How to Use Reports in QuickBooks Online

Jan 14, 2023

How to Use Reports in QuickBooks Online

One of the greatest benefits of using QuickBooks Online to manage a business is the reporting capability of the program. The setup, recording of financial entries and reconciliation of accounts results in the ability to create reports that provide:

• Valuable insights into the financial position of a business
• The results of operations for a specific time period
• Statistical information (this could be the best-selling item or gross profit margin)

The reports available in QuickBooks Online vary by subscription level:

• QuickBooks Simple Start – Simple Start, the most basic version, allows for basic data entry to track your money in and money out, as well as customer tracking and invoicing. The reports follow these same features and include over 20 basic financial and customer reports.
• QuickBooks Essentials – Essentials includes more features than Simple Start including vendors and accounts payable functionality. It includes all the reports included in Simple Start, plus reports related to accounts payable, products and services — along with the Business Snapshot. The number of reports included in Essentials is over 40.
• QuickBooks Online Plus – QuickBooks Online Plus includes over 65 reports including the reports available in the Essentials subscription. It also includes reports related to the full functionality of QuickBooks Online, including classes and locations, inventory, time tracking and budgets, to name a few.
• QuickBooks Online Advanced – QuickBooks Online Advanced includes over 80 reports including the reports available in the Plus subscription. It also includes a license for Smart Reporting by Fathom, which allows you to track financial and non-financial KPIs (key performance indicators) to see how well your business is performing with in-depth analysis tools. You can create presentation-ready and customizable reports with easy-to-read visuals. You can also compare, rank and benchmark your companies, clients or franchisees.

Navigate the Report Center

To access the Reports Center, click Reports in the left navigation bar. Reports are organized into tabs found in the middle of the Reports screen. The tabs you see depends on your subscription level. You can click the star outline to add reports to your Favorites. Once the report is part of your Favorites, it will be filled in green.

• Standard – The Standard reports tab includes reports commonly used in day-to-day business operations. The Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, A/R and A/P Aging Summary reports are found here, along with Expenses by Vendor Summary and the Business Snapshot.
• Custom Reports – Reports you customize and save will be listed here. To save a report you customized to Custom Reports, click Save customization at the top of the report. Add these reports to a report group and share them with other company users too.
• Management Reports – Management reports allows the creation of beautiful report packages with cover pages and custom free-form pages for content like an executive summary or financial notes. Include a variety of reports and reporting periods in Management Reports. Use custom headers and footers. QuickBooks Online has three report templates you can use as a reference or starter to create your own packages. Create, view, and send these reports, as well as export to Microsoft Word® and PDF. Save these templates for future use.

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