Discontinued Operations

We as consumers get super-sad when there’s a discontinued product (looking at you, McDonald's OG Szechuan Sauce). A similar phenomenon can happen internally in a company via discontinued operations.

Discontinued operations are part of a company’s business that have been stopped and are now a part of...the past. If new technology changes internal operations, or perhaps a merger which causes the merging of departments, then a company can list “discontinued operations” separately from “continued operations” on their income statement.

For instance, if Burger King and Taco Bell merged into one—only making charbroiled taco-burgers now—they’d list all of their discontinued operations on their income statement separately from their surviving operations of the merger. Until they un-merge because they decide that taco-burger thing was a bad idea.