FinBoardHelp

Build and reuse a custom monthly P&L

Updated

Your QuickBooks Online chart of accounts is the accounting record. A management P&L is the version people use to run the business: fewer lines, familiar names, and the comparisons that prompt a decision.

FinBoard keeps those jobs separate. A reporting mapping groups and renames compatible QuickBooks accounts for presentation; it does not change the accounts or their amounts in QuickBooks. A calculated presentation combines already-reported lines in the spreadsheet, such as revenue less direct costs. Use a mapping to decide where accounts appear, and a calculation when a line needs to span sections.

For a calculation that crosses the income-and-expense polarity boundary, use a Google Sheets formula. Calculated KPIs are also supported in Google Sheets, but you cannot add a custom KPI through the interface; FinBoard-assisted setup is required.

This workflow builds a monthly P&L you can keep using rather than rebuilding in Excel each close.

Before you start

First, connect the QuickBooks company in FinBoard. You then need access to the company and its QuickBooks data. If you are working with a consolidated group, create the mapping on that group; a group mapping is separate from the mappings for its member companies.

Step 1 — Create a named mapping

Open Regroup Accounts for a single company, or Consolidation for a group. In the Mapping dropdown, choose Create new and give it a name that describes its audience, such as Management P&L or Monthly Flash.

Starting with a named mapping protects the QuickBooks chart of accounts and lets the same ledger support other views, such as a detailed accounting review or a board pack.

Step 2 — Build the P&L hierarchy

On Consolidated Accounts, create the lines your management team reads and arrange them into a clear hierarchy. A typical structure might include:

Income
  Product Revenue
  Service Revenue
Cost of Goods Sold
  Product Fulfillment Costs
Expenses
  People
  Sales and Marketing
  General and Administrative

Use + to add groups, drag to nest and reorder them, and rename groups in the language your team uses. Income and Other Income accounts can move or combine within the positive-polarity structure; Cost of Goods Sold, Expenses, and Other Expenses can do the same within the negative-polarity structure. Do not combine income and expense accounts in an ordinary mapped line. A mapping changes presentation, not arithmetic.

Step 3 — Map every QuickBooks account

Move to Entity Accounts. Point every active QuickBooks account to the reporting group where it should appear. Select similar accounts together when they feed the same line, then use the All mapped indicator to confirm that none are left unassigned.

For example, several product-sales accounts can feed Product Revenue, while freight, merchant fees, and direct materials can feed Product Fulfillment Costs. Do not put income and expense accounts into an ordinary mapped line together; use a calculated line for a result that crosses those sections.

For the detailed screen-by-screen workflow, see Regroup Accounts.

Step 4 — Configure the P&L in Google Sheets

Open a Google Sheet, launch the FinBoard extension, and choose Create Report. Select the company, Profit and Loss, the reporting period, and your new mapping from Apply Mapping. Expand Budget vs Actual and select the relevant QuickBooks or FinBoard budget before creating the report. QuickBooks budgets require the standard fiscal calendar; if the report uses a custom calendar, select a FinBoard budget instead. You can also add variance and over/under columns.

The budget and actuals use the same mapping, so the comparison follows your management P&L structure. For more detail on choosing a mapping when creating a report, see Apply mapping in reports and Use a budget in reports for the available budget sources and calendar requirements.

Step 5 — Create the P&L

Select Create Report. The report uses your groups and hierarchy while continuing to read the underlying QuickBooks data.

Step 6 — Add Product Contribution

Add a calculated row below the lines it uses. For example:

Product Contribution = Product Revenue - Product Fulfillment Costs

This is a presentation calculation, not an account mapping: Product Revenue remains income and Product Fulfillment Costs remains cost of goods sold. Build the formula with the actual row references in your sheet, so it continues to calculate from the FinBoard-fed values after a refresh.

For more examples of adding formula rows and columns to a live report, see Add calculated lines and formulas to a FinBoard report.

Step 7 — Reuse it each month

Repeat this monthly: refresh the report when the new month is ready. The QuickBooks-fed values update while the report keeps the mapping it was created with, and manually inserted formula rows and columns stay in place.

If each month has its own workbook, copy the completed reporting package and use Copy and Link Spreadsheet. The new workbook can then refresh independently while retaining its live FinBoard report connections.

Monthly review

Before you send the P&L, review:

  1. Total Income
  2. Gross Profit
  3. Net Income
  4. All active account mappings — especially any accounts added or changed in QuickBooks

Those checks protect the tie from the QuickBooks ledger to the management presentation. If an account is not mapped, assign it before relying on the report; an unmapped account can leave a reporting line incomplete.