Gross Margin is a financial ratio which relies on the gross profit to net sales of a company; higher this ratio more is the company’s repayment power of interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization costs required to pay.
Revenue vs Income Infographics
Below are the Top 9 differences between Revenue vs Income
Application of Revenue vs Income
Below is the different applications of Revenue vs Income are as follows:
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- Being the net profit, Income is considered as the more reliable profit figure, since it is assumed to have considered all expenses and other obligations a company needs to pay out.
- Income is used in all type of analysis like Total Earnings of the firm, Financial Ratios (which depend on the profit of the company) and the company’s payout to its stockholders.
- The measure of a company’s profitability and standing in the market.
- In certain cases, it may be a negative figure, which may refer that the company has more expenses than its income. Depending upon its account of expenses, it may also refer that the company may be using much of its revenue in inventory, or towards research and development, or maybe towards the development of assets.
- Net profit figure can be used for all future projections, and likewise, decisions can be taken for further improvement of sales, or for other development of the firm.
- More the net profit more is the chance of vertical and lateral expansions of the company. The revenue figure can be misleading depending upon expenses and reserves to be kept for future obligations. Hence, derivation of the final figure after all considerations is the safest way to understand where the company stands currently, how can they reduce costs and expenses to optimize net profits and how sales can be enhanced.
Head To Head Comparison Between Revenue vs Income
Let us make a comparative study to understand the comparison between Revenue vs Income
| Revenue | Income |
| ·Gross income earned by a company | ·Net income after deduction of all expenses and costs. |
| ·Includes earning from basic sales which is the major use of the company. | ·Can be made from any type of earnings made by the company, including sales, interest earned or gains from selling an asset. |
| ·Measured during a particular period only (generally annually) from the sales of its products. | ·Net gain after deducting all expenses for a particular period plus can be from a specific gain by the company on a particular date from the sale of an asset, or any other capital gain made from an asset. |
| ·Generally used to refer to income from a particular business by a company. | ·Can be made from different businesses (or attributed to more than one business). |
| ·Results in the different levels of profits after subsequent deduction of the particular expenses. For example, Gross Revenue – Cost of goods sold = Gross Profit. | ·Is the final figure of Net Profit after deduction of all type of expenses. |
| ·Always includes recurring income from sales. | ·Can include income from other non-recurring sources like a sale of assets (which is a one-time activity in years). |
| ·Sources are always the sale of company’s products | · May include other sources of income. |
| ·Beginning point of all accounts reporting and other analysis. All the analysis made for the company begins from the gross revenue generated. | · Last point determined in a profit and loss statement after all deductions made from the gross revenue. |
| ·Dependant on sales of products | ·Dependant on revenue (and sometimes on other sources as well). |
Revenue vs Income – Final Thought
Revenue is the gross profit which is apparent at the time of sales made by the company. However, the actual profit, which is further applied for other purposes, is only derived after subtracting all expenses which are incurred by the company in making those products and its sales, plus other expenses that are required for running the company. This is the net profit or income, and this is the reason why all analysts, market drivers, and company projections prefer the same in their analysis.
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