Capital expenses are not showing in my profit and loss

Thanks for reaching out in QuickBooks Community with your question about reports, @alext-pobox-com. I understand how having a report that allows you to see your capital and expenses along with the Tools & Machinery category would benefit you.

There are a couple of reports that can help us get the information we need. To provide the most useful one specific for your concern, I need more information about this.

May I ask how you recorded the items under the Tools & Machinery? Is it under expense account? If so, it should be included to your Profit & Loss report.

Otherwise, purchased equipment is reported on the balance sheet. It’s an increase in the fixed assets line item. More specifically, it is initially recorded in the Equipment fixed assets account. 

Only then the company starts recognizing depreciation expense on the equipment. This amount appears in the P&L report within the depreciation expense line item, and will continue to do so until the asset has been fully depreciated.

Please know that any additional information is much appreciated. Rest assured, I'm here to respond to your concerns and provide the best resolution.

When I make a purchase of a piece of equipment I record the receipt under Tools & Equipment.  However, that Profit and Loss report does not reflect any of these purchases.  The only items listed under expenses are office supplies, supplies and materials and other fees.  All the money I have spent on the equipment is not listed here.  As a result the Net Income number is way larger than my bank account.  

I wonder if the statement of cash flows report is the one that will work the best?

Thanks for getting back to us!

I've come to provide additional information on how transactions show on your financial reports.

Using an expense account when recording an expense transaction should display on your profit and loss report. To clarify, is the selected Tools & Machinery category under an expense account? If not, it's the reason why it isn't showing on your profit and loss report. You'll want to open the expense transaction and verify the category selected.

However, if it's under an expense account, you'll want to check the reporting period of the report and ensure the date when the transactions were created is set.

Come back to this post and let me know how it goes. I want to make sure you're taken care of.

You may want to run and customize your profit and loss report by bank account. This article will guide you through the process: Run a Profit and Loss report by bank account in QuickBooks Online.

Wishing you continued success.

The account type for Tools, Machinery and Equipment is "Fixed Assets".  Which I think is correct since these are assets which will last more than a year.  So it doesn't sound like these will appear on the profit and loss report.