The OCI measure was also quite helpful during the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009 and through its recovery. For instance, coming out of the Great Recession, the banking giant Bank of America reported a $1.4 billion profit on its standard income statement, but a loss of $3.9 billion based on comprehensive income. The difference had to do with OCI and the unrealized losses that took place in its investment portfolio.

In other words, it adds additional detail to the balance sheet’s equity section to show what events changed the stockholder’s equity beyond the traditional net income listed on the income statement. OCI, or accumulated other comprehensive income, is a financial analytical technique that refers to predicted gains or losses on a company’s or individual’s balance sheet. These profits and losses impact a company’s net income, although they are often not reported on an income statement.

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It is comparable to the amount of retained earnings, which is the net cumulative sum of the items included on the income statement for each period. The amount shown on the statement of comprehensive income for each period is the net cumulative amount of the items reported as other comprehensive income. In 1997 the United States Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Statement on Financial Accounting Standards No. 130 entitled “Reporting Comprehensive Income”.

Reporting Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income accounts thoroughly and accurately on a balance sheet is important because the gains and losses affect the balance sheet as a whole and the comprehensive income of a business. The items, however, do not affect net income, retained earnings, or the income statement in terms of actual, finalized income until the transactions are completed and are moved to a different section of the balance sheet. Accounting standards require businesses to report these transactions in a separate financial statement. Other comprehensive income tells investors the actual value of a company’s assets and potential future earnings if the assets are sold and profits are realized. Unrealized profits or losses on available-for-sale investments, foreign currency translation gains or losses, and pension plan gains or losses are examples of OCI.

Where do businesses keep track of their total revenue?

Retained earnings may decrease when a company makes a loss or pays dividends. However, the company’s retained earnings increase when new profits are generated. Get instant access to video lessons taught by experienced investment bankers.

Learn financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel shortcuts. Further, since net income is unaffected by OCI, neither is the retained earnings account on the balance sheet. Two such measurements are comprehensive income and other comprehensive income.

Other Comprehensive Income, OCI, AOCI: The Basics, with 10-K Examples

Years of low-interest rates have put pension assets of a number of large corporations’ plans below the obligations they must cover for current and future retirees. Examples of these differences can demonstrate just how big the impact can be on a firm. Understanding the drivers of a company’s daily operations is going to be the most important consideration for a financial analyst, but looking at OCI can uncover other is accumulated depreciation a current asset potentially major items that impact a company’s bottom line. Bear in mind that OCI is not the same as comprehensive income, though they certainly sound alike. Comprehensive income is simply the combination of standard net income and OCI. As such, it is literally a more comprehensive and holistic view of the drivers of a company’s operations and other activities that are an integral component of its economics.

In that case, the open gains or losses on those assets are appropriately recorded in the other comprehensive income portion of the balance sheet until the stocks are sold. In other words, it provides financial statement readers with a complete picture of a company’s financial situation. Another benefit of realized gains or losses is that it allows investors to see if there are any potential future losses and how a company manages its investments. In the case of marketable securities, I probably won’t care about the extreme changes in OCI. Just because its market value is fluctuating doesn’t mean the company will necessarily have less retained earnings down the road.

Is Other Comprehensive Income Part of Retained Earnings?

Retained earnings are the funds leftover from corporate profits after all expenses and dividends have been paid. The sum total of comprehensive income is calculated by adding net income to other comprehensive income. Here’s an example comprehensive statement attached to the bottom of our income statement example. When the primary purpose of OCI is to serve as an accounting “bridging mechanism,” it deals with measurement challenges and contributes to stakeholders taking the OCI statement into account. CI is a technique of providing more information to firm stakeholders about the overall financial prospects of their investment.