Income on the Balance Sheet doesn't match the income on the P&L

Hello, @jantco.

Allow me to share some information about running reports in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

The Cost of Good Sold (COGS) is only affected when you sell inventory items on invoices or sales receipts. It'll also show up on the Profit and Loss report either on the Accrual or Cash basis depending on how you record the transaction when the item is sold out.

Also, the Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet are two different reports. Each report has designated accounts to reason why they don't match. The profit and loss report shows your income and expenses while the balance sheet displays your assets, liabilities, and equity.

To learn more about inventory tracking and COGS, check out this article.

Also, read the details from this link for your reference about running and customizing reports in QBO.

If you have any other questions, mention my name in the comment section below. I'm always here to help as quickly as I can. Have a good day!

My fiscal year is November 1st to October 31st and I need the net income on my balance sheet to reflect that.  How can I do that? 

Good day and congratulations on making your first post here, @Lromoff. It's my priority to help you pull up a balance sheet report according to your preferred fiscal year.

The Balance Sheet report shows net income for the current fiscal year. You'll need to set your report period to view it. I’ll show you how:

1. On the left pane, go to the Reports tab.
2. Enter Balance Sheet on the Search bar, then choose which report you’d like to run.
3. Set the report period from November 1st to October 31st.
4. Click Run report.

For your reference, I've added some snapshots below:

Here’s an article you can read about how this report works in the program: What is a Balance Sheet report in QuickBooks Online? This includes the difference of it among others and the steps to compare the Balance Sheet to A/R Aging Summary or A/R Aging Detail reports.

Furthermore, you can also change your fiscal year or the start of your financial year in QuickBooks. This way, you won’t have to customize the dates in your report again.

Here’s how:

1. Go to the Gear icon and select Accounts and Settings.
2. Select the Advanced tab and click on the Accounting section.
3. Choose November for the first month of fiscal year option.
4. Tap Save, and then Done.

    

I’ve added these resources to guide you with filtering to get the data you need and saving it with its current customization settings:

• Customize reports in QuickBooks Online
• Memorize reports in QuickBooks Online

Feel free to leave a reply in the comment section if you need further help with managing reports or anything else related to QuickBooks. I'll always be here to assist you. Wishing you all the best!

@Lromoff 

@JamaicaA's instructions will not work. 

Go to Settings > Account and Settings > Advanced.  Under Accounting, change the First month of the fiscal year to November and the First month of income tax year to Same as fiscal year.  Click Done.

I am on Accrual Basic and this is the first Month (February) which I can't understand why income on both reports does not match...