bottom line

noun

1. the last line of a financial statement, used for showing net profit or loss.

2. net profit or loss.

3. the deciding or crucial factor.

4. the ultimate result; outcome.

bottom line

noun

1. the last line of a financial statement that shows the net profit or loss of a company or organization

2. the final outcome of a process, discussion, etc

3. the most important or fundamental aspect of a situation

bottom line

1. The last line in an audit, which shows profit or loss.

“Bottom line” also has a derogatory implication when it refers to those people whose attention to the bottom line prevents them from recognizing the value of anything else.

By extension, “bottom line” refers to the final, determining consideration in a decision.

Other Word Forms

• bottom-line adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bottom line¹

First recorded in 1965–70

Idioms and Phrases

The ultimate result, the upshot; also, the main point or crucial factor. For example, The bottom line is that the chairman wants to dictate all of the board's decisions, or Whether or not he obeyed the law is the bottom line. This is an accounting term that refers to the earnings figures that appear on the bottom (last) line of a statement. It began to be transferred to other contexts in the mid-1900s.

Example Sentences

The bottom line was also boosted by a sharp drop in special losses from the year-earlier period, when it booked large losses related to restructuring efforts.

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The bottom line, meanwhile, got a lift from falling fuel prices.

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And Pfizer avoided tariffs with a strategy that would be a minimal hit to its bottom line.

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The bottom line for home buyers and investors is that the coming direction of mortgage rates is subject to a host of varied and unpredictable forces.

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The bottom line is there is a growing backlog of borrowers who are waiting to refinance, and they are even more sensitive to rates than they were last year.

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Related Words

• cardinal 
• critical 
• crucial 
• essential 
• fundamental 
• important 
• indispensable