Historically, the income statement used to be a supporting statement to the balance sheet. Without the income statement, we would record revenue as an increase, and expense as a decrease, of the equity account Retained Earnings.

• 就会计的发展历史而言，损益表可以说是资产负债表的一个附表，如果没有损益表的话，我们就得把收入记为股东权益中“保留盈余”的增加，把成本或费用记为保留盈余的减少。