Revenues are calculated before any expenses are taken into consideration, and are most often seen as the bellwether for overall business health. To calculate net income, or business profits, accountants subtract total money spent and other costs from the headline revenue figure.

For governments, officials typically report a country's net public surplus or deficit as a function of revenues minus total outlays. If total spending exceeds revenues, the government must borrow money from private source--typically in the form of government bonds as is the case with the United States. As such, markets will tend to watch expansion and contraction in total revenues so as to forecast the amount of private capital that will be required to offset any government deficits.