A noticeable discrepancy between the Profit & Loss and a Sales reports (such as Sales by Item Summary) may be due to one or more issues, including, but not limited to the following:
- The date ranges of the reports do not match.
- The accounting bases of the reports do not match.
- Sales items point to incorrect sales accounts.
- The P&L report includes transactions that do not use items (e.g., the Expense Tab on a bill or a journal entry).
- List or transaction damage in the company data file.
The following steps should help correct the discrepancy between Profit and Loss and Sales report:
Step 1: Confirm that the reports have the same date range and basis
- On each report, select Customize report.
- From the Dates drop-down, select All.
- Set the report basis to Accrual, then select OK.
- Check the reports.
Continue to Step 2 if there is still a discrepancy on the income amount between the two reports.
Step 2: Make sure the items point to the correct accounts
- From the Lists menu, select Item List.
- In the Item List, right-click anywhere and select Customize Columns.
- Make sure the Account and Cost Accountcolumns are included.
- Check the accounts for each sales item.
- Correct all items that have the wrong accounts.
- Check the reports.
If there is still a discrepancy on the income amount between the two reports, continue to Step 3.
Step 3: Check for transactions without items
- Run the P&L report in Accrual basis and with Date set to All.
- Double-click to quick zoom on the amount in question.
- On the detail report, set Total By to Item then refresh the report.
- Scroll to the bottom of the report to see transactions totaled under "No Item."
- Check the reports.
If these transactions do not explain the difference in the two reports, continue to Step 4.
Step 4: Check for damage in your data file
Learn how to resolve data damage on your company file. After following the article, check the reports again. If there is still a discrepancy on the income amount between the two reports, continue to Step 5.
Step 5: Compare the detail reports line by line to find differences
- Run the Profit and Loss report
- From the Reports menu, select Company & Financial > Profit & Loss Standard.
- Select Customize Report .
- From the Dates drop-down, select All and for report basis, select Accrual.
- Double-click to quick zoom the account in question.
- Set the Total By to Item.
- Run the Sales report
- From Reports menu, select Sales > Sales by [Item Summary].
- Select Customize Report .
- From the Dates drop-down, select All and for report basis, select Accrual.
- If it is a summary report, double click to quick zoom the total amount.
- Set the Total by to Item.
- Close the source reports leaving only the two detail reports open.
- Go to the Window menu then select Tile Vertically.
- Compare the two reports line by line to find differences.
If you find that a transaction is being reported differently, then try to Fix damaged transactions.