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Run a profit and loss comparison report

by Intuit•131• Updated about 17 hours ago

Learn how to run a Profit and Loss Comparison report in QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Online Accountant.

Use profit and loss comparison reports to compare your income and expenses for different periods. You can compare your performance this week, month, or year with other timeframes. This shows you how your business is performing over time.

Some of your reports will look different depending on whether they're in the classic view or new enhanced experience. Learn more about the new enhanced experience.


Run a profit and loss comparison report

  1. Go to Reports Icon image of the Reports menu. and select Standard reports (Take me there).
  2. Select the Type report name here dropdown, then select Profit and Loss Comparison. You can also browse the list.
  3. Select the Report period dropdown, then select your preferred date range.
    Note: By default, this report shows the current year-to-date and the same period last year.
  4. For Accounting method, select Cash or Accrual.
  5. Select Compare to dropdown. Here you can select multiple items.
    1. To see the same period and dates last year, select Previous year (PY).
    2. To see the last period for your preferred dates, select Previous Period (PP).
    3. From the Calculations, select $ change or % change.


I want to see if this year's holiday week sales were better than last year. I only want to see the money I made, not the invoices, and the exact difference in the amount.

  1. Go to Reports Icon image of the Reports menu. and select Standard reports (Take me there).
  2. Select the Type report name here dropdown, then select Profit and Loss Comparison.
  3. Select the Report period dropdown, then select This week.
  4. For Accounting method, select Cash.
  5. Select Compare to dropdown. The Previous year (PY) checkbox is already selected by default.
  6. From the Calculations, select $ change.

This shows you how much you made for each product this year compared to last year.