What Is Gross Revenue and How to Calculate It

Gross revenue is a crucial metric for any business looking to understand its financial health and overall performance. Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or starting, understanding gross revenue is essential to building a successful business. This article will explore its definition, the steps to calculate it, and how to use it to inform your business decisions and drive growth.

Table of Contents
1. What does gross revenue mean?
2. The importance of gross revenue
4. How to calculate gross revenue
5. Evaluate gross revenue in businesses
8. Gross revenue vs. other metrics
9. FAQs

What Does Gross Revenue Mean?

Gross revenue is a business's total earnings from selling products, services, or both. Sometimes it's also called gross sales. In other words, it's the amount of money a company brings in from its customers through selling its products and/or services.

Knowing their gross revenue allows businesses to analyze how they're doing.

It includes all types of income, such as sales, fees, and interest earned. It does not include overhead costs, taxes, or other expenses the company may have incurred. Financial reports often use this to measure a company's performance over a certain period. Companies use this information to evaluate their progress and decide on future activities. For example, if a company's gross revenue has decreased, it may need to improve its sales or alter its market strategy.

#DidYouKnow Like any other metric, you can follow it over time —from one year to the next— to see if sales are increasing or decreasing.

What Is The Gross Annual Revenue?

Gross annual revenue is the total revenue that a company generates in one year. This figure includes all income from sales, investments, and other sources. This is important for assessing a company's financial health. Investors and lenders often use this metric when considering whether to invest in or lend money to a business. Understand profitability ratios

The Importance Of Gross Revenue

Business analysts sometimes calculate a business's value as a multiple of the gross revenue it has recently recorded. This is particularly true for new companies or startups because, in such situations, there may not be other reliable numbers to use. That said, gross revenue is a critical metric depending on your business type and the industry. Businesses that primarily sell goods will experience a higher return volume. And this will lead to a lower gross profit.

Thus, gross profit is more accurate than gross revenue of how a business that sells goods performs.

Special Considerations

It is possible to rely too much on this metric when judging a business. For example, a company could have high gross revenue but not be profitable. The management of a business could try to increase gross sales while ignoring other vital factors to increase the firm's valuation. A business could also release new products to increase sales (and thus the gross revenue). But if the profit margin is small, the company may not earn enough money from the project. Or if you don't test the new products thoroughly, the company's reputation could suffer.

How To Calculate Gross Revenue

Knowing your gross revenue is an integral part of understanding the overall financial health of your business. By calculating it, you can better understand how much money your business is making and what areas might need attention for improvement. Here's how to calculate it:

1. Determine your total sales figures. Add up all recorded sales revenue, which is the money you have received from sales for a period (monthly, quarterly, or annually). This should include revenue from all sources, such as cash, credit card payments, and other payment types.
2. Subtract any returns or discounts from your total sales figures. This will give you the amount of your net sales for that period.
3. Add additional income sources, such as interest or investment earnings, to the net sales figure to get your gross revenue.

#CaminoTip You must consider the accounting your company uses and thus be able to identify which sales you should include and which should not.

Gross Revenue Formula

Total Gross Revenue = Total sales revenue – Cost of goods sold (COGS)

How To Calculate Gross Revenue? An Example

Suppose an auto repair shop sells $570,000 worth of parts and labor and spends $300,000 on the cost of goods sold in a year. Its annual gross revenue is $570,000. There's no calculation needed other than to add up all the sales. However, the other numbers you will use to calculate different trade ratios.

How To Evaluate Gross Revenue In A Businesses

There are a few key things to remember when analyzing this business metric.

• Make sure you have a clear understanding of what your actual gross revenue is. This seems like a simple concept, but it's important to be clear on the definition before moving forward.
• Be sure to take into account all sources of gross revenue. This includes product sales, services, interest and investments, and more.
• Gross revenue can be a good indicator of business health, but it's important to remember that it's not the only metric you should be looking at. Ensure you also consider other factors, such as net income and cash flow.
• Compare gross revenue to other measures, such as net income and operating cash flow. This will give you a better idea of how efficiently a company generates revenue and turns it into profit.
• Gross revenue can fluctuate from month to month or year, so it's essential to look at trends over time rather than focusing on one particular period.

Apply for a business loan today

Gross Revenue vs. Other Metrics

Gross Revenue vs. Net Revenue

Gross revenue is the total amount of money a company takes from sales of its products or services before they deduct any expenses. On the other hand, net revenue is the total amount of money a company has left after they deduct all costs from gross revenue. The main difference between gross and net revenue is that gross revenue includes all income, while net revenue only includes the income after deducted expenses. This is important because it shows how much total money a company brings. However, net revenue is more important because it shows how much profit a company is making. A clothing retailer offering frequent discounts and regular returns will significantly differ between net and gross revenue. A service company —such as a cleaning company or smartphone repair store— that doesn't issue many discounts or see many returns will have similar gross and net revenue numbers.

