Revenue vs. Income: What's the Difference? (2024)

Revenue vs. Income: An Overview

Revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods or services related to the company's primary operations.Revenue, also known as gross sales,is often referred to as the "top line"because it sits at the topof theincome statement. Income, or net income,is a company's totalearningsorprofit.When investors and analysts speak of acompany's income, they're actually referring tonet income or the profit for the company.

Key Takeaways

  • Revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods or services related to the company's primary operations.
  • Income or net incomeis a company's totalearningsorprofit.
  • Both revenueand net income are useful in determining the financial strength of a company, but they are not interchangeable.

Revenue

The revenue numberisthe income a company generatesbeforeany expenses are taken out.Therefore, when a company has"top-line growth," the company is experiencingan increase in gross sales or revenue.

Both revenueand net income are useful in determining the financial strength of a company, but they are not interchangeable. Revenue only indicates how effective a company is at generating sales andrevenue and does not take into consideration operating efficiencies which could have a dramatic impact on the bottom line.

Income

Net incomeis calculated by taking revenuesand subtracting the costs of doing business, such asdepreciation, interest, taxes,and other expenses. The bottom line, or net income,describes how efficient a company is with its spending and managing itsoperating costs.

Common financial ratios that use data from the income statement include profit margin, operating margin, earnings per share (EPS), price-to-earnings ratio, and return on stockholders' equity.

Income is often considered a synonym for revenue sinceboth terms refer to positive cash flow; however, in a financial context, the term income almost always refers to the bottom lineor net income since itrepresents the total amount of earnings remaining afteraccounting for all expenses and additional income.Net income appears on a company'sincome statementand is an important measure of theprofitability ofacompany.

Revenue vs. Income Example

Apple Inc.(AAPL)posted a top-line revenue number of $365.8 billionfor 2021.The company'srevenue numberrepresenteda33.3% year-over-year increase.Apple posted$94.7 billion in net incomeforthe same period, which represented a 64.9% increase year-over-year.

We can see that Apple'snet income is smaller than itstotal revenue since net income is the result of total revenue minus all of Apple's expenses for the period. The example above shows howdifferent income is from revenue when referring to a company's financials.

Bottom line growth and revenue growth can be achieved in variousways. A company like Apple mightexperiencetop-line growth due to a new product launch like the new iPhone, a new service,oranew advertising campaign that leads toincreasedsales.Bottom-line growth might haveoccurred from the increase in revenues, but also from cuttingexpenses or finding a cheaper supplier.

Can Income Be Higher Than Revenue?

In general, income can never be higher than revenue because income is derived from revenue after subtracting all costs. Revenue is the starting point while income is the endpoint. In cases where income is higher than revenue, the business will have received income from an outside source that is not operating income, such as a specific transaction or investment.

Is Revenue or Income More Important?

While both measures are important and that income is derived from revenue, income is generally considered more important. The reason is that income is profit, which shows that a business is able to cover its expenses and use that profit to grow the business and not rely on outside sources, such as debt, to continue operating. Strong revenues will indicate that a business can sell its product or service but strong profits will indicate a business is in good financial health.

What Are the Advantages of Revenue Management?

Revenue management allows a company to better manage its sales tactics, its costs, such as the need for raw materials, offer a better price point to customers, run operations more efficiently, and keep inventory slim.

Revenue vs. Income: What's the Difference? (2024)

FAQs

Is there a difference between revenue and income? ›

When comparing revenue vs income you should know that “revenue” refers to the total amount of money a company generates before removing any expenses. “Income”, on the other hand, is equal to revenues minus the costs of doing business, such as depreciation, interest, taxes, and other expenses.

What is revenue very short answer? ›

Revenue meaning is the money that is produced by carrying out normal business operations and is calculated by multiplying the average sales price by the number of items sold. It is the total sum of money from which other costs and expenses are subtracted to calculate net income.

Can income be higher than revenue? ›

No, income cannot be higher than revenue.

Because income is calculated by subtracting expenses from revenue, it can't be higher than revenue. In fact, it doesn't even have to be a positive number since a company's expenses can outweigh its revenue.

