P&L vs Income Statement: What’s the Real Difference?

- Revenue (all your sales income)
- Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) – what it costs to produce or purchase the products you sell
- Operating Expenses – ads, software, salaries, rent, shipping, fulfillment, etc.
- Net Profit (or Loss) – what’s left after expenses.
- Assets: $50,000 in inventory and cash
- Liabilities: $20,000 in outstanding payments
- Equity: $30,000
- You sell $10,000 worth of goods in April (recorded as income in your P&L).
- But your customer pays in May.
- Your cash flow statement for April shows no incoming cash.

Tracy Ng
Senior Content Executive at TrueProfit & SEO/Content Specialist
Tracy is a senior content executive at TrueProfit – specializing in helping eCommerce businesses scale profitably through content. She has over 4 years of experience in eCommerce and digital marketing editorial writing. She develops high-impact content that helps thousands of Shopify merchants make data-driven, profit-focused decisions.