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How does income measurement differ between a merchandising and service company?

Author

Sarah Martinez

Updated on January 02, 2026

A merchandising company engages in the purchase and resale of tangible goods. Service companies primarily sell services rather than tangible goods. Income statements for each type of firm vary in several ways, such as the types of gains and losses experienced, cost of goods sold, and net revenue.

How income is measured in a merchandising company?

To summarize the important relationships in the income statement of a merchandising firm in equation form: Net sales = Sales revenue – Sales discounts – Sales returns and allowances. Gross margin = Net sales – Cost of goods sold. Total Operating Expenses = Selling expenses + Administrative expenses.

What is the major difference between the income statement for a merchandising business?

The primary difference between a merchandising and a service-based business is the presence of inventory. Merchandising businesses sell goods to customer, whereas service-based businesses do not. The companies’ financial statements, including the income statements, must reflect this difference.

How does a merchandising company income statement differ from a manufacturing company income statement?

At first it appears that there is no difference between the income statements of the merchandising firm and the manufacturing firm. Unlike merchandising firms, manufacturing firms must calculate their cost of goods sold based on how much they manufacture and how much it costs them to manufacture those goods.

What is the most important asset of a merchandising business?

Inventory
Inventory is often the largest and most important asset owned by a merchandising business. The inventory of some companies, like car dealerships or jewelry stores, may cost several times more than any other asset the company owns.

What is on a multi step income statement?

The multi-step income statement provides detailed reporting of your company’s revenues and expenses using multiple steps to arrive at net income. Multi-step income statement items include revenue, cost of goods sold, and expenses, which are calculated to arrive at net income.

What is income measurement?

A simple definition of income measurement is the calculation of profit or loss. For an accountant, income is what’s left over after subtracting all of an organization’s expenses.

How do you prepare an income statement for a merchandising business?

To summarize the important relationships in the income statement of a merchandising firm in equation form:

  1. Net sales = Sales revenue – Sales discounts – Sales returns and allowances.
  2. Gross margin = Net sales – Cost of goods sold.
  3. Total Operating Expenses = Selling expenses + Administrative expenses.

What is the major difference in the calculation of cost of goods sold between a manufacturer and a merchandiser?

In addition, manufacturers must count finished products that are available for sale. Manufacturers also count the cost of manufacturing labor and factory overhead in determining expenses that are related to the cost of goods. This is quite different from merchandisers who do not include labor in cost-of-goods figures.

What are the four income measures on the multi step income statement?

The income statement comes in two forms, multi-step and single-step. The multi-step income statement includes four measures of profitability: gross, operating, pretax, and after tax. The income statement measures profitability and not cash flow.

Why is the multi step income statement generally accepted as the best format?

The siloed breakdowns in multiple-step income statements allow for deeper analysis of margins and provide more accurate representations of the costs of goods sold. Such specificity gives stakeholders a sharper view of how a company runs its business, by detailing how the gross, operating, and net margins compare.

What are the two measurement of income?

Measurement of Revenue Therefore, a receipt of cash and revenue earned are the two different things.

How is income and expense measured?

The formula for calculating net income is:

  1. Revenue – Cost of Goods Sold – Expenses = Net Income.
  2. Gross Income – Expenses = Net Income.
  3. Total Revenues – Total Expenses = Net Income.
  4. Gross income = $60,000 – $20,000 = $40,000.
  5. Expenses = $6,000 + $2,000 + $10,000 + $1,000 + $1,000 = $20,000.

What format of SCI is appropriate to use in presenting the income?

The single-step income statement is the format used to prepare an income statement where revenues, expenses, and net income are presented into a single subtotal. For example, in the revenue section, it records all types of revenues no mater those revenues are from the operation or non-operation.

What is the primary difference between a manufacturer and a merchandiser?

The most significant difference between a manufacturing company and a merchandising business is that a manufacturer makes goods to sell and a merchandiser buys or acquires goods for resale.

Which of the following is a difference between the financial statements of a merchandising company and a service company A?

Q 5.2: Which of the following is a difference between the financial statements of a merchandising company and a service company? A merchandising firm has an expense titled Cost of Goods Sold, while a service firm does not. sales revenue is greater than cost of goods sold.

What is the primary difference between a merchandiser compared to a service provider?

What are the different formats of income statement?

There are two types of income statements: single-step income statement, in which there are no sub-totals such as gross profit, operating income, earnings before taxes, etc.; and multi-step income statement, in which similar expenses are grouped together and intermediate figures such as gross profit, operating income.

What’s the difference between merchandising and service income?

Cost of Goods Sold. When you review a service income statement while simultaneously viewing a merchandising income statement, the first difference you’ll notice is that the latter carries an account called “cost of goods sold,” while the former does not. Service-based businesses don’t carry inventory and therefore don’t use this account.

What are the expenses of a merchandising company?

Expenses for a merchandising company must be broken down into product costs (cost of goods sold) and period costs (selling and administrative). Just like all income statements, the first line is revenue. In the case of a business that sells a product, we refer to revenue as Sales or Sales Revenue.

What makes up gross profit on a merchandising income statement?

Merchandising Companies. A merchandising company purchases inventory wholesale and sells it retail. The income statement of a merchandiser begins with gross profit, which is the difference between sales revenues and cost of goods sold.

Is the cost of goods sold on a service company income statement?

If you look at an income statement for a service company, you will not see a line item for the cost of goods sold. The nature of increases or decreases in net revenue for each type of company is also different.