07/13/2026
Profit & Loss 101: Are you actually making money?
If the balance sheet shows what your business owns, the P&L (aka income statement) shows what it earned — over a specific period, like a month, quarter, or year.
Here's the breakdown:
Revenue — all the money coming in from sales
Expenses — everything it costs to run the business (rent, payroll, supplies, etc.)
Net Income — what's left after expenses are subtracted from revenue
The formula: Revenue − Expenses = Net Income (or Loss)
Here's the thing a lot of owners miss: your bank balance and your net income aren't the same number. You can have cash in the account and still be operating at a loss — or feel "broke" some months while actually being profitable on paper. The P&L is what tells you the real story.
Pairing it with your balance sheet gives you the full picture: one shows performance over time, the other shows position at a moment in time.
Want help making sense of your numbers? That's what Cadiz Bookkeeping is here for. Send a message or drop a comment!