What is revenue and example? ›

Revenue = price of goods or services × number of units sold or number of customers. For example, if a company sells 10 computers at ₹50,000 each, it could use this formula to calculate its gross revenue: Gross revenue = ₹50,000 × 10 = ₹500,000.

How do you explain revenue? ›

Revenue is the money generated from normal business operations, calculated as the average sales price times the number of units sold. It is the top line (or gross income) figure from which costs are subtracted to determine net income. Revenue is also known as sales on the income statement.

What is revenue in one word? ›

1. the return from property or investment; income. 2.

What is revenue in your own words? ›

Revenue is made up of two important parts: the sales price and the number of units sold. Revenue = average price of product x number of units sold. Alternatively, if the business sells a service instead of a specific product or products: Revenue = average price of service x number of customers.

Is revenue better than net income? ›

The revenue is the superset of the net income. On the other hand, the net income is the subset of the net income. The revenue is always more than the net income. The net income is always lower than the revenue.

Why is net income more than revenue? ›

Net income represents the overall profitability of a company after all expenses and costs have been deducted from total revenue. Net income also includes any other types of income that a company earned, such as interest income from investments or income received from the sale of an asset.

How does revenue affect income? ›

Revenue is What You Make, Profit is What You Keep

That's because revenue represents the amount of money that a company brings in from sales and other income streams like service fees, dividends, or rent. Profit is what's left over after the cost of doing business is deducted from the company's revenue.

What is an example of income? ›

Earned income includes wages, salary, tips and commissions. Passive or unearned income could come from rental properties, royalties and limited partnerships. Portfolio or investment income includes interest, dividends and capital gains on investments.

What are the two types of revenue? ›

A business's revenue is split into two main types: operating and non-operating. Operating revenue is derived from sales and services; in other words, it's the money a business earns from its core activities. Non-operating revenue can be seen as income on the side, or passive income.

How do you calculate revenue? ›

Revenue is another word for the amount of money a company generates from its sales. Revenue is most simply calculated as the number of units sold multiplied by the selling price. Because revenues do not account for costs or expenses, a company's profits, or bottom line, will be lower than its revenue.

What are the 3 sources of revenue? ›

The sources are: 1. Tax 2. Rates 3. Fees 4.

What are the 3 main revenue sources? ›

Operating revenues describe the amount earned from the company's core business operations. Sales of goods or services are examples of operating revenues. Non-operating revenues refer to the money earned from a business's side activities. Examples include interest revenue and dividend revenue.

What are the 3 largest sources of revenue? ›

Federal Budget. What are the sources of revenue for the federal government? About 50 percent of federal revenue comes from individual income taxes, 7 percent from corporate income taxes, and another 36 percent from payroll taxes that fund social insurance programs (figure 1). The rest comes from a mix of sources.

What is revenue used for? ›

Revenue is used as an indication of earnings quality. There are several financial ratios attached to it: The most important being gross margin and profit margin; also, companies use revenue to determine bad debt expense using the income statement method.

Why is revenue is important? ›

Why is revenue important? Revenue is what keeps your business alive. Beyond being a lifeline, revenue can give you key insights into your business. If you want to increase your business profits, you need to increase your revenue.

Does revenue mean sales? ›

Some companies inaccurately use the terms sales and revenue interchangeably. However, while sales are revenue, all revenue doesn't necessarily derive from sales. For many companies, they are indeed the same. But some companies routinely derive additional revenue from their business operations.

Which is more important revenue or earnings? ›

Earnings is arguably the most important measurement of growth for a business, as earnings growth indicates the health and profitability of a business after all expenses are paid. Conversely, revenue growth refers to the annual growth rate of revenue from total sales.

Is revenue the most important? ›

Revenue is often called “the top line” because it is the big number at the top of the business's profit and loss statement. This number is extremely important to business owners and managers.

Is revenue gross or net? ›

Simply put, your gross revenue is your earnings before you deduct your expenses and your net revenue is your earnings after you subtract your expenses.

