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Accounting
Non-Recurring Item
An expense or income that is unusual and not expected to happen again in normal operations.
Companies must disclose non-recurring items clearly in the notes. Investors look at 'adjusted' or 'underlying' profit figures that strip them out so they can compare performance year after year.
It's like a one-time medical bill — it hurts this year but won't appear on next year's statement.
Real world: A company pays a large legal settlement or sells an old factory. These are non-recurring items. Analysts remove them when calculating adjusted profit to see the true ongoing performance.
💡 Non-recurring items can distort this year's profit — always look at the underlying numbers.