628: How to Read an Income Statement, with Brian Feroldi

Brian Feroldi: Financial Statements Explained Simply

Brian Feroldi is a financial educator, YouTuber, and author. He has been intensely interested in money, personal finance, and investing ever since he graduated from college. His mission statement is to spread financial wellness. He loves to help other people do better with their money, especially their investments.

Brian has written more than 3,000 articles on stocks, investing, and personal finance for The Motley Fool. In 2022, Brian’s book Why Does The Stock Market Go Up? was published. The mission of the book is to demystify the stock market. It was written to explain how the market works in plain English. He’s also the co-creator of the course, Financial Statements Explained Simply.

Most of us are not accountants, but whether you work in a small business, a large corporation, a non-profit, or a government agency, the numbers define what resources that we have. Being able to understand and speak the language of financial statements is essential for leaders who want to influence decisions. In this episode, Brian and I review how to understand and read one of the most important reports for any organization: the income statement.

Key Points

• A few hours of focus on the fundamentals of financial statement can provide you understanding and influence throughout your career.
• An income statement (also called a profit and loss statement or P&L) shows revenue, expenses, and profit over a period of time. It’s similar to your personal budget.
• Revenue minus cost of goods sold is gross profit.
• Subtracting operation expenses from gross profit give you an organization’s operating income or EBIT (earnings before income and taxes).
• Depreciation spreads out the cost of tangible assets (equipment, vehicles, buildings) their useful lives. Amortization does the same thing for intangible assets (loans, copyrights, patents).
• The “bottom line” is literally the bottom line at the end, either net income or net loss.

Resources Mentioned

• Brian Feroldi’s newsletter
• Financial Statements Explained Simply (course)

Related Episodes

• Improve Your Financial Intelligence, with Joe Knight (episode 244)
• How to Approach Corporate Budgeting, with Jody Wodrich (episode 355)
• Dumb Things Smart People Do With Money, with Jill Schlesinger (episode 396)

Discover More

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.