Traditional financial statements, particularly the income statement, are prepared to reflect
earnings available to owners. As a result, net income includes an expense to represent the
cost of debt capital in the form of interest expense. Dividends or other charges for equity
capital, however, are not deducted. Traditional accounting lets the owners decide whether
earnings cover their opportunity costs. The economic concept of residual income, on the
other hand, explicitly deducts the estimated cost of equity capital, the finance concept that
measures shareholders’ opportunity costs.