What financial statement provides a detailed view of profit earned over time?

The Profit and Loss Account, also known as the Income Statement, is specifically designed to provide a detailed view of the profits and losses of a business over a designated period of time. This financial statement summarizes revenues, costs, and expenses incurred during that period, ultimately resulting in the net profit or loss. It allows stakeholders to understand how effectively a company is generating profit from its operations by comparing income against various types of expenses.

While the Trial Balance serves as an internal report to ensure that bookkeeping entries are balanced, and the Ledger tracks all individual transactions in detail, these documents do not focus explicitly on profit over time. An Annual Report offers a comprehensive overview of the company’s performance and may include the Profit and Loss Account but does not solely concentrate on profit earned. Therefore, the Profit and Loss Account is the correct choice for indicating detailed profit over time.