Any income made outside of your core business operations, such as interest earned on savings accounts, investments, rental income etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n <\/p>\n
Revenue<\/b><\/h3>\n
Revenue is the net figure, meaning it refers to the income a business makes from its primary business activities. If this sounds like sales turnover, it’s close – but not quite. Revenue deals with income made after deducting trade discounts, returns or allowances.<\/span><\/p>\nConsidering this, revenue can be split into two parts:<\/span><\/p>\n\n- Operating revenue – <\/b>Anything generated from core business operations.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Non-operating revenue – <\/b>This type of revenue regards income from second sources, such as interests on investments or the sale of an asset. It’s not considered a regular or recurring source of income.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
Revenue affects all aspects of a company, as it is essentially the overall grading of performance.<\/span><\/p>\nKey Differences<\/b><\/h3>\n
The key differences between the two are quite simple – it’s all about scope:<\/span><\/p>\n\n- Turnover – <\/b>This encompasses all income sources, breaking them down into specific, measurable bits of data.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Revenue is narrower – <\/b>Revenue deals with the net profit of the business after all deductions, a more useful and exact figure that dictates its earning and buying power.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
Breaking Down Turnover Types<\/b><\/h2>\n
The following list will go into more detail about the different turnover types.<\/span><\/p>\nSales Turnover<\/b><\/h3>\n
Sales turnover is also known as total sales revenue, and it’s a fundamental financial metric. It’s effectively a grading of your overall performance in the market through your core product\/service.<\/span><\/p>\nCalculating this is easy. The simple formula is as follows: Sales Turnover = Quality of goods\/services sold x average selling price.<\/span><\/p>\n\n- Determine the quantity per product sold during a period.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Calculate the average selling price for each product by dividing the total revenue for a product by the quantity sold.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Multiply the quantity sold of each product by its average selling price.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Sum up the turnover for all products to get total sales turnover.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
<\/p>\n
By comparing sales turnover year by year, and comparing them to other data, you give yourself access to data that can be used for several things:<\/span><\/p>\n\n- Tracking sales growth – <\/b>Comparing this turnover over time can give valuable insights into the growth trajectory of your business, allowing you to identify trends such as seasonal fluctuations or the success of marketing campaigns.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Market share analysis –<\/b> Benchmark your turnover against competitors, and you will be able to understand your position in the market. This gives you a foundation to launch strategies to increase market share.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Pricing and product decisions – <\/b>Data from individual products or services help identify top performers and underperformers, allowing you to make better, more efficient decisions in pricing and product development.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Sales forecasting – <\/b>Past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour, and the sales data provided will illustrate the behaviour of your clientele. Historical sales trends and any variations over the financial period will allow you to prepare to take advantage of predicted upcoming shifts.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
Inventory Turnover<\/b><\/h3>\n
Your inventory turnover ratio is a grading of how well your business manages stock. The calculation is as follows: Inventory turnover = cost of goods sold (COGS)\/average inventory.<\/span><\/p>\n\n- A clothing retailer has a COGS of \u00a3100,000 and an average inventory value of \u00a325,000<\/span><\/li>\n
- Inventory turnover = \u00a3100,000 \/ \u00a325,000 = 4<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
It’s effectively an indication of how well you’re selling products, taking into account storage costs and the risk of inventory becoming obsolete. A high inventory turnover also indicates that your capital is not tied in unsold inventory that may or may not be able to be sold. A low turnover, on the other hand, signals that you’re either overstocking or have products that are not in demand.<\/span><\/p>\n\n- Optimising inventory costs – <\/b>High inventory turnover indicates that your inventory frequently is depleted and replenished, which also means fewer costs associated with storage space, utilities, and insurance.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Identifying weaker products –<\/b> Low turnover is synonymous, to many, with poor products. By analysing the data, you can improve the turnover rate by pinpointing the specific weak products and investigating the reasons for the low sales.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
Asset Turnover<\/b><\/h3>\n
Your asset turnover refers to how effectively your business uses assets to generate income. Asset turnover = net sales\/average total assets.<\/span><\/p>\n\n- A manufacturing company has net sales of \u00a3500,000 and average total assets of \u00a31,000,000.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Asset turnover = \u00a3500,000 \/ \u00a31,000,000 = 0.5<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
High asset turnover indicates that your investments are making a good return, and operating efficiently, and low asset turnover denotes that assets are being underutilised, or are unable to contribute as much as they otherwise could.<\/span><\/p>\n\n- Identification of underutilised assets – <\/b>By identifying underutilised assets, you can then adjust to take this into account. This could be due to the excess capacity of equipment\/machinery you have on hand, or perhaps you have enough, but the processes are not efficient enough.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Investment decision evaluation – <\/b>The analysis of your turnover can help assess the potential return on investment for future assets, considering historical turnover ratios and projected sales growth.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
Employee Turnover<\/b><\/h3>\n
Employee turnover affects a lot about your business in both costs and reputation. The cost is quite simple, any who joins the company will incur expenses in the realm of recruitment, onboarding and training new employees. Furthermore, the departures of skilled workers could also mean a huge loss in productivity that’s not so easy to get back.<\/span><\/p>\nIn terms of reputation, businesses with a high turnover rate are usually seen as poor choices for prospective employees, or temporary at best. Furthermore, internal discord could occur as a result of the turnover ratios, leading people to fear the loss of their jobs or plan for an exit.<\/span><\/p>\nRevenue<\/b><\/h2>\n
Revenue is the overall grade of your business’s performance. It is the lifeblood of your business, creating the foundation of your profitability. It includes all income sources, though they’re split into operational and non-operational revenue.<\/span><\/p>\nAs we’ve already stated, revenue is calculated similarly to sales turnover, only the following is taken into account:<\/span><\/p>\n\n- Gross Sales – <\/b>Total revenue generated from sales of your products or services, before any deductions. This includes all sales transactions, even those paid on credit.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Sales returns – <\/b>Value of products that have been refunded by customers via a full or partial refund.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Sales allowances – <\/b>Partial refunds or price reductions that are offered to customers through compensation for issues that don’t warrant a full refund.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Discounts – <\/b>Reducing the selling price of a product or service for any reason, such as volume discounts for bulk purchases, promotional discounts to stimulate sales etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
Turnover vs R<\/b>evenue – Taxes, Legalities A<\/b>nd Analysis<\/b><\/h2>\n
Aside from its use within the interior of a business\/company, there are several implications for both UK law and tax.<\/span><\/p>\nTurnover And UK Tax Laws<\/b><\/h3>\n
In the UK, turnover determines tax distribution.<\/span><\/p>\n\n- Value Added Tax (VAT) – <\/b>If your business’ VAT taxable turnover goes beyond the registration threshold, which is \u00a385,000, you must register for VAT. VAT will be charged on sales at this point, collected from customers, and submitted via VAT returns to HMRC.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Corporation Tax – <\/b>A limited company’s taxable profits are the foundation for calculating corporation tax, but turnover can indirectly influence tax liabilities. High turnover equals higher profits, higher profits equal a larger corporation tax bill. Understanding and forecasting your turnover essentially means you can better prepare for the bill.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Making Tax Digital – <\/b>MTD is an initiative that is aimed at modernising the tax system, and all businesses above the VAT threshold are required to use this compatible software to keep digital records and submit VAT returns that way. If your turnover is high enough, you are mandated under this initiative.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n