How much of revenue is profit? ›

Profit is the amount of income left after deducting expenses from your revenue. To calculate profit, subtract your expenses from revenue. If you generate $10,000 in revenue, but you had $5,000 in expenses, your profit would be $5,000. Typically, when you hear people talk about profit, they're referring to net profit.

Why revenue is high but low profit? ›

Profit margins, which are computed as net income divided by revenue, do not always improve when sales are increased or costs are reduced. Increasing revenue can result in higher costs and lower profit margins. Cutting costs can result in diminished sales and also lower profit margins if market share is lost over time.

Is revenue a minus cost? ›

Gross profit is revenue minus the cost of goods sold (COGS), which are the direct costs attributable to the production of the goods sold in a company.

Is revenue an asset or income? ›

Assets and revenue are very different things. For one, they appear on completely different parts of a company's financial statements. Assets are listed on the balance sheet, and revenue is shown on a company's income statement.

Is revenue positive or negative? ›

The revenues are reported with their natural sign as a negative, which indicates a credit. Expenses are reported with their natural sign as unsigned (positive), which indicates a debit. This is routine accounting procedure.

Is revenue a gain or loss? ›

Revenues and gains both sound like good news, and they are. But revenues are increases in assets resulting from what a business is in the business to do. Gains are increases in assets from out-of-the-ordinary activities. The technical term is from peripheral activities, that is, activities not central to the business.

What are 2 key measures of revenue? ›

There are two main measures of revenue that companies use to gauge sales. Total revenue looks at the total sales as an average number per unit and then multiplies it by the number of units sold. By contrast, marginal revenue measures the money that a company will make per additional unit sold.

What two factors determine revenue? ›

Total revenue indicates the full amount of sales of a company's goods or services. To calculate total revenue (TR), multiply the total amount of goods or services sold (Q) by price (P).

What are the revenue items? ›

Revenue items are items that have short-term effects on business, (normally less than one year). For example, repairs of machinery and equipment, wages of employed and workers, salaries for staff, fuel, etc., are revenue items.

What is revenue Class 8? ›

Revenue is the sum of cash and credit sales which is earned as a result of goods or rendering of services.

What is revenue for kids? ›

Kids Encyclopedia Facts. Revenue (or revenues) is income that an organization receives from its normal business activities. In the case of a corporation this is usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In the case of a government, revenue usually comes from various taxes.

What is revenue System Class 8? ›

The company therefore introduced many land revenue systems. In 1793, the Permanent Settlement system was introduced by Lord Cornwallis, the Governor-General of India. Under this system, zamindars were given the responsibility of collecting rent from the peasants and in return paying revenue to the Company.

Who paid revenue Class 7? ›

Peasants, cattle keepers, artisans, etc. had to pay rent and traders had to pay revenue.

What is revenue and its types? ›

Revenue is the earning that an enterprise has from its normal business pursuits, usually from the sale of commodities, and services to consumers. Revenue is also mentioned and referred to as turnover or sales. A few companies get revenue from royalties, other fees, or interests.

What are 4 types of revenue? ›

There are four primary types of revenue streams: transactional, project, service, and recurring.

Does revenue mean money? ›

Revenue refers to the income your business has earned from the sale of your goods and services. Your revenue may also include money earned from other sources, such as interest, fees and royalties.

Why is revenue important? ›

Why is revenue important? Revenue is what keeps your business alive. Beyond being a lifeline, revenue can give you key insights into your business. If you want to increase your business profits, you need to increase your revenue.

What is class 11 revenue? ›

Revenue-These are the amounts of the business earned by selling its products or providing services to customers,such as commission,interest ,dividends,royalties,rent received etc.

What are the 3 revenue system? ›

Three major systems of land revenue collection existed in India. They were – Zaminidari, Ryotwari and Mahalwari. Act. It was introduced in provinces of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and Varanasi.

What is Permanent Settlement in history? ›

The Permanent Settlement, also known as the Permanent Settlement of Bengal, was an agreement between the East India Company and Bengali landlords to fix revenues to be raised from land that had far-reaching consequences for both agricultural methods and productivity in the entire British Empire and the political ...

What is revenue in a sentence? ›

Revenue is money that a business receives. The company gets 98 percent of its revenue from Internet advertising.

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