Can I or should I use a P&L for data entry?

With Financial statements, there are no absolutes or consistencies from one firm to the next. In many cases, such as with owners compensation, it will be mixed with total salaries and wages and health insurance will be mixed with total insurance. Unfortunately the only way to know for sure is to ask for the specific amounts of owners salary, payroll tax, benefits, bonus payments and any other deducted discretionary outlays.

Non-cash charges will be either depreciation or amortization expense with the only caveat being that certain companies (typically manufacturing) may include some depreciation expense in their COGS (which may not be visible).

Interest expense should be identifiable, either within the operating expenses or sometimes in the “other income and expenses” section at the bottom of the income statement. The key is to use a pretax profit figure which is based on the deduction of any interest expense which is then added back.