How Gross Revenue And Net Revenue Impact Financing

Many potential lenders or investors see a high gross revenue as something positive, suggesting that the company has a strong revenue stream to support its operations. Net revenue reflects the company's profitability and ability to generate income after they've accounted for all expenses. In terms of financing, a company with high net revenue seems less risky to lenders or investors. It suggests that the company is profitable and can generate income to repay loans or provide a return on investment. On the other hand, a company with low net revenue seems riskier and may have a harder time securing financing. Overall, gross and net revenue are essential when assessing a company's financial health and ability to secure financing.

Net Revenue Example

Let's go back to the example of the auto repair shop. It had $570,000 in parts and labor sales, $8,000 in parts returns, and $300,000 in COGS. Its gross revenue was $570,000. But for net revenue, we need to deduct the $8,000 worth of returns. Doing so gives us $562,000. Net revenue does not consider the cost of goods sold. So we ignore that figure. In equation format, it looks like this:

Net revenue = Gross revenue – Returns – Discounts

Net revenue = $570,000 – $8,000 = $562,000

Gross Revenue vs. Income

Gross income is the total amount of money a business brings in during a specific period, while gross revenue is what remains of that gross income after you pay all expenses. In other words, it is the top-line figure, while income is the bottom-line figure. Expenses include salaries, rent, materials, shipping costs, etc.

Gross vs. Net Profit

Gross profit and gross revenue are two critical measures of a company's profitability. The first is the total amount of money a company brings in from sales of its products or services. This number includes all revenues, including sales of any raw materials, labor, shipping, and other associated expenses. The gross profit is the total revenue minus the cost of goods sold. This number represents a company's pure profit from selling its products or services. It's important to note that gross profit does not include many other important expenses, such as operating costs, advertising, and marketing expenses. Therefore, gross profit is usually much lower than net income (the final bottom line number in financial reports).

Cash Flow vs. Gross Revenue

Gross revenue refers to the total income a business generates from sales or services before making any expenses or deductions. This is an important metric for understanding a business's overall size and growth. However, it does not provide information about the business's profitability or ability to pay its bills. Cash flow, on the other hand, refers to the amount of cash that flows into and out of business over a period of time. Cash flow considers not only the revenue generated but also the expenses and other cash transactions, such as investments or loans. Positive cash flow means that a business has more money coming in than going out, which is essential for paying bills, investing, and growing the company over time.

Gross Revenue vs. Net Income vs. Profit

Gross revenue for a business is not the same as net income or profit.

• Net income subtracts expenses from gross revenue.
• Profit also considers taxes and other costs.

Gross revenue measures the total amount of money a business receives before they take out any deductions.

What About Investment Income? Is It Part Of Gross Revenue?

A business may receive income and capital appreciation from stocks, bonds, and interest-bearing deposit accounts. Although these are all earnings, they don't qualify as gross revenue. Only sales income is part of them. Investment income is a separate entry on the income statement. This way, it's easier to see how much money a business brings in from operations alone.

Start Improving Your Business's Performance

Alongside other metrics, gross revenue will give you a clear picture of where your business is and what it needs to be to achieve its goals. You should focus on increasing it to improve profitability and expand your operations. However, achieving growth can be challenging, especially for small businesses facing financial constraints. Fortunately, small business loans are an excellent way to bridge the financial gap and fuel growth. By obtaining a small business loan, entrepreneurs can invest in areas to boost their gross revenue. Additionally, small business loans offer entrepreneurs access to necessary funds to cover operational expenses during lean periods, ensuring the business remains sustainable. Businesses looking to increase their sales can find help from Camino Financial. We offer loans you can use to strengthen or expand your business. Apply for a business loan today

FAQs
Does gross revenue include tax? Yes, it generally includes any applicable taxes. The exceptions to this rule are usually specific cases where the company does not collect the taxes, such as in the case of untaxed sales. In these cases, it would not include the tax amount.
Does gross revenue mean profit? Gross revenue is not synonymous with profit. Profit is the amount left over after paying all the costs associated with producing and selling a good or service. This includes materials, labor, rent, advertising, and other overhead expenses. Gross revenue is the total money generated by selling a good or service. It includes the revenue earned from sales that result in a profit and those that result in a loss.
What are items that make up gross revenue? The items that make up gross revenue can vary from company to company. However, some of the most common contributing factors to a company's gross revenue are product sales, service fees, and interest income.
Where should I put gross revenue on a company's income statement? There is no definitive answer to this question, as it will depend on the specific circumstances of your business. However, some companies include it as a separate line item on their income statement, while others combine it with net sales.
Is revenue gross or net? While revenue is generally considered gross, net income or net revenue considers all the deductions and expenses, and many consider the final amount of income or sales that a business or organization has earned.