Profit and loss report
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The Profit & Loss Report (commonly known as P&L) is along with your Balance Sheet and Trial Balance one of the most crucial reports when running a business. A Profit & Loss report lists your Turnover less your Cost of Sales to give you your Gross Profit. Expenses are then subtracted from your Gross Profit to give you your net profit.
Running the Report
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Go to Home > Reports > Financial then select Profit & Loss.
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Select the Start Date and End Date to include in the report. Alternatively, from the menu select one of the following options: Today, This Week, This Month, This Year, This Accounting Period, Last Week, Last Month, Last Year, Last Accounting Period.
P&L reports are usually run for financial years, meaning your start date should usually be the financial year start and the end date would be the last day of your financial year.
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Select Run.
Understanding the Report
The P & L report will total how much each Nominal Code has made (or lost) over the period you have selected. By totalling all these figures and subtracting the appropriate amounts you will be left with a Gross Profit and a Net Profit.
Record any relevent comments in the Notes section. These will be saved while you are preparing the report and they will appear on the exported CSV or PDF file, though they will not be stored in IRIS KashFlow to refer to at a later stage.
Select Export to save as a PDF or CSV file. You can also email the report to your client or print the file.
Report Settings
To alter the report layout select Customise. Here you can configure the layout of the header and footer of the Profit & Loss report. You may also upload your company logo which will appear on the printed report.
If you require a breakdown of the figures, select Show detailed breakdown. You can also select the reports to which the setting should apply.
Troubleshooting
Nominal Code in the wrong section
If you have noticed that you have got a nominal code recorded as Turnover when it is an Expense, then you have misclassified the nominal. You can easily correct this by selecting Edit Nominals . Then, classify your nominal code using the selectors under Area.
Nominal Code should be on the Balance Sheet
If you have got a nominal code on your P&L report when really it should be on your Balance Sheet, then you have misclassified the nominal. You can easily correct this by selecting Edit Nominals . Then, classify your nominal code using the selectors under Type.
We cannot advise on where your nominal codes should be classified, if you are unsure you should talk to your accountant.