Crash Courses · Basic
Reports & Financial Statements in QBO
Run, read, customize, and export every report your client or employer needs from QuickBooks.
14 min read+175 XP on completionCert: QuickBooks Online
Tap any word in the text below to start reading from there.
Reports & Financial Statements in QBO
The Standard Monthly Report Package
| Report | Path | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Profit & Loss | Reports > Business Overview | Revenue, expenses, net income |
| Balance Sheet | Reports > Business Overview | Assets, liabilities, equity snapshot |
| Statement of Cash Flows | Reports > Business Overview | Cash in/out by category |
| AR Aging Summary | Reports > Who Owes You | Outstanding customer balances |
| AP Aging Summary | Reports > What You Owe | Outstanding vendor bills |
| Trial Balance | Reports > For My Accountant | Period accuracy verification |
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Customizing a P&L
- Reports > Profit and Loss
- Set Report period (e.g., This Month, Last Month, This Year)
- Set Comparison period (e.g., Previous Year) to show % change
- Click Customize:
- Rows/Columns: add % of Income column
- Filter: by Customer, Class, or Location
- Save Customizations -- name it "Monthly P&L -- [Client Name]"
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Running a Budget vs. Actual Report
(Requires budget setup first)
Reports > Business Overview > Budget vs. Actuals > select budget > run
Shows how actual performance compares to plan. Variance column flags over/under budget.
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Exporting Reports
Every QBO report has:
- Email button -- sends directly from QBO
- Export button -- download as Excel or PDF
- Print button -- print or save to PDF
Standard file naming: YYYY-MM-[ClientName]-[ReportType].pdf
Example: 2026-10-AcmeInc-ProfitLoss.pdf
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Reading a P&L for Red Flags
| Red Flag | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Revenue trending down 3+ months | Investigate -- pricing or volume issue |
| Gross margin declining | COGS increasing or pricing too low |
| OpEx growing faster than revenue | Efficiency problem |
| Net loss | Cannot continue indefinitely |
| One line item is zero (normally non-zero) | Missing entries or mis-categorization |
Your job: flag the anomaly, summarize it, and send the report to the right person.
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In this module
Profit and Loss (P&L)
Balance Sheet
Cash Flow Statement
AR Aging Summary
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