A measurement of net income arrived at by comparing the amount of total equity at the end of a period to the amount of total equity at the beginning of the period. For example, if Al Capone had $5 million of equity at the end of the year, but had only $1 million at the beginning of the year, the government could conclude that he earned $4 million during the year. This method is in contrast to the transaction approach which computes net income by subtracting the expense transactions from the revenue transactions.
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For the past 52 years, Harold Averkamp (CPA, MBA) has worked as an accounting supervisor, manager, consultant, university instructor, and innovator in teaching accounting online. He is the sole author of all the materials on AccountingCoach.com.
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