When you record transactions in accounting, you're updating various account balances, such as assets, liabilities, and equity. These updated balances contribute to the creation of the balance sheet, which provides a snapshot of a company's financial position at a specific point in time.

The income statement, on the other hand, reflects the changes in these balances over a period of time. There's nothing special about the line items on the income statement (e.g. revenue or expense). Any value on the income statement represents a change in what the company owns (assets) or what it owes (liabilities or equity).