"OK for anyone else seeing this issue"

I think you are describing that you realized the Items are "netting" in your accounts, and you are not seeing your true Gross Income separately from Gross Costs, as a result of not setting up the items to flow the data to meet your needs for that separation.

I have attached what it looks like to set up and use Two Sided items. I also attached how items link to accounts, and the Job Reporting you should see, to confirm that Expense and Income match across P&L (Account-based reporting) and Job Reporting.