P&L Statement Missing Personal Category

Overview

You may have created a profit and loss statement in Quicken and have noticed that it is missing personal categories.

Personal categories are not included in profit and loss statements. The profit and loss statement is not a personal financial report, because it selects only tax categories assigned to the Schedule C for business tax purposes.

Information

A profit and loss statement, also called an income statement, is a fundamental business report. The balance sheet and the profit and loss statement help gauge the profitability of your business. The profit and loss statement shows your income, expenses, and net profit or loss. It summarizes the revenue and expenses of your business by category (first income, then expenses). You generally need to provide one to your loan officer when requesting a loan.

In Quicken, you can create two profit and loss reports; a profit and loss statement and a profit and loss comparison report. The latter compares profits and losses for two different time periods.

Changing to accrual basis

Quicken sets every business report that can be set to accrual or cash basis to cash basis by default. To change this setting to accrual basis:

1. In Quicken, select the Reports menu and select Business > [report name].
2. Click the Customize gear button in the upper-right of the window.
3. Click the Advanced tab and, under Report Basis, select the Accrual option.
4. Click OK.

   Note: If you run your business using accrual-basis bookkeeping, income is recorded when you issue invoices; expenses are recorded when you receive a bill. This report option includes income that you have invoiced and income you have received; also, bills you have paid as well as received.