In business, total value added is calculated by tabulating the unit value added (measured by summing unit profit [the difference between sale price and production cost], unit depreciation cost, and unit labor cost) per each unit of product sold. Thus, total value added is equivalent to revenue minus intermediate consumption. Value added is a higher portion of revenue for integrated companies (e.g. manufacturing companies) and a lower portion of revenue for less integrated companies (e.g. retail companies); total value added is very closely approximated by compensation of employees, which represents a return to labor, plus earnings before taxes, representative of a return to capital. In economics, specifically macroeconomics, the term value added refers to the contribution of the factors of production (i.e. capital and labor) to raise the value of the product and increase the income of those who own the said factors. Therefore, the national value added is shared between capital and labor. Outside of business and economics, value added refers to the economic enhancement that a company gives its products or services prior to offering them to the consumer, which justifies why companies are able to sell products for more than they cost the company to produce. Additionally, this enhancement also helps distinguish the company's products from those of its competitors. Definition Value added is the market value of the aggregate output of a transformation process, minus the market value of the aggregate input(s) of a transformation process. One way of describing value added is with the help of Ulbo de Sitter's design theory for production synergies. He divides transformation processes into two categories, parts and aspects. Parts can be compared to stages, such as first preparing the dish, then washing it, then drying it. Aspects are equated with area specialization, for example that someone takes care of the part of the counter that consists of glass, another takes care of the part that consists of plates, a third takes care of cutlery. Thus, an important point of view for understanding value added is to understand its delimitations. National accounts The factors of production provide "services" which raise the unit price of a product (X) relative to the cost per unit of intermediate goods used up in the production of X. In national accounts, such as the United Nations System of National Accounts (UNSNA) or the United States National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA), gross value added is