Analysis of the methodology for calculating the gross profit in the forms of financial statements

Abstract

The problem of the semantic load of the financial statements used by analysts to assess adequately the financial condition of the enterprise as a whole and the performance of operations, in particular has been considered in the article. That is why the methods, techniques and indicators used in the financial analysis should meet the requirement of expediency. Spending resources on analytical techniques, which do not bear practical use, is an inefficient use of time. The purpose of the article is to analyze the economic interpretation of the category of "gross profit" and to justify the need to change its calculation methodology in order to obtain analytical content. Despite its apparent simplicity, the gross profit is very ambiguous economic category. As a measure of interim operating efficiency, it takes a fuzzy position in the hierarchy of other types of financial results. Systematizing the definition of gross profit from scientific publications, academic literature and regulatory documents, difference in the procedure for calculating this indicator has been noted, which leads to the loss of their analytical sense. As a result of the research findings it has been concluded that it is necessary to bring the procedure of calculation the gross profit to margin calculation methodology of income, which is actively used in the analysis of the relationship of production costs, output and financial results (CVP-analysis). CVP-analysis is a powerful tool for planning costs and pricing policy of the company, but its use based on forms of financial reporting is limited due to non-compliance of accounting standards with analysis needs. Now the identification of gross profit with margin is not possible due to the inclusion of the gross margin value of depreciation charges in the algorithm for calculating, despite the fact that these costs do not depend on the production volume, that is, the majority of symptoms should be referred to the so-called fixed costs, which are excluded from the calculation of the profit margin. In this case, calculation of gross margin and its reflection in a separate line in the financial statements loses analytical sense. It is necessary to review the procedure for calculating gross profit for the purpose of entry into the contextual load. Further research will be aimed at addressing the substantial differences in the definition of the key concepts of financial analysis with the aim of harmonizing financial reporting forms.