QuickBooks 2005: The Missing Manual

A Quick Guide to QuickBooks Reports

Some entries on the Reports menu are commands, but most entries are categories of reports. When you position the pointer over a category, a submenu with report names appears. Read the following sections to learn what each category of reports represents—a big help in finding the reports you want—and which reports are most likely to help. If you still don't find the report that you want, head to page 469 to bone up on customizing reports.

Company & Financial Reports

Knowing how your company is doing financially is a big part of business management. To give you some insight, QuickBooks' Company & Financial reports include several variations on the basic financial statements ( Profit & Loss report or income statement, Balance Sheet, and Statement of Cash Flow). The Securities and Exchange Commission requires that publicly traded companies publish these three financial reports, which gives you a clue about how informative they are.

Because financial statements are a regular staple of the business owner's diet, Chapter 14 explains what each does and how to set them up. To generate a financial report, choose Reports→Company & Financial. Then choose one of the reports on the submenu. Chapter 15 gives you step-by-step instructions for producing Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, and Statement of Cash Flow reports at the end of your fiscal year.

Profit and Loss Reports

Profit and loss reports start with income and then subtract expenses to show whether you made or ...