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Is the answer to this question still "export it to Excel"? Really, that's the answer??!! How can you take simple reports from Desktop and not even include them in Online. How is that progress?
I understand your frustration with having to pull up reports which are the same as QuickBooks Desktop @Civic. I can see the relevance of this feature and develop this function as soon as possible.
Please know that the feature limitation is due to the difference in functionality between the QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online, and the only way to make it possible is by sending feedback to our product developers.
With that, we can send a recommendation to our product developer and discuss this further with them. This way, they'll see your proposal and consider adding it to the next software update.
Follow the steps below:
Our Product Development team receives your thoughtful comments (QBO) through the feature request tracking: QuickBooks Online Feature Requests website.
I'm also adding this article to discover what data you can move from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online: Learn how features and data move from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online.
Let me know if you need help with pull-up reports available in QuickBooks Online. I'll do my best to assist you.
Run the report and click on Customize. On that screen select Accounts vs. Total under "Show Grid". That's how I was able to get the report to show a year snapshot. It looks something like what's attached.
I agree, the on-line version is much more difficult to manage than the desktop version. I too get very frustrated when I can't do some of the things I used to do in the desktop version.
I appreciate your reply, but our issue is that we create monthly reports for board meetings so they can view our finances through the full month prior to the meeting. If I do what you suggest, it shows the full year, i.e. the year up to the date that you are creating the report. I want it to show as of the month prior. When I change those date ranges, the budget defaults to the budget as of that date as well. For example, I want a BvA report for July. I must create that on some day in August, as I don't have all of the expenses known/entered on July 31 (interest income, payroll, etc.). I begin with the report you mentioned. But it is as of the day in August that I am creating it. When I change the date range to July 1-31, each line of the budget changes to each budget total arbitrarily divided by 12. That calculation is nothing that I entered, nor is it the slightest bit useful. I want to compare each month to a static total budget... like you can on Desktop. Is there a way to do that?
This is currently only available in the Desktop version. For this and many other reasons, we do recommend QuickBooks Desktop for those looking to use their QuickBooks data for strategic financial planning - the reporting is just too limited in Online. If you're happy with Online, consider a tool like CDATA to extract the info out of Online into Excel and the build the report in Excel. We've done that with several clients.
If you're looking to set up Budgeting in Desktop / switch from Online, we've put together a step by step article for Budgeting Setup in Desktop that could be useful for those in this thread
https://lucrumconsulting.com/budgeting-in-quickbooks-101-create-a-budget-in-quickbooks/"
It has been OVER FOUR years that this report has been repeatedly requested and QBO STILL is not offering it.
We are in the middle of migrating to QBO (still running parallels) and it is this type of thing that makes us believe that we should drop the migration and stay with desktop!!
We just switched to QB Online and I'm so disappointed this report does not exist there. I cannot find a way to customize it either. Very disappointing! It is a pretty basic report, I can't believe it has not been developed.
Hello, Meredith.
I can see how important it is for you and your business to have access to this report. I'm here to provide you with a workaround for this issue.
Rest assured that our customer's feedbacks are reviewed by our product developers and are working on adding this feature to the next updates. However, sharing your feedback on the matter will also greatly help us enhance our services and improve your overall experience in QuickBooks Online (QBO). Here's how you can share your thoughts with our development engineers:
As a workaround, we can generate a Profit and Loss YTD Comparison report to compare your income and expenses for this month and the year-to-date. Please follow the steps below to generate the report:
I'll also include this article for additional information: Run a Profit and Loss Comparison Report in QuickBooks Online and Online Accountant.
To save time generating the same reports in the future, refer to this article: Memorize reports in QuickBooks Online.
If you have more queries on Budget vs Actual report, feel free to reply to this thread. I'll be on the lookout to assist you further. Take care.
Thanks, Faith. I appreciate the response and will submit the feedback through the site.
The year over year comparison is not what we are looking for, so that is not a workaround that will work for us. What we really need is a modified budget vs. actual that will allow us to look at the business after the month closes. For example, right now we need to look at the month of May actual vs. budget, YTD actual vs budget, and annual budget. The desktop version had that report, called Profit and Loss Budget Comparison. If we were able to add a YTD column to Budget vs Actual and filter out the previous months, that would work.
Well, this is something that definitely needs to be developed and added. My board wants to see our profit and loss figures for the fiscal year compared to our budget. Seems like a basic report- one column for actual and a second column for budget. All I can give them now is a breakdown month by month in 36 columns, which is ridiculous. Equally ridiculous, in a program that we pay $200.00 a month for, is the incredible amount of time I have to spend exporting the information to an excel spreadsheet and turning it into a readable report.
Presenting the report to your board with minimal yet complete data is crucial, Penny B. I can show you how to compare your Profit and Loss amounts and budget within a certain period.
In QuickBooks Online (QBO), we can run a Budget vs. Actuals report, choose what fiscal year you'd want to compare to your budget and customize it accordingly to display the total or selected data in your report.
Here's how:
If you're customizing from Modern View, kindly use this article: Customize reports in QuickBooks Online using Modern View.
You can also export or print your report if you want to use it outside QBO.
Please let me know if you have further questions about customizing your report, Penny B. I'm here to help you.
And it is now 2025, and they still have not added it. I so wish we had not migrated from QB Desktop. To export to excel for such a basic report is unacceptable. There should be an option to have Custom Reports and be able to select your columns. This is basic!
I know how vital and valuable your time is, Elsielo. Having easily customizable reports that fit your specific needs, especially with the functionality you had before which made your workflow smoother, is essential. In QuickBooks Online (QBO), you can run Budget vs. Actuals and Profit & Loss Reports to review and customize these reports to display either comprehensive or selected data according to your needs.
In the meantime you can run these reports and consolidate them to showcase your monthly data, budget month, year-to-date actuals, and year-to-date budget details in a single report. Here's how:
Budget vs. Actuals Report
Profit & Loss Report
I see the value of this feature and prioritize its development as soon as possible. Thus, I suggest submitting a feedback to our product developer and discuss this further with them. This approach will ensure that they review your proposal and potentially include it in the upcoming software update. Please follow the steps below:
Alternatively, you can stay up-to-date with the latest news and feature enhancements by visiting the QuickBooks Blog.
Furthermore, consider bookmarking this guide on how to save a report's customization settings, which will help you streamline your processes in the future: Save a customized report in QuickBooks Online.
If you need additional assistance or have more suggestions, please feel free to return to this thread. We are dedicated to continually improving our software to meet the needs of our users and are committed to enhancing your experience. We truly value your contributions in shaping our services.
You need to change the ending date. That should fix it.
You can get there by selecting the date period. The report is set up for the fiscal year but you can force it into the date period you are looking at. I too am very frustrated with QBO. It was easy for me to create specific reports in desktop. Instead of trying to make QBO look pretty they need to focus on customer satisfaction, and a lot of customers are NOT satisfied, including me. I've complained many times over the last 3 years but whoever is instructing the programmers just don't care to listen. If there were a better option I'd drop QBO in a heartbeat.
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