Help Center › Reports
Read the Profit & Loss statement
See gross profit from the trading account and net profit after indirect income and expenses, for any period.
The Profit & Loss statement has two parts. The Trading Account works out gross profit from sales, purchases and stock. Then indirect income and expenses give the net profit or loss.
Before you start
- Record your sales, purchases and expenses for the period.
- Opening and closing stock come from your stock records, not from a ledger. Make sure product opening stock is correct. See Products.
Steps
- Open Reports > Profit & Loss.
- Check the From and To dates. They start at the financial year selected on the Dashboard.
- Change the dates if you want a month or a quarter. The report reloads on its own.
- Read the summary strip: Sales Revenue, Cost of Goods Sold, gross profit and net profit (or loss).
- Read the Trading Account section:
- Opening Stock plus (+) Purchases minus (−) Closing Stock gives Cost of Goods Sold.
- Sales Revenue minus Cost of Goods Sold gives GROSS PROFIT. A loss shows as LOSS.
- Read Indirect Income and Indirect Expenses. Each is grouped, with the number of ledgers in the group.
- The last row shows NET PROFIT, or LOSS when expenses are higher.
Open the details
- Click a group row to open or close its ledgers. Use Expand All or Collapse All above the table.
- Click any ledger name to open its ledger report for the same dates.
- Click (+) Purchases or Sales Revenue to open that ledger. When you have more than one sales or purchase ledger, each is listed below the line and you can click it.
Export or download
- Click the Export icon (download arrow) to save an Excel file.
- Click the Download PDF icon to save a PDF.
- Click Refresh to reload after posting new entries.
Fields
| Line | What it means |
|---|---|
| Opening Stock | Value of stock on the day before From, worked out from stock movements (FIFO). |
| (−) Closing Stock | Value of stock on the To date, worked out the same way. |
| Sales Revenue | All income ledgers in the Sales group, for example a freight ledger you placed under Sales. |
| (+) Purchases | All expense ledgers in the Purchase group. |
| Indirect Income / Expenses | Other income and expense ledgers. |
Common problems
- Gross profit looks too high or too low — opening and closing stock are values from stock movements. Check product opening stock and stock journals. See Stock journal and Product register.
- An income ledger shows under Sales Revenue, not Indirect Income — it is placed in the Sales group. Move it to another group in the Chart of accounts if that is wrong.
- No indirect income entries in this period. / No indirect expense entries in this period. — nothing is posted to those ledgers in the dates chosen.
- Financial year not found — pick a financial year again on the Dashboard.
Related
More in Reports
Read the Trial BalanceSee the debit and credit balance of every ledger, check that your books balance, and export or open any ledger.Read the Balance SheetSee what your business owns and owes on any date, and check that assets equal liabilities plus profit.Receipt & Payment and Cash Flow reportsSee all money that came into and went out of your cash and bank ledgers, and the cash flow split into operating, investing and financing.View a ledger reportSee every entry in one ledger with a running balance, open any entry to edit it, and export the ledger to Excel or PDF.