Find the missing income and expense transactions in your Profit and Loss report

Find out why your Profit and Loss report is missing income and expense transactions in QuickBooks Online.

In a nutshell, financial reports show how your overall business is doing financially. Meanwhile, a Profit and Loss report is a type of financial statement that shows your business’ revenue and expenses (such as sales, rent, and labor) for a particular period.

If you don’t see your income and expenses in your Profit and Loss report, here are a few things you can check.

Check your accounting basis

The first item that should be checked is how the accounting basis is set for the Profit and Loss report.

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 report

1. Go to Reports (Take me there), then select Reports.
2. On the Favorites ▼dropdown select Profit and Loss.
3. Select General options. Set the Accounting method to how you want the income or expense to be reported.
4. Select Save as.

Tip: Things to know when you run a report:

• Revenue information can be found in invoices and received payments.
• Paying bills involves tracking expenses.
• Cash reports show the date on the invoice or bill.

Understand what is reported on the Profit and Loss report

Something to think about when troubleshooting missing transactions is knowing what exactly will show on the Profit and Loss report.

Often the expectation is that the Profit and Loss report will reflect payments, but that isn't usually the case when the income or expense is recognized.

When troubleshooting missing transactions, consider the following:

• When you receive payment from a customer, that only affects Accounts Receivable and your bank account.
• When you pay a bill, it only affects your Accounts Payable and bank account. These accounts are part of your balance sheet and don't appear on your Profit and Loss report.
• For the revenue for payments to reflect, create an invoice for your customers or vendors. Keep the bill as proof of payment.
• Deposits will appear in your records if they affect your income account, even if you don't use our payment system.
• When you write down the checks you've used or the money you've spent, it'll show up as an expense. Make sure you list the account.
  Note: If the transactions only include balance sheet accounts, they won't be displayed.