Showing all active accounts on P&L even if they have a zero balance.

You'll have to customize the Profit and Loss report to show all active accounts, @Brandi8. I'm here to guide you how.

You're able to customize your financial reports in QuickBooks Online. With this, you can show specific accounts and all other data you need. To show all active accounts, here's how:

1. Go to the Reports menu.
2. Pull up the Profit and Loss report.
3. Click  the Customize button.
4. Set the report date in the Report period field.
5. Go to the Rows/Columns section. Then, select the All option in the Show non-zero or active only drop-down.
6. In the Filter section, choose All in the Distribution Account field.
7. Click Run report.

I've attached a screenshot below that shows the last four steps.

After that, you'll have the option to save the report's current customization settings. To do this, you can refer to this article for the detailed steps: Memorize reports in QuickBooks Online. It also includes steps on how to set a schedule and email information for a memorized report or group.

Also, I'm adding this article to know more about running financial reports in QBO: Run reports in QuickBooks Online. It contains steps on how to print, email, and export reports, and articles related to running reports in QuickBooks.

Let me know if you have other reporting concerns or inquiries about managing accounts in QBO. I'm just around to help. Take care always.

Thank you very much for the quick response. I have followed those steps, yet when I do this I also see any deleted accounts that we have done. Is there a way to only show active accounts?

Thank you,

Brandi

Greetings, @Brandi8.

Thank you for posting in the Community. Let me help you in customizing your Profit and Loss report.

You'll need to use the Active Only filter to view all the active accounts in the said report.

Here's how:

1. Select Reports, from the left pane. 
2. Open the Profit and Loss report, then click Customize.
3. Go to the Rows/Columns section, then select Non-zero in the Show rows field.
4. Select Active-Only in the Show columns field.
5. Click Run report.

See manage and automate custom reports for additional reference.

Keep in touch if you have any other concerns. Enjoy the rest of the week!

Hello Mich,

Unfortunately that brings me right back to where I started. I want to only see the "Active" accounts even if they have a zero balance. Here is what I've tried so far with the Customization....

Show non-zero or active only: Show Rows = All

Filter: Distribution Amount = All

When I do that, I do get to see all the accounts I want + any that have been deleted. How may I only see the "Active" and omit the deleted accounts?

Please see SnipIt of what my report is giving me.

Thank you!! I appreciate you helping me try and sort this out.

Brandi

Hi there, Brandi8.

All accounts, including the deleted or inactive ones, will be shown if All is selected when customizing the Profit and Loss report. 

As a workaround, you can manually check all active accounts in the Distribution account filter. Just click the drop-down for Distribution account and check the boxes of the accounts that you need. 

Aside from that, you can also export the report to Excel. Then, remove the accounts that you don't want to be included in the report. Here's an article for more details: Export Your Reports To Excel From QuickBooks Online. 

Let me know if you need anything else. The Community is always here to help. 

Even when I only select the Distribution Accounts that I want in the filters, it still shows me all the inactive accounts. Is there really no simple way to do this? This is such a basic feature required to compare quarter over quarter or year over year for more than just one other period. Is was a simple checkbox in Quickbooks Desktop. Anyone have a solution for this?!

Thanks for chiming in on this thread, Jaki Ellis.

I'd like to share some additional steps to help you out.

There are two ways on how to stop the deleted accounts from showing on reports.

Here are the following:

• Make sure that non-zero is selected from the Show non-zero or active only rows drop-down in the Customize window.
• Make the account active, then merge it. Please take note that merging an account is irreversible. 

If you want to merge the account, you can check out the step by step instructions in this article: Remove deleted accounts from reports.

To see other reports based on your subscription and how you can customize them, you can click on these links:

• Reports included in your QuickBooks Online subscription
• Customize reports in QuickBooks Online

You're always welcome to post a reply on this thread if you need more help with the reports or other features in your account. Have a good day ahead.

Chiming in because I have the same issue with my reports. This solution does not work. When you merge accounts - all it does is move the transactions over and then deactivate the old account. It does not "go away" at all and still lives in reports forever.

Why are all the replies to these threads from Intuit employees the same? It should not be so difficult to simply show every ACTIVE account in a report, regardless of balance or ACTIVITY (ACTIVE is not the same as having ACTIVITY).

This is not possible in desktop and apparently not in online, and it is because of a design screw up.

There should have been 2 INDEPENDENT settings for displaying rows:

• only active accounts / all accounts
• non-zero amounts / all amounts

This gives 4 possibilities.

Unfortunately, the Quickbooks designers conflated those 2 and provide 1 settings with only 3 options. The option all of us want to use - only active accounts + all amounts - is the option they left out.

Same problem,

Simple solution is to have an option to show all active accounts / include zero.  Thus not showing non active accounts

This is really frustrating for something that should be so simple.

Bill

This should be a simple fix.

Have an option to show active / include zeros.  All nonactive / deleted accounts will not be on the report.

This has been very frustrating trying to figure it out.

Bill

Welcome to this thread, @Bill Mc.

I understand how you feel about not being able to obtain the report you need. I'll let our engineers know about this to consider your suggestion for future updates.

I'm also encouraging you to submit your comments and suggestions directly using the QuickBooks Feedback form link. Your feedback matters as it helps us improve our reports to tailor to your business needs. Please know that all our suggested plans are subject to further study. 

In the meantime, you can export your reports to Excel to remove the accounts that you don't want to include in the report.

Get back to me if you have any follow-up questions about managing your reports in QBO. I'll be up here to help you right away.

It's 2024, has this been fixed?  It doesn't look like it....when can we expect a fix for this?

Hello there, @Steve123456789.

I can see how the ability to generate reports with all of your desired information allows you to review your data efficiently. However, showing your preferred details in the Profit and Loss report is unavailable. In the meantime, we don't have an estimated time as to when this will be implemented.

Therefore, I recommend sending feedback directly to our product development team. Your suggestions will be taken into consideration for future software updates to ensure it meets your business needs.

Here's how:

1. Head to the Gear icon.
2. Select Feedback.
3. Enter your product improvement ideas.
4. Click Next to submit.

You can visit this website to keep track of your ideas: Customer Feedback for QuickBooks Online.

Moreover, you might want to review this material for guidance on saving the customization setting of your report for future use: Memorize reports in QuickBooks Online.

Don't hesitate to add a comment if you have additional questions about managing your Profit and Loss report or other related concerns in QuickBooks Online. We can always lend a hand.