Income cheers leaders (7)
I believe the answer is:
takings
'income' is the definition.
(I know that takings is a type of income)
'cheers leaders' is the wordplay.
'cheers' becomes 'ta' (both can mean thank you).
'leaders' becomes 'kings' (King is an example).
'ta'+'kings'='TAKINGS'
(Other definitions for takings that I've seen before include "gold received?" , "Income from transactions" , "What's in the till" , "Cash receipts" , "Monetary receipts" .)