Income Statement (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE Accounting)

Revision Note

Donna Simpson

Expertise

Accounting Content Creator

Income Statement for Sole Traders

What is the purpose of an income statement for a sole trader?

  • It is a statement prepared for a trading period to show the gross profit and the profit for the year

    • A financial year does not necessarily follow the calendar year from January to December

      • For example, if a business commences trading on 1 July 2023 then the first financial year would run from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024

  • The income statement consists of two parts

    • The trading section shows the calculation of the gross profit

    • The profit and loss section shows the calculation of the profit for the year

  • The income statement is part of the double entry system of book-keeping

    • Debit entries to the income statement decrease profit

      • These are usually the expenses

    • Credit entries to the income statement increase profit

      • These are usually the sources of income

  • An income statement can sometimes be created like an account with a debit side and a credit side

    • This is called the horizontal format

    • The balancing figure will be the profit or loss

      • Profit if it is on the debit side

      • Loss if it is on the credit side

  • However, most businesses produce income statements as a statement using the vertical format

How do I complete the trading section of an income statement?

  • STEP 1
    Calculate the total revenue and put the value in the far right column

    • Revenue

    • Less sales returns

  • STEP 2
    Calculate the cost of sales and put the value in the far right column

    • Opening inventory

    • Add net purchases

      • Purchases

      • Less purchases returns

      • Less goods for own use

      • Add carriage inwards

    • Less closing inventory

  • STEP 3
    Calculate the gross profit and put the value in the far right column

    • Revenue

    • Less cost of sales

The layout of the trading section of an income statement
The layout of the trading section of an income statement

Exam Tip

In general, you move one column to the left if a calculation is needed that involves more than one item and a subtraction.

For example:

  • cost of sales involves a calculation and it is subtracted from the sales

    • therefore the calculation is done in the middle column

It is normally only the calculation for the net purchases that is displayed in the far left column.

How do I complete the profit and loss section of an income statement?

  • STEP 1
    Put the gross profit in the far right column

  • STEP 2
    Total up any other incomes which increase the profit for the year such as

    • Discount received

    • Other income received

    • Recovery of irrecoverable debts

    • Profit on sale of non-current asset

  • STEP 3
    Total up any other expenses which decrease the profit for the year such as

    • Discount allowed

    • Carriage outwards

    • Irrecoverable debts written off

    • Depreciation of non-current assets

    • Loss on sale of non-current assets

    • Sundry expenses

    • Other expenses

  • STEP 4
    Calculate the profit or loss for the year

    • Gross profit

    • Add other income

    • Less other expenses

  • If the final value is a negative

    • Put brackets around the value

    • This means it is a loss not a profit

      • E.g. (500) represents a loss of $500

The layout of the profit and loss section of an income statement
The layout of the profit and loss section of an income statement

Exam Tip

The items for the other income can be put in the far right column as they are added to the gross profit. However, if you prefer you can put them in the middle column, find the total and put that in the far right column. Whereas the expenses need to go in the middle column because the total is subtracted from the previous figure in the far right column.

What is operating profit?

  • Operating profit is also known as profit from operations

  • It is the profit for the year before subtracting the loan interest

  • Some businesses show this in the profit and loss section of their income statement

  • If a business does not have finance costs then profit from operations is the same as profit for the year

The layout of the profit and loss section of an income statement including profit from operations
The layout of the profit and loss section of an income statement including profit from operations

How is the income statement of a trading business created?

  • The income statement of a trading business contains both the

    • Trading section

    • Profit and loss section

  • The gross profit links the two sections together

    • You do not need to state this value twice

The layout of the income statement
The layout of the income statement

Exam Tip

The exam might give you the information in a trial balance along with additional information underneath. Identify items from the trial balance that would appear on the income statement.  You might find it helpful to annotate with IS to differentiate from those which would appear on the statement of financial position.

Worked Example

The following trial balance has been extracted by the book-keeper of Ali Baba, a wholesaler of school supplies, at 31 December 2023.

 

Debit

$

Credit

$

Trade receivables 

25 325 

 

Trade payables 

 

20 684 

Capital 

 

40 000 

Bank 

 

2 083 

Rent and rates 

11 862 

 

Electricity 

3 054 

 

Telephone 

2 695 

 

Salaries 

56 891 

 

Vehicles 

23 250 

 

Office equipment 

8 500 

 

Vehicle expenses 

13 855 

 

Drawings 

16 275 

 

Discount allowed 

478 

 

Discount received 

 

591 

Purchases 

139 960 

 

Revenue (Sales) 

 

258 258 

Inventory at 1 January 2023

19 471 

                     

 

321 616 

321 616 

Additional information: 

  • Inventory at 31 December 2023 is valued at  $15 075

  • The vehicles and office equipment were purchased during the year and Ali Baba does not charge depreciation in the year of purchase

Prepare an income statement for Ali Baba for the year ended 31 December 2023.

