Which component is a part of the income statement?

The income statement is a financial document that summarizes a company's revenues and expenses over a specific period, typically a fiscal quarter or year. Its primary purpose is to provide insight into a company's profitability during that time frame.

Expenses are a fundamental component of the income statement because they represent the costs incurred in the process of generating revenue. These can include costs related to production, administrative expenses, and selling expenses, among others. By subtracting total expenses from total revenues, the income statement ultimately determines the net income or profit of the business.

In contrast, the other options—assets, capital, and liabilities—are components related to the balance sheet. The balance sheet provides a snapshot of a company's financial position at a particular point in time and includes assets (what the company owns), liabilities (what the company owes), and capital (the equity invested in the company). Therefore, they do not appear on the income statement, making expenses the correct choice in this context.