Understanding an Income Statement Definition and Examples

It enables a more meaningful comparison by focusing on the relative proportions of various revenues, expenses, and income items, rather than their absolute values. There’s also a separate version of the common size balance sheet where any current asset line items are listed as a percentage of the total assets. It would work the same with liabilities listed as a percentage of total liabilities.

However, the equity increase was much smaller than the total increase in liabilities of $40,000. Long-term debt increased by only $10,000 by issuing additional notes payable. The remainder of that increase is seen in the 5 percent increase in current liabilities. Common Size Analysis can also be performed on the balance sheet, the cash flow statement, and the retained earnings statement. The information a common-sized analysis of the balance sheet can provide analysts was discussed above.

Types of common size financial statements

If you roast and sell coffee like Coffee Roaster Enterprises, this might include the cost of raw coffee beans, wages, and packaging. Often shortened to “COGS,” this is how much it cost to produce all of the goods or services you sold to your customers. If the company is a service business, this line item can also be called Cost of Sales. We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence.

• Vertical analysis refers to the method of financial analysis where each line item is listed as a percentage of a base figure within the statement.
• Managers and investors can use common size income statements to analyze a business’s performance over time to see trends in costs and profit margins.
• This is by using proportion rather than the actual numbers as the means of comparison.
• Even though common size analysis doesn’t provide as much detail, it can still be effective in analyzing financial statements.
• Because of this, horizontal analysis is important to investors and analysts.
• Depreciation is the process of deducting the total cost of something expensive purchased for your business.

This arrangement is used to examine changes in the percentages from period to period for financial analysis purposes. The format can also be used to compare expense percentages across different entities within the same industry. The common size version of this income statement divides each line item by revenue, or $100,000.

Income statement

Common Size Analysis may also compare a company’s statements to those of a close competitor. For example, suppose BP’s cost of goods sold was 73% of revenue for 2021, and its close Common Size Income Statement Definition competitor Chevron’s cost of goods sold was only 59% of revenues. In that case, an analyst may determine that Chevron’s management team is better than BP’s at controlling expenses.

• A closer inspection of both data sets would yield even more useful information.
• Adding to income from operations is the difference of other revenues and other expenses.
• Vertical analysis refers to the analysis of specific line items in relation to a base item within the same financial period.
• Common size financial statements commonly include the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement.
• A company can use this analysis on its balance sheet or its income statement.

Common size, or vertical analysis, allows an owner to express each financial statement item as a percentage of a base. A company can use common size analysis on its balance sheet, which summarizes its assets (the items it owns), liabilities (the amounts it owes or debts) and equity (the owner’s investment). It can also be used on its income statement, which shows its revenues (amounts it earns from selling its goods and services) and its expenses (the cost of earning the revenues). Note that most companies do not use the common size format to report their financial statements. Comparing two different companies in different economic sectors can be easier when using common size financial statements. Managers can also use the data to come up with new operations strategies.

Income Statement Example

Clear Lake Sporting Goods, for example, might compare their financial performance on their income statement to a key competitor, Charlie’s Camping World. Charlie is a much bigger retailer for outdoor gear, as Charlie has nearly seven times greater sales than Clear Lake. Common-size statements allow Clear Lake to compare their statements in a meaningful way (see Figure 5.26). Notice that Clear Lake spends 50 percent of its sales on cost of goods sold while Charlie spends 59 percent. This is a significant difference that would be an indicator that Clear Lake and Charlie have key differences in their operations, purchasing policies, or general performance in their core products.

• The common size income statement is particularly useful when comparing companies of different sizes within the same industry or analyzing the trends in a company’s income statement over time.
• The process of creating a common size financial statement is often referred to as a vertical analysis or a common-size analysis.
• The top line on the income statement provides the base figure for the calculations.
• The final step is to deduct taxes, which finally produces the net income for the period measured.
• With the help of the comparison between the Common-size Income Statements of different periods, one can understand the efficiency in earning revenues and incurring expenses.

It helps break down the impact that each item on the financial statement has, as well as its overall contribution. In the above table, it can be seen that the operating income margin has been declining gradually over the last three financial years primarily due to an increase in operating and SG&A expenses. On the other hand, the decline in net income in 2017 is in line with that of operating income, while in 2018 the decline was primarily fueled by the one-time loss on extinguishment of debt.

Chapter 7: Accounting for Share Capital

Although XYZ is much smaller than ABC, its expenses account for a smaller proportion of revenue, and its profit margins (highlighted in green) are higher than ABC’s. The stronger profit performance could prompt XYZ’s managers to plan for expansion, while possibly encouraging lenders and investors to provide capital. Imagine a company examining its second-quarter income statements for the past four years. Looking across from left to right, managers see, for example, that COGS has been climbing—from 30% of revenue to 50% in the most recent second quarter.

They can see this breakdown for each firm and compare how different firms function in terms of expenses, proportionally. They can also look at the percentage for each expense over time to see if they are spending more or less on certain areas of the business, such as research and development. On the balance sheet, analysts commonly look to see the percentage of debt and equity to determine capital structure.

Common Size Financial Statement – Explained

On the other hand, horizontal analysis refers to the analysis of specific line items and comparing them to a similar line item in the previous or subsequent financial period. Although common size analysis is not as detailed as trend analysis using ratios, it does provide a simple way for financial managers to analyze financial statements. However, financial statements may not provide all the information an investor or company leader needs. So, consider conducting research beyond a company’s financial statements as well. The common-size balance sheet functions much like the common-size income statement. Each line item on the balance sheet is restated as a percentage of total assets.

• However, a simple tool like Microsoft Excel can be quite handy in making the process easier and faster.
• In this case, ABC Inc. creates an annual traditional income statement on the left, along with a common size statement on the right.
• Let’s consider a hypothetical example to illustrate the concept of a common size income statement for two companies, Company Alpha and Company Beta.
• Note that although we have compared just two years of data for Charlie and Clear Lake, it is more common to use several years of data to get a more robust view of long-term trends.

My Accounting Course  is a world-class educational resource developed by experts to simplify accounting, finance, & investment analysis topics, so students and professionals can learn and propel their careers. For example, the information in the chart above may cause this company’s leaders to explore why the cost of goods sold jumped by more than 4.5% in the most recent year, as that can affect profits. In this case, a supply issue may have pushed the cost of materials up temporarily. Or, if the cost of goods sold is expected to remain at that higher level, the company may want to raise the prices of their product. Other line items may include gains from the sale of capital equipment or real estate and may break out revenue.