what is the difference between retained earnings and revenue 
both revenue and retained earnings are important in evaluating a company s financial health but they highlight different aspects of the financial picture revenue sits at the top of the income statement and is often referred to as the top line number when describing a company s financial performance revenue is the money generated by a company during a period but before operating expenses and overhead costs are deducted in some industries revenue is called gross sales because the gross figure is calculated before any deductions retained earnings are the portion of a company s cumulative profit that is held or retained and saved for future use retained earnings could be used for funding an expansion or paying dividends to shareholders at a later date retained earnings are related to net as opposed to gross income because they are the net income amount saved by a company over time 