Answer

Identify which items appear on the income statement by labelling them as IS. Add an extra row for the closing inventory.

 

Debit

$

Credit

$

Income statement?

Trade receivables 

25 325 

 

Trade payables 

 

20 684 

Capital 

 

40 000 

Bank 

 

2 083 

Rent and rates 

11 862 

 

IS

Electricity 

3 054 

 

IS

Telephone 

2 695 

 

IS

Salaries 

56 891 

 

IS

Vehicles 

23 250 

 

Office equipment 

8 500 

 

Vehicle expenses 

13 855 

 

IS

Drawings 

16 275 

 

Discount allowed 

478 

 

IS

Discount received 

 

591 

IS

Purchases 

139 960 

 

IS

Revenue (Sales) 

 

258 258 

IS

Inventory at 1 January 2023

19 471 

                     

IS

 

321 616 

321 616 

Inventory at 31 December 2023

15 075

IS

Complete the income statement using the formula to help:

  • Complete the trading section to find the gross profit

    • Revenue (sales)

    • Minus cost of sales

      • Opening inventory

      • Plus purchases

      • Minus closing inventory

  • Complete the profit and loss section to find the profit for the year

    • Gross profit

    • Plus other income

    • Minus expenses

Ali Baba

Income Statement for the year ended 31 December 2023 

$

$

Revenue 

 

258 258 

Less: Cost of sales

 

 

   Opening inventory 

19 471 

 

   Purchases 

139 960 

 

 

159 431 

 

   Less: Closing inventory 

15 075

144 356  

Gross Profit 

 

113 902 

Add: Other income 

 

 

   Discount received 

 

591 

 

 

114 493 

Less: Expenses 

 

 

   Discount allowed 

478 

 

   Rent and rates 

11 862 

 

   Electricity 

3 054 

 

   Telephone 

2 695 

 

   Salaries 

56 891 

 

   Vehicle expenses 

13 855 

88 835 

Profit for the year

 

25 658 

Income Statement for Service Businesses

How is the income statement of a service business created?

  • The income statement of a service business does not have a trading section

    • Because they do not buy or sell goods

    • Therefore there will not be a gross profit

  • The income statement for a service business only contains the profit and loss section

    • Therefore the income statement will start with the income received

How do I complete an income statement for a service business?

  • STEP 1
    Total up any income such as:

    • Commission

    • Rent

    • Other income received

  • STEP 2
    Total up any expenses such as:

    • Wages

    • General expenses

    • Operating expenses

  • STEP 3
    Calculate the profit or loss for the year

    • The total income minus the total expenses

Worked Example

Sherwin operates a taxi service and has provided the following information at the end of the financial year on 31 October 2023. Prepare the income statement for Sherwin’s Taxi Service for that period.

$

General expenses

9 250

Insurance

3 200

Printing and stationery

1 560

Income from taxi fares

82 250

Motor expenses

15 750

Loan interest

1 200

Answer

  1. Start with the income

  2. Subtract the expenses

  3. Calculate the profit for the year

Sherwin’s Taxi Service

Income Statement for the year ended 31 October 2023

$

$

Income from taxi fares

85 250

Less: Expenses

General expenses

9 250

Insurance

3 200

Printing and stationery

1 560

Motor expenses

15 750

Loan interest

1 200

 30 960

Profit for the year

54 290

You can also state the profit from operations.

  1. Start with the income

  2. Subtract the operating expenses

  3. Calculate the profit from operations

  4. Subtract the loan interest

  5. Calculate the profit for the year

Sherwin’s Taxi Service

Income Statement for the year ended 31 October 2023

$

$

Income from taxi fares

85 250

Less: Expenses

General expenses

9 250

Insurance

3 200

Printing and stationery

1 560

Motor expenses

15 750

29 760

Profit from operations

55 490

Less: Loan interest

1 200

Profit for the year

54 290

You've read 0 of your 0 free revision notes

Get unlimited access

to absolutely everything:

  • Downloadable PDFs
  • Unlimited Revision Notes
  • Topic Questions
  • Past Papers
  • Model Answers
  • Videos (Maths and Science)

Join the 100,000+ Students that ❤️ Save My Exams

the (exam) results speak for themselves:

Did this page help you?

Donna Simpson

Author: Donna Simpson

Donna is a classroom practitioner with over 25 years experience in teaching accounting and business studies at GCSE A-Levels and undergraduate levels, both in the UK and abroad. She currently works for a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) as a teacher, instructional coach and mentor to other teachers. Donna is also an AQA A Level Accounting examiner as well as the content creator of resources used by all accounting teachers across the Trust. She enjoys designing and creating resources that provides students with deeper understanding of the subject content. Donna has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with major in Accounting and Finance (BSc Hons) and ACCA certified to Level 2.