Maybe she never opens QuickBooks, thinking her bookkeeper or her team already has this covered. Maybe she believes she would not even know what she was looking at if she tried to pull up her Profit and Loss statement, so why bother. Maybe she would feel embarrassed, because she believes she should already know how to find it and understand what it says. After all, she has been in business for quite a while.

If this is you, I have got you. I want to show you exactly how to pull it up in QuickBooks.

First, go to Reports. At the top, you will see three favorites already sitting there, and one of them is the Profit and Loss statement. Click on it. Check the dates in the top left corner and make sure they cover the time frame you actually want to look at. If not, you can change the dates manually. Next, you will see an option called cash or accrual. In simple terms, cash basis counts money the moment it comes in or goes out, while accrual counts it the moment it is earned or owed, whether or not the cash has actually moved yet. I like to look at accrual, but depending on how your business is set up, the two may show exactly the same numbers, and that is perfectly fine for now.

Here is an important part I love. The last option at the top of the report is compare to, and you will see several time periods to choose from. I typically compare to previous year, which shows you the exact same time period from a year ago. Why does this matter? Maybe you are having a slow month and have forgotten how much growth you have had since last year. If you have separated out your income, you will also see how each revenue stream compares, and whether one of them is up or down from where it was. You can click dollar change and percent change too, which adds two more columns and gives you the clearest view of what actually shifted. You can also compare to the previous month instead, if you want to see how things moved in just thirty days. There are many other options on this report that can give you even more insight, but I do not want to overwhelm you right now. I just want you to get curious, and start looking.

Now let us talk about those revenue streams. So many business owners tell me, I only do one thing. That may be true, but what is also often true is that you deliver it in more than one way. You may have add ons, or project work versus long term work, or short term versus recurring. I have never met a business I could not split into clearer categories, to give you more insight into how and where your revenue is actually coming from. Why does this matter? First, it helps you make marketing and sales decisions with real information behind them. It helps you see which stream is the most profitable, and which one may be dipping or taking off.

Almost every business I work with, even the multi seven figure ones, does not have its revenue split out when we start, or if it is, it is not split out in a way that actually gives them the best information to make decisions.

By simply running a Profit and Loss statement every month you start to see things much more clearly. Revenue streams that are split out will show you trends. On the expense side, you will start to see leaks. That is especially true when the report is set up well, with enough detail that you can spot things quickly, often in minutes, and plug a leak, shift your marketing, or make a decision about a revenue stream before it becomes a bigger problem.

And then here is what happens next. Something starts shifting when you do this every single month. The dread you used to feel toward your own numbers starts to fade, because you are no longer avoiding them, you are using them. You begin to see the report for what it actually is, information, nothing more. It is not a judgment day or something to feel ashamed of if you did not hit your goals. It is simply what happened, and now, before the story is over, you get to decide what happens next in your business. This is empowering, and how you become the CEO of your business.

If you want to see this for yourself, with a real report in front of you instead of just reading about it, join me for Where Is All My Money Going! I am an expert CFO who has spent her entire 25+ year career working with multi six and multi seven figure business owners, and I will walk you through a sample company in QuickBooks and show you exactly where to look, what it means, and what to do next. There is plenty of time for questions, and there are no dumb questions. This is a live only session, with no replay sent out afterward, so whatever you ask stays right there in the room, between us. Just come, watch, and see what becomes possible when someone finally connects the dots for you. Seats are limited, so save your spot now.

Register Here for Where Is All My Money Going?! https://www.audreyfaustconsulting.com/money

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