About the customisable Profit and Loss
The customisable Profit and Loss opens when you select Profit and Loss: Customisable from the Reports page. Find out how to:
- View the layout differences from the standard Profit and Loss
- Customise the report to match your needs
- Report across different periods, years, or analysis types
- Drill into balances and investigate detail
If you need a refresher on what the Profit and Loss report does, check the following guide:
How the report calculates profit
Profit and Loss reports can calculate and present profit differently depending on layout and labels.
On the customisable Profit and Loss, the order of sections and the gross profit calculation differ from the standard report.
Current (standard) layout
- Gross Profit = Sales + Other Income – Direct Expenses
- Net Profit = Gross Profit – Overheads
Example:
Sales £1,800
Other Income £200
Direct Expenses £500
Overheads £300
Gross Profit: 1800 + 200 – 500 = 1500
Net Profit: 1500 – 300 = 1200
What’s different in the customisable report
The customisable Profit and Loss:
- Includes three default views to give you quick, ready-made layouts
- Lets you choose a new date range for each view, with clear visual descriptions
- Lets you use multiple date range types and show totals per period or as a single total
- Allows comparisons across periods and financial years, including variance tracking
- Combines the existing standard and comparative reports into one flexible view
Use the customisable Profit and Loss
Report on different periods or ranges
Use the three default views or set your own date range.
- Year to date: Shows balances up to the end of the current month
- Prior year comparison: Compares this period with the same period last year
- Per month: Shows each month in the financial year, plus a brought-forward column
Set your own period
- Select the Edit icon next to Period.
- Choose a preset
for example This quarter or Last quarter) or create a custom range. - Select Run report.
Compare with previous periods or years
Add comparison columns to see how your business performs over time.
The Prior year comparison view shows:
- Current month and year to date (YTD)
- Previous financial year figures
- Variance (percentage or amount)
- Negative variance highlights a fall compared to last year
You can also add comparison periods using Filters.
Add comparison columns
- From a default view, select Prior year comparison.
- Open Columns on the Customise report panel.
- Add Previous period or Previous year.
- Choose how to show the variance (amount, percentage, or both).
- Select Run report.
Why Gross or Net profit variance can be blank
The variance % for Gross and Net profit isn’t available yet. We’re building this into a future update.
Include a year-to-date summary
Add a year-to-date column to show cumulative performance over your chosen period.
Add a YTD column
- Select the Edit icon next to Period.
- Choose This year or This year to date.
- Choose to view by month or quarter.
- Select Apply.
- In Columns, choose Year to date (YTD).
Show values as a cumulative total
Display running totals from the start of the year to each period.
- Open Columns.
- Select As cumulative over a period of time.
- Select Run report.
Show rolled-up totals or expand by ledger account
Expand the rows to see the breakdown behind each category. To view only the rolled-up totals, clear the check boxes.
Adjust row detail
- From the Customise report panel, select Rows.
- Select or clear Account.
- Choose how you want to display nominal codes.
- Select Run report.
Check profit by analysis type
Use analysis types to see profit for specific parts of your business. Apply filters to include or exclude analysis dimensions across the report.
Drill into balances
Select any underlined value to see what makes it up.
- If the amount spans multiple accounts or months, the Nominal Activity Summary report opens
- If it relates to a single month and account, the Nominal Activity Detailed report opens
To return to the main report, close the menu or select Back in your browser.
Share or save your report
When you're ready, you can save or export the report:
- Save as: Name the report and access it later from the Custom tab
- Export: Download as PDF, CSV, or Excel to share or store