If you’re using QuickBooks Online to manage your business finances, the Profit & Loss report is the single most important report you have access to. It tells you — clearly and in plain numbers — whether your business made money during any given period.
And yet, a lot of business owners either don’t know it exists, don’t know how to run it, or pull it up and have no idea what they’re looking at.
This guide fixes all of that. Here’s exactly how to run a Profit & Loss report in QuickBooks Online, and how to actually make sense of the numbers once you do.
What Is a Profit & Loss Report?
A Profit & Loss report (also called a P&L or Income Statement) is a summary of your business’s income and expenses over a specific period of time — a month, a quarter, or a full year.
It answers one fundamental question: Did your business make or lose money during this period?
The structure is simple:
- Income — all revenue your business earned
- Expenses — everything you spent to run the business
- Net Income (or Net Loss) — income minus expenses
If net income is positive, your business was profitable. If it’s negative, expenses exceeded income for that period. That’s it.
How to Run a P&L in QuickBooks Online: Step by Step
Step 1: Log Into QuickBooks Online
Sign in to your QuickBooks Online account at quickbooks.intuit.com. Make sure you’re in the correct company file if you manage more than one.
Step 2: Go to Reports
In the left-hand navigation menu, click Reports. This opens the Reports Center.
Step 3: Search for the Profit & Loss Report
At the top of the Reports page, you’ll see a search bar. Type “Profit and Loss” and the report will appear in the suggestions. Click on it. Alternatively, scroll down to the Business Overview section — you’ll find Profit and Loss listed there.
Step 4: Set Your Date Range
At the top of the report, you’ll see date filter options. Click the Report period dropdown and select the timeframe you want to review. For monthly bookkeeping, choose “Last month.” You can also type in custom start and end dates.
Tip: Always run your P&L for a single calendar month first, then compare to other periods. Mixing date ranges before you understand the numbers can be confusing.
Step 5: Click “Run Report”
Once you’ve set your dates, click the green Run Report button. QuickBooks will generate the report instantly based on all transactions recorded during that period.
Step 6: Review the Results
Your report will display in sections — Income at the top, Cost of Goods Sold (if applicable) in the middle, Expenses below that, and Net Income at the bottom. Scroll through each section carefully.
Step 7: Export or Save If Needed
In the top right corner of the report, you’ll see options to Email, Print, or Export as a PDF or Excel file. Save a copy monthly so you have a record of every period.
How to Read Your P&L — In Plain English
Here’s a quick translation guide for what you’re looking at:
- Total Income: The total revenue your business earned during the period. This includes all paid invoices and sales recorded in QuickBooks.
- Cost of Goods Sold (COGS): If you sell products, this is the direct cost of producing or purchasing what you sold. If you’re a service business, this section may be blank or labeled differently.
- Gross Profit: Income minus COGS. This is your profit before operating expenses.
- Expenses: Everything you spent to run the business — software, advertising, rent, professional services, etc. Each category is broken out separately.
- Net Income: The bottom line. Gross profit minus total expenses. A positive number means your business was profitable. A negative number means you spent more than you earned.
What to Do With the Information
Running the report is step one. Actually using it is where the value lives.
Once you have your P&L, ask yourself these questions:
- Is net income higher or lower than last month? Why?
- What are your top 3 expense categories? Are they what you expected?
- Is there any expense line that looks too high or doesn’t belong?
- Is your income growing, holding steady, or declining month over month?
You don’t need to be an accountant to notice trends. If your revenue went up but your profit went down, something in your expenses grew. If an expense category seems unusually high, click on it — QuickBooks will show you the individual transactions behind it.
What If the Numbers Don’t Look Right?
If your P&L shows numbers that don’t match your gut sense of how the month went, it usually means one of a few things:
- Transactions were categorized incorrectly
- Income or expenses are recorded in the wrong period
- Bank feeds haven’t been fully reviewed and accepted
- There are duplicate entries
A monthly bookkeeping review — where every transaction is checked and reconciled — is what keeps your P&L trustworthy. When the numbers are accurate, you can actually use them to make decisions.
Want Your Books Clean Enough to Trust Your Reports?
At Balance Operations Co., we handle the monthly transaction review, categorization, and reconciliation that keeps your QuickBooks numbers accurate — so when you pull your P&L, you can trust what you’re reading.
Book a free consultation to learn how we can take the bookkeeping off your plate and give you financial reports that actually make sense.