QuickBooks 2005: The Missing Manual

Customizing the Columns in Reports

Some reports start with only one column, but they don't have to stay that way. Depending on the type of report, you can change the columns that appear in several ways. Then, if you find that your appetite for columns is larger than your computer screen, you can remove resize, and reorder the columns.

Adding and removing columns

As you manage your business, you'll generate the same reports for different date ranges. For example, during a year, you might create a Profit & Loss report a month at a time, for each fiscal quarter, and then for the entire year. If the report window toolbar includes a Columns drop-down list, choosing an entry there is the quickest way to change the categories that columns represent, as illustrated in Figure 19-12.

Note

The Columns drop-down list appears whenever you create a summary-type report. You can make the same choices in the Modify Report dialog box using the "Display columns by" drop-down list.

Reports that show transaction details, such as Profit & Loss Detail or Inventory Valuation Detail, use columns for data fields, such as Name or Memo. Because you can't categorize the columns in a detail report, you won't see the Columns drop-down list in the report window toolbar. To change the columns that appear in a detail report, in the report window, click Modify Report, and then choose the columns you want to add or remove, as demonstrated in Figure 19-13.

Tip

The Modify Report dialog box provides different comparison checkboxes ...