extraordinary item

A revenue or expense that is unusual and infrequent, as defined by the Accounting Principles Board in its Opinion No. 30. Examples of  extraordinary items include expenses to deal with a fire, earthquake, or uninsured losses from a flood, the gain or loss from early retirement of debt, or the expropriation of a property by a foreign government. Companies’ financial statements separate extraordinary items from regular expenses in order to give investors what the companies consider a more accurate picture of their ongoing business and expenses.