Revenue is the total amount of money that a business, organization, or government collects from its activities before paying any expenses. When a lemonade stand sells cups of lemonade for fifty cents each and sells 100 cups, its revenue is fifty dollars. That's different from profit, which is what's left after you subtract the costs of lemons, sugar, cups, and the poster board for your sign.

Companies earn revenue by selling products or providing services. A bookstore's revenue comes from selling books, a movie theater's revenue comes from ticket sales and popcorn, and a software company's revenue comes from people buying or subscribing to its programs. Governments collect revenue mainly through taxes.

When people talk about revenue streams, they mean the different ways money flows into a business. A zoo might have multiple revenue streams: admission tickets, gift shop sales, and special event fees.

Revenue matters because it shows how much business activity is happening, even if some of that money will need to cover costs later. A company might have high revenue but low profit if its expenses are also high.