I put the monthly total income of invoices from quickbooks into a spreadsheet, but at the end of the tax year, the totals are different. Can anyone tell me why?

Hello there, Sarah. Mismatches often occur when an invoice is dated incorrectly, contains typographical errors, or is either overlooked or duplicated in your spreadsheet. This is a common issue with manual tracking, where small errors can easily slip in during data entry.
 

We can resolve this by identifying the first month where the totals do not match. Place your QuickBooks list beside your spreadsheet rows for easy comparison. When you review them for that specific month, the error usually pops right out.
 

Please let me know if you have any other questions about QuickBooks.

Hi Erica, thanks for your reply. I copy down the monthly income to the spreadsheet at the end of each month as i don’t know how to find them on quickbooks after this as i can only see the option to either look at the current month, the last month, the last 3 months, the last 6 months or the last financial year. Please could you tell me how to look at just September 2025 for example?

thanks

Hi, Sarah. You can view a specific month, such as September 2025, by utilizing the Custom date range feature within your reports. This allows you to pull accurate figures, as it uses the exact data prepared for your tax return.

To do this, follow these steps:

1. Select Reports from the left-hand menu.
2. Find the Profit and Loss report.
3. Use the date dropdown to select Custom and enter your dates (e.g., 01/09/2025 to 30/09/2025).
4. Click View to see your total income for that month.

To get the specific list you need for that comparison, go to the Transactions menu and choose a Custom date range to filter for that specific month. This is more effective than just checking your spreadsheet because it reveals "hidden" issues, like an accidental date change or a business payment marked as "Personal", which would cause the transaction to be excluded from your report totals.

To avoid manual typing errors moving forward, customise your reports or transactions and click the Download icon on the page. This allows you to export your data directly into an Excel or spreadsheet file, ensuring your records always remain an exact match of your QuickBooks data.

Please don't hesitate to leave us a response if you have other questions or concerns.