Profit and Loss Drilldown
The Profit and Loss Drill Down shows how the business performed over a period, broken into income, cost of goods sold and expenses. Because every line drills through to the accounts behind it, a surprising figure can be traced to its transactions without leaving the page.
Where to find it
Go to Financial Statement > Profit and Loss Drill down.
Key Features
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Date Range Selection | Filters the data to the period you want to analyse. |
| Branch and Department Filters | Narrows to a specific part of the business, so you can see how each unit performed. |
| Comparison Mode | Sets the current period against accumulated totals, which is how you see growth and trend rather than a single snapshot. |
The sections
| Section | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Income | Total sales revenue and other revenue streams, with the achieved percentage against each. |
| Cost of Goods Sold | The costs directly attributable to producing what was sold — this is what gross margin is calculated from. |
| Expenses | Payroll, general and administrative costs, and their effect on net income. |
| Calculated Return | Net profit or loss — the summary line, and the quickest read on financial health. |
Read gross margin before net profit. A business with healthy sales and a collapsing gross margin has a pricing or cost problem that no amount of expense-cutting will fix.
Using the drill-down
Click a figure to open the accounts making it up, and again to reach the transactions. This is what makes the screen worth using over the printed report: the answer to "why is that number so high" is two clicks away rather than a separate investigation.
Related pages
- Overview — the headline figures
- Balance Sheet Drill Down — the position side
- Trial Balance — account by account
- General Ledger Reports — the printable version