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Bernadette21
March 9, 2023
Question

Retained Earnings

  • March 9, 2023
  • 1 reply
  • 8 views

My accountant tells me that our year end retained earning from last year changed. I know this means someone changed or deleted something that affected our retained earnings. I've searched for the exact amount, but of course that would have been too easy. Is there anyway to find out what changed in the 2021 transactions that changed the retained earnings?

1 reply

J
JamaicaAQuickBooks Team
QuickBooks Team
March 9, 2023

I can see the importance of tracking transactions so you can check where the changes comes from, @bernadette11_2. Let's run a quick report for Retained Earnings and there are few ways to do so.

 

First, you can access it in the Chart of Accounts. I'll show you how:

 

  1. Go to the Lists menu and choose Chart of Accounts.
  2. Find the Retained Earnings account.
  3. Double-click the account or right-click on it and pick QuickReport: Retained Earnings.

 

Secondly, you can pull up the Balance Sheet report. Simply double-click the line for Retained Earnings to open a quick report.

 

However, you can use the Audit trail if you'd like to see all of the changes made to a specific Transaction.

 

See this related link about personalizing reports to help you filter them properly: Customize reports in QuickBooks Desktop.


If you'd like save its current settings, you can check out this article: Create, access and modify memorized reports.

 

If you have other questions or concerns, please let me know in the comment below. I'll be right here if you need anything else. Have a good one!

B
Bernadette21Author
March 9, 2023

Thanks, but I've done those reports and they only show my year end journal entries. The retained earnings had to have been changed by someone deleting or changing a transaction from before the year end, which most likely changed the net income, so changed the retained earnings.

 

S
SirielJeaBModerator
Moderator
March 9, 2023

@Bernadette21, I appreciate you for following the steps provided by my colleague. Let me assist you with further details about tracking your retained earnings in QuickBooks Desktop.

 

Your Retained Earnings account displays the total of your company's income and expenses from previous years. When a new fiscal year begins, QuickBooks Desktop automatically adds the net income from the previous fiscal year to your Balance Sheet as Retained Earnings.

 

I recommend running a Profit and Loss Detail report to see what makes up your Retained Earnings and the Audit Trail report to track all modified transactions. Here's how:

 

To run the Profit & Loss Detail:

 

  1. Go to the Reports menu, then choose Company & Financial.
  2. Select Profit & Loss Detail.
  3. Choose the report period.

 

To run the Audit Trail:

 

  1. Click the Reports menu, then choose Account & Taxes.
  2. Select Audit Trail.

 

I've included the following article as a resource for exporting reports to Excel from QuickBooks Desktop: Export reports as Excel workbooks in QuickBooks Desktop.

 

Having you here in the Community forum is greatly appreciated. We always have your back if you need further assistance tracking your retained earnings or any QuickBooks-related concerns. We're available 24/7. Keep safe!

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