What is Profit and Loss (P&L) Statement?

A profit and loss (P&L) statement is a financial statement that summarizes revenue, expenses, and costs for a specific time period. A P&L statement is one of three main financial statements that a company issues on a regular basis (the other two are a balance sheet and cash flow statement). A P&L statement provides data about an enterprise's ability to generate profit by increasing revenue, reducing costs, analyzing research and development (R&D) expenditures, and other means. A P&L statement is not to be confused with the P&L metric which may be displayed on exchange platforms to evaluate investment performance.