Working with Summary Reports in QuickBooks Online

Whether you need to get a high-level view of your business’s income and expenses or profitability by product or service, summary reports can provide you with valuable insights. Summary reports condense detailed transactional information into meaningful summaries, making it easier to analyze trends, track performance, and make informed decisions. 

In this article, we will explore summary reports in QuickBooks and their significance in financial management. Also, we’ll show you how to generate summary reports in QuickBooks Online.

What Are Summary Reports?

Summary reports in QuickBooks Online offer a consolidated view of your financial data by summarizing key information within specific categories or time periods. These reports typically include information such as total income, expenses, profit/loss, cash flow, account balances, and other crucial metrics. They help you analyze your financial performance, identify trends, and gain insights into the overall financial state of your business.

When to Use Summary Reports

• Financial Performance Evaluation: Summary reports are invaluable for evaluating your business’s financial performance. They provide an overview of income, expenses, and profit/loss for a given period. These reports enable you to assess the overall health of your business, identify areas of improvement, and make strategic decisions to enhance profitability.
• Budget Monitoring: Summary reports can be instrumental in tracking your budget. By comparing actual income and expenses against your budgeted amounts, you can identify discrepancies, control spending, and ensure that your business stays on track financially.
• Cash Flow Analysis: Cash flow summary reports offer insights into the inflow and outflow of cash in your business. They help you understand your cash position, identify potential cash flow issues, and make informed decisions regarding investments, expenses, and debt management.
• Periodic Financial Reviews: Summary reports are useful for conducting periodic financial reviews. By generating reports for specific time frames, such as monthly, quarterly, or annually, you can assess the progress of your business over time, identify seasonal patterns, and plan for the future.

How to Run Summary Reports in QuickBooks Online

Click on Reports on the left navigation menu and then browse through the available report categories or use the search bar to find the specific summary report you need. Some common summary reports include Quarterly Profit and Loss Summary, Balance Sheet Summary, Statement of Cash Flows, and Budget Overview.

Preparing to run a summary report in QuickBooks

Once you have selected the desired summary report, you can customize its parameters to refine the information according to your needs. You can modify the report’s date range, select specific accounts or categories to include, and apply filters to narrow down the data. Additionally, you can specify the date range for the report by selecting the appropriate start and end dates. You can also choose the accounts or categories you want to include in the summary report and apply additional filters to refine the data further.

After customizing the report parameters, click on the Run report button. QuickBooks Online will generate the summary report based on your customization settings. You can preview the report on the screen, which will display the summarized financial data in a clear and concise format.

Below is a sample quarterly profit and loss summary report in QuickBooks Online.

Customizing a summary report in QuickBooks

Learn more about summary reports by watching the video below:

Summary reports in QuickBooks Online provide a condensed yet insightful overview of your business’s financial data. By leveraging these reports, you can assess your financial performance, monitor budgets, analyze cash flow, and conduct periodic reviews.