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profit and loss account

profit and loss account

4.7
A report made at the end of a business year that shows its profit or loss
  • noun
  • UK
translation icon : cuenta de pérdidas y ganancias
  • Investors want to see the profit and loss account before deciding to invest in the company.

Examples

  • We created a profit-and-loss account for each area, which essentially meant there would be companies within a company.

    Blog text (24)
  • All companies in Malaysia are required by law to file an annual report, which must include their profit and loss account, a list of shareholders and directors, and a statement by the chairperson on key corporate events.

    Academic text (2018)
  • At the end of the fiscal year, we carefully reviewed our profit and loss account to assess the company's financial health.

  • My accountant prepared a detailed profit and loss account that outlined all of our revenue and expenses over the past year.

Synonyms

income statement
vsprofit and loss account
  • Specialized
3 3.6

A report showing a company's money received, costs, and profit or loss over time

is the same period-end report but uses a different common business term
profit and loss
vsprofit and loss account
  • UK
3 3.4

A record that shows a company's income, costs, and net profit or loss

is the same report but highlights gross and net profit figures
profit-and-loss statement
vsprofit and loss account
  • UK
2 4.1

A report that shows how much money a company made and spent during a period

is the same financial report but referred to with a different nonhyphenated term

How Detailed

audit
  • Formal
45 4.9
profit and loss account
  • UK
4.7
financial statement
  • Specialized
18 3.6
summary
397 2.7

Surface Forms

Morphology

profit + and + loss + account

The meaning is directly compositional: 'account' (a record) qualified by the contents 'profit and loss' clearly signals a record showing profits and losses. This construction is literal and similar across many languages (and only varies in wording, e.g. 'profit and loss statement' or 'income statement'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Profit and loss account is a written account that lists a company's profit and loss over a set time. It gives a simple picture of whether the business 'made money' or 'lost money', so it is used to 'show' the company's result at the end of the year.