# Profit and loss

> Revenue, expenses and net income for a period, computed on an accrual basis from the ledger, with period comparison and export.

Canonical: https://docs.getonebooks.com/reports/profit-loss/
Language: en
Documentation index: https://docs.getonebooks.com/llms.txt

The profit and loss statement (**Financial Performance** in Simple mode) shows what you earned and spent in a period and the resulting **net income** or **net loss**.

![The Profit and Loss report with revenue, operating expenses and net income for the selected period](https://docs.getonebooks.com/screenshots/en/reports-profit-loss.webp)

## How it is built

- **Revenue** — every revenue-type account: sales, service revenue, discounts received; discounts given reduce it.
- **Expenses** — every expense-type account, including cost of goods sold and bad-debt expense.
- **Net income** = revenue − expenses.
- Figures are **accrual-based**: an invoice counts when it is sent, a purchase when it is finalized, regardless of payment. They are **net of tax** — VAT and GST sit on the balance sheet, not here.
- Opening balances and year-end closing entries are excluded, so a closed year does not distort the next.

## Reading it

- Pick the **period** (month, quarter, year to date, custom).
- **Period Comparison** shows the previous period alongside.
- Each line is an account; open the account in the [general ledger](https://docs.getonebooks.com/reports/general-ledger/) to see the postings behind it.

## Common questions

- **Why is a paid invoice missing?** Check its date — it belongs to the period of its issue date, not the payment date.
- **Why is cash lower than profit?** Unpaid invoices are revenue but not cash; see the [cash flow](https://docs.getonebooks.com/reports/cash-flow/) statement.
- **Why is an expense not here?** Archived expenses are hidden from all reports; a draft purchase is not yet posted.

## Related

  - [Balance sheet](https://docs.getonebooks.com/reports/balance-sheet/)
  - [Exporting and printing reports](https://docs.getonebooks.com/reports/exporting/)