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Non-Operating Income: Definition, Examples, and Purpose

Operating income does not include money earned from investments in other companies or nonoperating income, taxes, and interest expenses. Also excluded are any special or nonrecurring items, such as acquisition expenses, proceeds from the sale of a property, or cash paid for a lawsuit settlement. Examples of non-operating income include dividend income, asset impairment losses, gains and losses on investments, and gains and losses on foreign exchange transactions. It might include things such as dividend income, investment earnings or losses, foreign exchange gains or losses, and asset write-downs. A company that performs better in and generates the majority of its income through its core business operations is more favorable than one that makes most of its income from non-operating activities. Distinguishing a company’s ability to profit from its core business and profit from other activities or factors is essential to evaluating its real performance.

  • The issue is that earnings in an accounting period might be affected by factors that have little to do with the organization’s day-to-day operations.
  • However, what is considered a strong operating margin often varies across different industries.
  • Some operations are directly aimed at revenue generation, while other operations are not related to the company’s main line of operations.
  • The items in this section are generally unique in nature and therefore they do not show a true picture of the efficiency of a company’s core business.

Revenue is the total amount of income that a company generates from the sale of goods and services. It refers to the sum generated before deducting any expenses, such as those involved in running the business. Alternatively, if a technology company sells or spins off one of its divisions for $400 million in cash and stock, the proceeds from the sale are considered non-operating income.

Which states collect the lowest proportion of non-tax revenue?

Some of the non-operating income items are recurring, for example, dividend income, and interest income. Others are non-recurring, such as asset writedowns and gains or losses from the sale of an asset. Nonoperating revenue is the money that a business earns from side activities unrelated to its daily activities, such as profits from investments or dividend income.

PwC refers to the US member firm or one of its subsidiaries or affiliates, and may sometimes refer to the PwC network. This content is for general information purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional advisors. Ariel Courage is an experienced editor, researcher, and former fact-checker.

Federal dollars for pandemic relief provided by the CARES Act increased eight states’ federal funding by more than 50%. Service charges and other non-tax sources of revenue accounted for 15.7% of states’ general revenues. When you are discussing your financial statements with your accountant or bookkeeper, make sure you are clear about the terms they’re using so you’re on the same page about your business’s performance. A nonprofit organization often produces its operating revenue through contributions from donors.

Disadvantages of Non-operating Income

Attempt to determine where money was created and how much of it, if any, is related to the company’s day-to-day operations and is likely to be repeated. For instance, a firm might make a sizable one-time profit through the sale of a sizable piece of land, equipment, or property, a wholly-owned subsidiary, or investment securities. California had the lowest share of non-tax revenue in 2021, bringing in 39.6% of its revenue came from non-tax sources. Minnesota was next, with 40.2%, followed by Illinois (43.0%), Connecticut (43.3%), and Nevada (44.2%). In 2021, the federal government provided $987.7 billion to states, accounting for 36.7% of all state general revenue that year.

Which states collect the highest proportion of non-tax revenue?

Operating earnings are recurrent and are more likely to increase in tandem with the company’s growth. Operating income, as opposed to non-operating, gives more information about the company’s fundamentals and growth prospects. Results and make it difficult for investors to assess how effectively the firm’s operations truly performed during the reported period. The issue is that earnings in an accounting period might be affected by factors that have little to do with the organization’s day-to-day operations.

Examples of Non-Operating Income

Only dividend income and interest income are termed as non-operating income in the above case. We have set off against non-operating gains and expenses as well to get the resultant non-operating loss. Non-operating income is itemized at the bottom of the income statement, after the operating profit line item.

Usually the price of paying the cost of issuing a license or permit amounts to the cost necessary to process that permit. Permit may be considered operating if it is an integral component of the enterprise funds’ primary operations, and if it is considered operating from the perspective of the cash flows statement. Another example of permits and licenses being an operating revenue would include a permit fee collected by an enterprise fund whose purpose is to issue permits. Non-operating revenue and income do not produce cash inflows that are consistent from one year to the next, which is another reason why the activity is separately identified in the income statement. For a company to fund company operations, the business must generate operating revenue. Firms that drive operating revenue can fund the business regularly without the need to seek additional financing, and these companies can operate with a lower cash balance.

IMPROVING GOVERNMENT

Non-operating income includes all the non-operating gains and losses arising from activities outside the purview of fundamental business activities. Due to this reason, non-operating income is shown separately in the income statement below the operating income section. Also known as peripheral or incidental income, this income is derived from sources other than the present value of annuity due company’s core operations. It includes dividend income, profit or loss from investment or sale of fixed assets, etc. Operating income is calculated by subtracting the cost of goods sold and all the operating expenses from the company’s sales revenue. Revenue or net sales refer only to business-related income (the equivalent of earned income for an individual).

For example, suppose a company has generated operating cash flow of $6 billion in its fiscal year and has made capital expenditures of $1 billion. The company can then choose to use the $5 billion to make an acquisition (cash outflow). The company also could issue $2 billion of common stock (cash inflow) and pay $2 billion in dividends (cash outflow). When looking at a company’s income statement from top to bottom, operating expenses are the first costs displayed below revenue. The company starts the preparation of its income statement with top-line revenue. Cost of goods sold (COGS) is subtracted from revenue to arrive at gross income.

A non-operating expense is a business expense that is not related to a company’s core business operations. The most common items that fall under the category include interest expense and loss on the sale of assets. Other types of non-operating expenses include asset write-downs and one-time restructuring or legal expenses that do not regularly occur in the normal course of business.

Alaska received the largest share of its general revenue — 88.5% — from non-tax sources in 2021, according to the Census Bureau. Wyoming and New Mexico received 70.6% of general revenue from non-tax sources, and Louisiana received 67.7%. Operating grants (vs. capital) are intended to finance operations, but they are not a result of operations.