Statement of comprehensive income explained
/What is the Statement of Comprehensive Income?
The statement of comprehensive income contains those revenue and expense items that have not yet been realized. It accompanies an organization’s income statement, and is intended to present a more complete picture of the financial results of a business. It is typically presented after the income statement within the financial statements package, and sometimes on the same page as the income statement.
A smaller business with relatively simple operations may not have engaged in any of the transactions that normally appear on a statement of comprehensive income. If so, they do not need to produce the statement.
Contents of the Statement of Comprehensive Income
The statement of comprehensive income begins with the net income figure drawn from the income statement, to which adjustments are made for unrealized items, such as unrealized gains and unrealized losses related to foreign currency translations and hedges. These various items are then totaled into a comprehensive income total at the bottom of the report. A positive balance in this report will increase shareholders’ equity, while a negative balance will reduce it; the change appears in the accumulated other comprehensive income account.
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Advantages of the Statement of Comprehensive Income
By adding this statement to the financial statement package, investors have a more detailed view of revenue and expense items that will be realized in the future. This extra information can provide some clues as to the financial results that a business will report at a later date, though only a portion of it.
Disadvantages of the Statement of Comprehensive Income
Though this statement has some predictive value, it makes no indication of the timing for when revenue and expense items will be realized in the future. Also, this statement introduces complexity to the financial reporting package that can be annoying for the accounting department producing it, and provides information that some users have complained is excessively esoteric to be overly useful.