the bottom line

the bottom line

1. Literally, the final figure on a statement showing a person or company's total profit or loss. What is the bottom line for this quarter?
2. By extension, the most important aspect of something. You have all made compelling arguments, but the bottom line is that we need a viable, cost-effective solution, and I still don't think we've found one yet.
3. Profit or the desire for profit as an ultimate goal. These large corporations are only driven by the bottom line. They couldn't care less whether their product is durable.
See also: bottom, line
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

bottom line

 
1. Lit. the last figure on a financial profit-and-loss statement, or on a bill. What's the bottom line? How much do I owe you? Don't tell me all those figures! Just tell me the bottom line.
2. Fig. the result; the final outcome. I know about all the problems, but what is the bottom line? What will happen? The bottom line is that you have to go to the meeting because no one else can.
See also: bottom, line
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

bottom line

The ultimate result, the upshot; also, the main point or crucial factor. For example, The bottom line is that the chairman wants to dictate all of the board's decisions, or Whether or not he obeyed the law is the bottom line. This is an accounting term that refers to the earnings figures that appear on the bottom (last) line of a statement. It began to be transferred to other contexts in the mid-1900s.
See also: bottom, line
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

the bottom line

COMMON In a discussion or argument, the bottom line is the most important and basic fact about what you are discussing. The bottom line is that the great majority of our kids are physically unfit. The bottom line is he's a real nice guy and I don't want to hurt him. Note: You can use bottom-line before a noun. This is a very good story, and that is the bottom-line criterion for any novel. Note: This expression refers to the last line in a set of accounts, which states how much money has been made.
See also: bottom, line
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

the bottom line

the final reality; the important conclusion.
Literally, the bottom line is the final total in an account or balance sheet.
1991 Sun The bottom line is that we would rather have Venables and Sugar than Gazza, Maxwell and Scholar.
See also: bottom, line
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

the ˌbottom ˈline

(informal) the important conclusion, judgement, or result: We’ve had some success this year, but the bottom line is that the business is still losing money.
See also: bottom, line
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

the bottom line

1. n. the grand total; the final figure on a balance sheet. (Securities markets.) The company’s bottom line is in bad shape.
2. n. the result; the nitty-gritty; the score. The bottom line is that you really don’t care.
See also: bottom, line
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

bottom line

The ultimate result; the most important element. The term comes from accounting, where the bottom line of a financial statement shows the earnings figures. In the mid-twentieth century, the term began to be transferred to the outcome of any kind of undertaking, and soon afterward it was extended to mean the crux of any problem or the consequences of any issue. It is well on its way to becoming a cliché.
See also: bottom, line
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • literally
  • denial
  • a non-denial denial
  • at the buzzer
  • buzzer
  • (the) survival of the fittest
  • beat the daylights out of
  • beat the hell out of
  • beat the living daylights out of someone
  • beat/scare the daylights out of somebody
References in periodicals archive
In addition, the bottom line for the fourth quarter reflects a $680,000 future liability related to a lease commitment on a closed store, while full-year results were negatively impacted by a $6.1 million charge associated with the separation agreement for the company's former chief executive officer, a $2.1 million impairment charge for four properties that were sold and the fourth quarte lease liability cited above.
Weis earnings off in quarter, year
The bottom line was also supported by a 12% QoQ decrease in provisioning.
ATON - Daily Dashboard, Financials, Dec 2, 2011
NSBA's The Bottom Line will be featured in the NSBA Advocate and on-line at www.nsba.biz/bottomline.
Getting to the bottom of the truth one story at a time
THE BOTTOM LINE A boy will really feel cool showing off his smarts and skills, as long as you don't slather on the compliments too thick.
Cute boys ahead. Now what? Want more boy attention? Fine-tune your crush skills here
The bottom line: There is no good evidence that ginkgo improves sexual desire or performance in people, depressed or not.
Sex in a bottle: the hard sell
Allen and Morris Wilburn, Linking Customer And Employee Satisfaction To The Bottom Line: A Comprehensive Guide To Establishing The Impact Of Customer And Employee Satisfaction On Critical Business Outcomes is organized into eleven distinct chapters focusing on the issues thematically related to developing and improving corporate fiscal success through sustained customer and employee attitudes toward products and services provided at every step of the corporate process.
Linking Customer and Employee Satisfaction to the Bottom Line
The salesman proceeded to say, "Bankers are always worried about the bottom line." Had I been the person on the receiving end of the conversation, I might have been a little upset with the comment.
Truth of the matter
In 1999, when Mary Ann Mahon Huels took over the direction of our organization as executive director, she made it clear that we also had to look at the bottom line. As we look at the different possibilities and acquire a better understanding of the dynamics of Hispanic communities, we can assess and improve our outreach strategies and develop new approaches to better serve their children--using both concepts.
Outreaching to diverse communities: the Hispanic community
An official with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which oversees the guidelines, told the Associated Press the aim is "to increase the deterrent value of our program, which is basically the whole bottom line." Deterrence is the bottom line? Where's the love?
Let the love flow: student drug testing
In this case, the cost savings are paying for the investment and will continue to contribute to the bottom line long after the investment is paid off.
Rethinking capacity management
So lower energy prices will bring much needed relief, and those processors who have managed to survive the past three years should see most of this relief fall right to the bottom line.
Profit outlook improves for processors
Teammates--This issue of The Air Force Comptroller magazine initiates a recurring feature that will appear at the end of every addition--an article by me that I term The Bottom Line.
The bottom line
One of the goals of the group is to create reliability-focused programs at the PIMA International Management Conference each summer Our name expresses the contribution the critical support function of maintenance contributes to the bottom line of our capital-intensive industry, first, through reducing costs, second, through increasing plant capacity, and finally, through extending the life of our working assets.
The next step for manufacturing reliability: surveying our industry
But it is the advertising component that makes or breaks the bottom line.
Investment banker notes how better off newsletters are than business magazines
For many of the companies, there would have been a dramatic shift in the bottom line. For example, Intel's profit would have dropped from $1.3 billion to $254 million; and Cisco's loss would have increased from $1 billion to $2.7 billion.
Stock options are compensation. (Sound Off)