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Track cash flow with reports in QuickBooks

by Intuit•10• Updated 3 weeks ago

Learn how to use QuickBooks Online reports to track your cash flow and manage your short and long-term finances.

Before you begin

Make sure your data is accurate so your cash flow reports are reliable.

Enter all your transactions into QuickBooks.
Reconcile your accounts so they match your bank and credit card statements.
If your reconciliation report matches your account statement, you can run reports. If not, fix beginning balance issues first.

Forecast your cash flow

A cash flow forecast shows how long your business can operate with the money available.

You can test different scenarios by adjusting income and expenses. To help plan, you can download the forecasting worksheet and set a three-month goal to keep your cash on track.

Run key reports

Use these reports in QuickBooks Online to review income, expenses, invoices, and bills.

Profit and loss report

Check your income and expenses for the last three months.

Follow this link to complete the steps in product
Select Profit and Loss.
From the Report period dropdown, select Since 90 Days Ago or Custom.
Select Run report.

Focus on your main income sources and high-cost expenses such as payroll, rent, insurance, and marketing.

Open invoices report

See all unpaid invoices and statement charges with customer totals.

Follow this link to complete the steps in product
Go to the Who owes you section.
Select Open Invoices.
From the Report period dropdown, choose your date range or Custom dates.

Unpaid bills report

View bills with due dates and days past due to understand short-term cash flow.

Follow this link to complete the steps in product
Go to the What you owe section.
Select Unpaid Bills.
From the Report period dropdown, choose your date range or Custom dates.
To filter by due date, select Filter and set the due date equals option.

Optimise your cash flow

Once you’ve run the reports, use them to improve your cash flow.

Step 1: See which customers owe you

Focus on overdue invoices to keep money coming in.

Run the Open invoices report to see which customers owe you the most.
Run the Customer balance detail report to view balances and due dates. Sort by due date to identify the most overdue invoices.

If you use QuickBooks Online Advanced, set up AI-powered reminders in workflows to help with late payments.

Step 2: Lower fixed expenses

Reduce recurring costs such as rent and insurance.

Run the Transaction detail by account report.
Once you’ve run the reports, use them to improve your cash flow.
Filter by Rent or Insurance accounts to see average monthly costs.

Step 3: See which bills are due

Stay on top of supplier payments and negotiate payment plans if needed.

Run the Unpaid bills report to view overdue bills and due dates.
Run the Expenses by supplier summary report, then sort by total spend to see which suppliers to contact first.

Step 4: Reduce money out

Work with lenders, tax agencies, and suppliers to improve payment terms.

Run the Transaction detail by account report, filtered by Long term liabilities, to see which lenders to contact about deferring loan payments.
Run the VAT detail report to see how much you owe in VAT.
Run the Total payroll cost report to calculate payroll tax.

If you use QuickBooks Online Advanced, you can build custom reports with Custom Report Builder.

Step 5: Minimise discretionary spending

Cut non-essential costs such as subscriptions, advertising, and entertainment.

Run the Transaction detail by account report.
Filter for Subscriptions, Advertising, or Entertaining accounts to review and reduce spending.

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