There are different ways of calculating revenue, depending on the accounting method a business employs. Accrual accounting will include sales made on credit as revenue, as long as the goods or services have been delivered to the customer. It is therefore necessary to check the cash flow statement to assess how efficiently a company collects the money it is owed. Cash accounting, on the other hand, will only count sales as revenue if the payment has been received. When cash is paid to a company, this is known as a "receipt" to distinguish it from revenue. It is possible to have receipts without revenue, if the customer paid in advance for a service that has not been rendered or goods that have not been delivered.
Revenue is known as the "top line" because it is displayed first on a company's income statement. Expenses are then deducted from revenue in order to obtain net income, or profit – the "bottom line."
A company's revenue may be subdivided according to the divisions that generate it. For example, a recreational vehicles department might have a financing division, which could be as a separate source of revenue. Revenue can also be divided into
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