This document provides an overview of key elements and concepts related to the income statement, including:
- The income statement reports revenues, expenses, gains, and losses over a period of time to arrive at net income. It can use a multiple-step or single-step format.
- Basic elements include net sales, cost of goods sold, operating expenses, other income/expense, and special items like discontinued operations.
- Special disclosures are required for unusual or infrequent items, equity earnings in nonconsolidated subsidiaries, income taxes, and extraordinary items.
- Retained earnings tracks undistributed net income over time and is reconciled on the income statement. Dividends reduce retained