One of the main financial statements (along with the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows, and the statement of stockholders equity). The income statement is also referred to as the profit and loss statement, P&L, statement of income, and the statement of operations. The income statement reports the revenues, gains, expenses, losses, net income and other totals for the period of time shown in the heading of the statement. If a company stock is publicly traded, earnings per share must appear on the face of the income statement.