Overview

A Statement of Profit or Loss (P&L), also known as an Income Statement, is a financial document that summarises an organisation's revenue, costs, and expenses over a specific period. This period can be a month, a calendar year, a financial year, or several months.

These tutorials explain how to view and customise a Statement of Profit or Loss.

By following the step-by-step guide, you will gain the ability to change and understand the different settings so that you get the financial information you need from your accounting records like a month-by-month breakdown, cost-of-sale percentages, budget comparisons, and a detailed financial overview of your organisation.

Navigation: Main Menu > Accounting > Statement of Profit or Loss

How to Change the Dates for the Statement of Profit or Loss 

Choose the financial year (Fin Year) to show the profit or loss for tax and audit purposes.

Choose the financial year by month (Fin Year (Months)) to check for missing information as each month should follow the same pattern.

Choose the financial year by month (Fin Year (Months)) to compare your actual expenses to your budgeted expenses.

Choose the calendar year (Year) to check for seasonal fluctuations.

1. Navigate to the Statement of Profit or Loss.

2. Click the dropdown list next to Set to select your dates:

   1. Click Fin Year to show your organisation's profit or loss for the current financial year. 

   2. Click User Date to show the profit or loss for the specific periods selected under Date. 

      • Note: Type the start date in the first date field and the end date in the second date field.

   3. Click Month to show the current month.

      • Note: Change the 2 next to Show to display the Statement of Profit or Loss for various periods (limited to 12). 

   4. Click Year to show the calendar year to date (from January to December).

   5. Click Fin Year (Months) to show the monthly profit or loss for the current financial year.

3. Click View (button) to display the Statement of Profit or Loss on the left and the graph on the right.

How to Display Percentage Changes from Period to Period

1. Navigate to the Statement of Profit or Loss.

2. Click the dropdown list next to %.

   1. Click None to hide the % field.

   2. Click Change to show the percentage change between the period (column) shown on the right and the period (column) shown on the left.

   3. Click Revenue to show the line items as a percentage of sales.

   4. Click Budget to show the percentage difference between the actual and budgeted amounts if a budget has been selected (else an error message displays).

3. Click View (button) to display the Statement of Profit or Loss on the left and the graph on the right.

How to Display a Budget Comparison

1. Navigate to the Statement of Profit or Loss.

2. Click Set > Fin Year (Months).

3. In the same row a new option: Budget is displayed. Click the dropdown list next to Budget and click the budget you want to display.

   • Note: If a budget has not yet been created, there will be no names to select.

4. Click View (button).

   • Note: The Statement of Profit or Loss is displayed on the left, and a graph is displayed on the right.

   • Note: The budget comparison is not shown on the graph.

How to Display the Percentage Change between the Budgeted and Actual Amounts

1. Navigate to the Statement of Profit or Loss.

2. Click Set > Fin Year (Months).

3. In the same row a new option: Budget is displayed. Click the dropdown list next to Budget and click the budget you want to display.

4. Click on the dropdown list next to % and click Budget.

5. Click View (button).

   • Note: The Statement of Profit or Loss is displayed on the left, and a graph is displayed on the right.

   • Note: The budget comparison is not shown on the graph.

How to Show or Hide the Decimal Values on the Statement of Profit or Loss

1. Navigate to the Statement of Profit or Loss.

2. Click View (button). 

3. Click Menu (button) > Hide Decimal Values.

   • Note: If checked, decimal values are hidden. If unchecked, they are displayed.

How to View Detailed Transactions from the Profit or Loss

1. Navigate to the Statement of Profit or Loss.

2. Click View (button).

3. Double-click an Account to see the detailed transactions on the General Ledger Account.

How to View All the Accounts on the Statement of Profit or Loss

1. Navigate to the Statement of Profit or Loss.

2. Check Show All Accounts to see all the individual accounts including those with zero balances. 

3. Click View (button)

• Note: The Statement of Profit or Loss is displayed on the left, and a graph is displayed on the right.

• Note: The graph will still only show the main categories.​

How to Print the Statement of Profit or Loss

1. Navigate to the Statement of Profit or Loss.

2. Click View (button).

3. Click Output (button) > Print to print the report to the default printer or click Print (Show Dialogue) to select a printer, for example, a .pdf printer.

How to Preview the Statement of Profit or Loss

1. Navigate to the Statement of Profit or Loss.​

2. Click View (button).

3. Click Output (button) > Preview to display the Statement of Profit or Loss.

• • Note: You can click the printer (icon) to print the statement to a printer of your choice, including PDF.

How to Email the Statement of Profit or Loss

1. Navigate to the Statement of Profit or Loss.​

2. Click View (button).

3. Click Menu (button) > Email Excel to email the Statement of Profit or Loss in Excel format.

4. Click Output (button) > Email and select 2, 3, 6 or 12 periods to email the Statement of Profit or Loss in PDF format. 

How to Fix a Statement of Profit or Loss that is not Displaying

1. If you click the View (button) to display the Statement of Profit or Loss and nothing is displayed, click Menu (button) > Restore Grid to restore the display.  

2. You can also click Restore Default (All Users) to reset the Statement of Profit or Loss to the default setups (this step requires a restart to take effect).

How to Hide the Graph or Chart

1. Navigate to the Statement of Profit or Loss.​

2. Click View (button). 

3. Click Menu (button).

4. Click Hide Chart.

How to Customise the Graph or Chart

1. Navigate to the Statement of Profit or Loss.​

2. Click View (button).  

3. Click Customize (button) directly below the graph and select any settings from the pop-up to modify the graph.

4. Click Column Diagram (link) to select a different type of diagram.

How to Fit all the Columns on the Screen

1. Navigate to the Statement of Profit or Loss.​

2. Click View (button).  

3. Click Menu (button) > Column Auto Width to automatically fit all the columns on the screen.