What is accounting profit?
Accounting profit is the revenue remaining after subtracting explicit business costs recorded in the accounts. These costs commonly include operating expenses, depreciation, interest, and taxes.
It measures reported profitability but does not include implicit opportunity costs such as the owner's forgone salary or return on invested capital.
Accounting profit formula
Accounting profit equals total revenue minus total explicit costs. Total explicit costs are the sum of operating expenses, depreciation, interest, and taxes entered in the calculator.
The operating margin divides accounting profit by revenue, making businesses of different sizes easier to compare.
Accounting profit vs. economic profit
Economic profit goes further by subtracting implicit opportunity costs as well as explicit costs. A company can therefore report a positive accounting profit while producing little or no economic profit.
Use accounting profit for financial reporting context and economic profit when evaluating whether resources could earn more in an alternative use.