Profit & Loss Statement

The Profit & Loss Statement (also called Income Statement) shows your revenue, expenses, and resulting profit or loss over a period of time.

Purpose

The P&L answers: “Did we make money during this period?”

Revenue - Expenses = Net Income (or Net Loss)

Accessing the P&L

1. Navigate to Reports → Profit & Loss
2. Select the date range (From / To dates)
3. The report generates automatically

Note

Unlike the Balance Sheet (point-in-time), the P&L covers a period (e.g., January 1 - March 31).

Reading the Report

Revenue Section

Account	Amount
Sales Revenue	$180,000
Service Revenue	$20,000
Interest Income	$500
Total Revenue	$200,500

Expenses Section

Account	Amount
Cost of Goods Sold	$60,000
Salaries & Wages	$40,000
Rent Expense	$12,000
Utilities Expense	$3,000
Marketing Expense	$5,000
Depreciation Expense	$2,000
Interest Expense	$1,500
Miscellaneous	$500
Total Expenses	$124,000

Net Income

Total Revenue:      $200,500
Total Expenses:     $124,000
─────────────────────────────
Net Income:         $76,500  ✓ Profit

Period Selection

Choose the right period for your analysis:

Period	Use Case
Monthly	Operational monitoring
Quarterly	Management reporting
Annually	Tax preparation, year-over-year comparison
Custom	Specific project or season analysis

Relationship to Other Reports

At period close, Net Income flows to Retained Earnings on the Balance Sheet.

Best Practices

1. Review monthly to catch issues early
2. Compare to budget to track variance
3. Analyze trends across multiple periods
4. Share with team for accountability
5. Close periods to lock in historical data