QuickBooks HelpQuickBooksHelpIntuit

What is a Profit and Loss Report?

by Intuit• Updated 2 years ago

A Profit and Loss (P&L) Report shows your financial position by listing your income against your expenses. From subtracting total expenses from total income, you can check if your business is running on a profit or a loss. 

Profit/Loss = Total Income - Total Expenses

How to run a Profit and Loss Report

  1. Go to Reports.
  2. Select Profit and Loss.
Notes: Access the Profit and Loss Report quickly from the Favourites section in the Reports page.Drill down into individual transactions that make up the Profit and Loss Report by viewing the Profit and Loss Detail Report located under the Business Overview section.

Learn how to run a Profit and Loss Report on the QuickBooks Online mobile app here.

What transactions are shown in the Profit and Loss Report?

Transactions that are allocated to Income or Expense accounts will show up in the Profit and Loss Report. To check if an account is classified as an income or expense account, go to the Gear Icon, then select Chart of accounts. They will be classified as any of the following account types:

  • Income
  • Other income
  • Cost of sales
  • Expenses
  • Other expense

Learn more about Chart of accounts here.

Note: If your Profit and Loss Report seems to be missing transactions, check here to troubleshoot. 

How to compare Profit and Loss figures between periods

You can run a Profit and Loss Comparison Report to observe how your business is performing over time. Learn more about the Profit and Loss Comparison Report here.

QuickBooks Online EssentialsQuickBooks Online PlusQuickBooks Online Simple Start

Sign in now for personalized help

See articles customized for your product and join our large community of QuickBooks users.