Retained earnings Balance sheet vs account

Thanks for seeking guidance here in the Community, @Aaronc5150. 

As an overview, when a Balance Sheet doesn’t match up, it is usually because the Aging Report defaults to Current. Ensure you use the Acrual as reporting method when running the Balance Sheet report.

You'll want to change the aging method to report the date. 

Here's how:

1. Open the A/R Aging report, then select Customize.
2. Select Aging, then choose Report Date under Aging Method.
3. Select Run report.

For additional insights, check out this article to get more insights about viewing the Retained Earnings account details in QuickBooks Online.

Get back here if you have additional concerns. I'd be glad to guide you again.

Thanks for the response and information! In this case, the balance sheet is actually showing the correct amount for retained earnings.  But when I go to the chart of accounts and open up retained earnings, it’s only showing the amount from when I opened in the beginning of 2022.  Should the retained earnings account show accumulated detail and it’s amount to match the balance sheet., or is that not the way it works?

Thanks for coming back to us, @Aaronc5150.

Your Retained Earnings account shows the total of your company's income and expenses from all previous years. When a new fiscal year starts, QuickBooks Online (QBO) automatically adds the net income from the previous fiscal year to your Balance Sheet as Retained Earnings.

However, you can't simply select Retained Earnings from the Balance Sheet to view details. The Retained Earnings account is a rollover of all previous fiscal years' net profit (or loss), and QuickBooks automatically and electronically swaps funds from your net income or loss into the account and doesn't record any visible transactions for it.

Because of this, to see what makes up your Retained Earnings, you have to run your previous year's Profit and Loss statement.

Here's how:

1. Go to the Reports menu.
2. Locate and select the Profit and Loss report.
3. From the Report period dropdown list, select All Dates.
4. Select Run report.
5. Click the Net Income amount to open the Profit and Loss Detail report for All Dates.

Visit this link to learn more about retained earnings: What are retained earnings and how to calculate them?

Let me know if you have other questions about retained earnings. I'm always here to help.