Items of financial statements that have a financial impact, though not directly related to the core business/ operations of a firm, such as interest income/ expenses, gains/ losses from asset disposal, taxes, and broadly all items that are extraordinary in nature (non-recurring gains, non-recurring losses, etc). In this context, the “line” refers to gross profit (GP). These items are shown below the amount of the gross profit of the firm during a specific period of time.. Below the line does not affect profit and loss account (reported profit) hence it does not tell much about the real financial performance and health of the company. However, reaching at net profit (bottom line) requires deduction of these items from the gross profit. If below the line items are not there, net profit will be equal to gross profit.