Example

Calculating Economic and Accounting Profit

A small bakery generates $80,000 in annual revenue. The explicit costs for ingredients, rent, and utilities total $50,000. The owner, who works full-time as the baker, could have earned a $40,000 salary working elsewhere. The owner also invested $20,000 of their own savings, which could have earned a 5% return ($1,000). The accounting profit is calculated as Total Revenue - Explicit Costs, which is $80,000 - $50,000 = $30,000. The economic profit is Total Revenue - (Explicit Costs + Implicit Costs), which is $80,000 - ($50,000 + $40,000 + $1,000) = -$11,000. This scenario illustrates how a business can show a positive accounting profit while having a negative economic profit.

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Updated 2026-05-02

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