How to Understand Your Profit and Loss Statement as a Small Business Owner
How to Understand Your Profit and Loss Statement as a Small Business Owner
Most small business owners struggle with their numbers because nobody ever taught them how to read the reports inside QuickBooks Online. Your Profit and Loss Statement is the one report that reveals the truth about your business. If the numbers feel confusing, you are not the problem. Your system is.
If you need QuickBooks Online set up correctly from the start, you can create an account using my partner discount:
QuickBooks Online discount link: https://quickbooks.partnerlinks.io/g8c6ioiu5mop
What Your Profit and Loss Actually Tells You
Revenue
Expenses
Net Profit
This report shows whether you are building a business or just staying busy. If revenue grows but profit doesn’t, something in your structure is broken.
Why Most Owners Avoid Their P and L
It isn’t lack of intelligence. It is discomfort. You log into QuickBooks Online and nothing looks right. Reports don’t match your bank. Categories are wrong. You feel behind, so you avoid it.
Avoidance costs money. Clarity makes money.
How to Read Your P and L in QuickBooks Online
How to pull your P and L
- Reports
- Profit and Loss
- Select date range
- Compare to previous period
How to generate an expense report
- Expenses
- Filter by vendor or category
- Export
How to create an income statement for taxes
- Run your P and L
- Sort by year
- Choose cash or accrual based on CPA guidance
These steps are simple only when your books are clean. If categories are wrong or transactions are mixed, every report becomes unreliable.
If you need to start fresh, here is the QuickBooks Online partner link again:
QuickBooks Online discount link: https://quickbooks.partnerlinks.io/g8c6ioiu5mop
What Your P and L Reveals Instantly
Pricing issues
Expense creep
Profit volatility
Unstable months
Contractor and software bloat
Why you can’t pay yourself consistently
This report exposes everything you’ve been guessing about.
When You Don’t Understand Your Numbers, You Pay For It
Clients come to Lionhood Financial saying things like:
“I can’t tell if my business is profitable”
“My QuickBooks reports look wrong”
“I don’t know how much I can pay myself”
“I only look at revenue because the rest confuses me”
This is the moment owners hire help because the cost of confusion is higher than the cost of guidance.
Take Control of Your Numbers
Reading your P and L correctly gives you:
Clean books
Predictable income
Clear pricing decisions
Lower stress
Real profit
You don’t need more effort. You need a system that makes sense.
Work With Lionhood Financial Coaching
If your QuickBooks Online reports feel overwhelming or inaccurate, you don’t need another tutorial. You need structure and support.
Lionhood Financial Coaching helps you:
Clean up messy QuickBooks accounts
Correct categories for accurate reporting
Understand your P and L in plain English
Build systems that stabilize your income
Make decisions based on real financial clarity
If you’re serious about getting control, schedule your Financial Systems Consultation today.
Your numbers are speaking. Stop guessing and start leading your business.