The preceding sections have dealt with the conventional grouping of the revenue accounts which lead to the final profit. In a complex business the grouping of results into Manufacturing, Trading and Profit and Loss Accounts can be somewhat arbitrary. For the purpose of presenting the results for a particular period in a concise and logical form to top management all these accounts may be conveniently amalgamated into one account.

Thus, all the items may be fitted into a statement presented on the lines as set out on the next page.
The information to be derived from such a statement may be conveniently compared with budgeted expectations for the period and with past results; the figures may be shown with advantage as percentages of total cost or turnover, these percentages again compared with expectations or past results.

It is only by means of a logical, consistently applied, grouping of results that operating results may be effectively compared with either assessed standards or the past. It is also essential that exceptional items not related to the work or period under consideration or not within the control of the enterprise, should be separated from the working results.