Do you wonder what is an income statement in QuickBooks and how it works for your expenses? If you are eager to know about the income statements in detail, we will enlighten you through this guide.
We would also like to draw your attention to running and creating a new QuickBooks income statement report. Now, let’s get straight to the guide.
QuickBooks Income Statement is also known as Profit and Loss Statement. You may find other names referred to as Profit and Loss reports such as Statement of Earnings, P & L Statement, and Statement of Operations.
By generating this QuickBooks income statement report, you can calculate the profits for a specific period of time (for a month, quarter, and year). This will help you to track where your company stands. Now, let’s know how to pull income statement in QuickBooks.
Note: As you know Profit and Loss is another name for an income statements in QuickBooks so we may use these terms interchangeably.
To view your income statement, you can run the Profit & Loss Statement report in QuickBooks. If you have no idea how to run income statement in QuickBooks, we will show you.
Tip: By clicking on the Start icon, you can add this report to your favorites.
This way you can run a QuickBooks Online income statement report. If required, you can also print or export the report in Excel or PDF format.
To create a QuickBooks Online income statement, one has to perform a number of steps. For instance, you are required to find the income statement based on the QuickBooks version you are using.
Thereafter, you can select the desired file format for the QuickBooks income statement report, customize the report, and run the income statement report. If needed, you can save or print the report.
Now we will understand the procedure with a step-by-step guide.
If you are wondering where to find income statement in QuickBooks then you should follow the steps based on the version of QuickBooks you are using.
QuickBooks Online Accountant
QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Pro, Enterprise Solutions, Premier
QuickBooks income statement reports are available in multiple file formats. Hence, in the next part, you are required to select the format for your profit and loss report. However, it depends on what type of income tax report you are generating. For example:
After deciding your report format, you can start customizing your income statement report. This can be done in several ways such as Statement Basis, Date Range, Customizing Columns, and other preferences in the report.
Statement Basis Report
Most business owners have this concern about whether they should create accrual or cash basis income statements. However, it depends on what purpose you are creating the report.
Here we will guide you in what condition you should create an accrual or cash basis income statement and how you can switch between these two (cash and accrual basis statement) in QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop.
If you are creating an income statement report in QuickBooks for tax purposes (for small businesses), you can create a cash basis report. The cash basis statement displays all the income you receive and expenses.
Note: In case you are creating an income statement for a loan or tax application purposes then make sure you ask for assistance from a business loan officer or tax adviser.
If you are generating the income statement in QuickBooks Online for management purposes then it is recommended to use an accrual basis income statement report. This particular report displays your income as it is earned and expenses as they are incurred.
Furthermore, when you send the invoices to customers and they pay in the future, this income is earned technically only when you invoice customers, not when the customers pay you. The accrual basis income statement includes the invoiced income in your report.
In the same manner, when your vendors bill you and you initiate the payment in the future, such expenses are assumed as of the bill’s date not when you pay them. Moreover, the accrual basis income statement includes the bills that are not paid in the expenses.
In QuickBooks Online, users can click on the radio icon located next to the Accrual or Cash option. This will help you to switch between these two statements.
To switch between cash and accrual basis income statements, QuickBooks Desktop users can go to the Customize Report option located on the top.
Date Range
By selecting the date range, you can view the report for a specific period of time. In case your business loan officer requires the report for multiple years then you can choose the time period and generate the report.
Now there are a number of ways to adjust the date range for income statement reports. The procedure of selecting the date range is the same for both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop. Here is how:
Customize the Columns
By default, QuickBooks shows the Total column for the date range you select for the report. However, you can customize the columns.
This will determine that you view the report for a specific time period. In addition, you can show income statement reports based on days, quarters, months, and weeks or by the customer, employee, vendor, and products & services.
Other Customizations
By customizing the income statement report further, you can sort your results way better. For example:
After customizing the profit and loss report, you can continue running the report. Here is how to do that in both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop.
Once you are done applying changes to the report, you can save or print the report. If you want to share the report via email, you can do that too. Let’s know how to do that.
Users can also print income statement in QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop. All you have to do is click on the “Print” icon, export the form in PDF or Excel format, and save the report to the hard drive.
Besides downloading the income statement report, you can also share the report via email. If you need to send the profit and loss summary to your financial advisor, accountant, or loan officer, you can attach the report to your email and send it to the concerned person.
This is how you can create and run the profit and loss report to other users in QuickBooks Online and Desktop.
The income statement has a very special role in the business. This will allow you to view your expenses and the whole profit and loss summary. Hence, it is important to generate this income statement report to identify where your business stands.
You have now learned how to get an income statement in QuickBooks. In this guide, we have also discussed the procedure of creating and running the profit and loss report. Hope you find this guide useful.
If you are bothered by stubborn errors in QuickBooks, we have prepared a detailed guide while providing fixation methods. Check them out:-