Profit and Loss report does not match a sales report

A noticeable discrepancy between the Profit & Loss and a Sales reports (such as Sales by Item Summary) may be due to one or more issues, including, but not limited to the following:

• The date ranges of the reports do not match.
• The accounting bases of the reports do not match.
• Sales items point to incorrect sales accounts.
• The P&L report includes transactions that do not use items (e.g., the Expense Tab on a bill or a journal entry).
• List or transaction damage in the company data file.

The following steps should help correct the discrepancy between Profit and Loss and Sales report:

Step 1: Confirm that the reports have the same date range and basis

1. On each report, select Customize report.
2. From the Dates dropdown, select All.
3. Set the report basis to Accrual, then select OK.
4. Check the reports.

Continue to Step 2 if there is still a discrepancy on the income amount between the two reports.

Step 2: Make sure the items point to the correct accounts

1. From the Lists menu, select Item List.
2. In the Item List, right-click anywhere and select Customize Columns.
3. Make sure the Account and Cost Account columns are included.
4. Check the accounts for each sales item.
5. Correct all items that have the wrong accounts.
6. Check the reports.

If there is still a discrepancy on the income amount between the two reports, continue to Step 3.

Step 3: Check for transactions without items

1. Run the P&L report in Accrual basis and with Date set to All.
2. Double-click to quick zoom on the amount in question.
3. On the detail report, set Total By to Item then refresh the report.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the report to see transactions totaled under "No Item."
5. Check the reports.

If these transactions do not explain the difference in the two reports, continue to Step 4.

Step 4: Check for damage in your data file

Learn how to resolve data damage on your company file.  After following the article, check the reports again. If there is still a discrepancy on the income amount between the two reports, continue to Step 5.

Step 5: Compare the detail reports line by line to find differences

1. Run the Profit and Loss report
   1. From the Reports menu, select Company & Financial > Profit & Loss Standard.
   2. Select Customize Report .
   3. From the Dates dropdown, select All and for report basis, select Accrual.
   4. Double-click to quick zoom the account in question.
   5. Set the Total By to Item.
2. Run the Sales report
   1. From Reports menu, select Sales > Sales by [Item Summary].
   2. Select Customize Report .
   3. From the Dates dropdown, select All and for report basis, select Accrual.
   4. If it is a summary report, double click to quick zoom the total amount.
   5. Set the Total by to Item.
3. Close the source reports leaving only the two detail reports open.
4. Go to the Window menu then select Tile Vertically.
5. Compare the two reports line by line to find differences.

If you find that a transaction is being reported differently, then try to Fix damaged transactions.