Operating expenses
In accounting, operating expenses means the costs of running the business other than the direct costs of revenue — selling, general and administrative, and research and development. They sit between gross profit and operating income.
Also called Opex.
Authority: Reg S-X 5-03 (opens in a new tab). Sources
The lesson that teaches this
From the free founder back-office course, taught on one company's books, with exercises to work it yourself.
Operating expenses, in use
Quoted from the 2 documents that use the word: what it does to an interface, in the spec's own words.
Revenue → COGS → Gross profit → Operating expenses → Operating income → Other → Net income.
"Operating expenses — Engineering, US entity, Sep 2026" is a different number from "Operating expenses".
For founders
The same idea written for a founder: what it costs a startup that ignores it, and what to do in a real month.
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- How to read an income statement (P&L)Revenue, cost of revenue, gross margin, operating expenses and net income, read line by line, on accrual basis, with the mistakes founders make most.
What it is not called
Each of these means something else. Use one here and an accountant reading the product notices.
- cost of revenue
- capex (an asset, not a period cost)
Components that render this
These components name it in their spec, grouped and labeled exactly as the catalog shows them.
Components that render the terms it depends on
Few components name this concept outright, but it's built from terms they do name. These render revenue.
Nearby in the catalog
Components in the same part of the system that don't name this term. A looser link than the list above.
7Dashboard & charts
Family specAlso in Statements
Defined in Lexicon. This page is generated from that document, so the two can't disagree.