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Guide

How to build a monthly management report from QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Online already holds every number a monthly management report needs. This guide walks through the reports to run, where Intuit puts them, how to assemble them into one document, and how to write the commentary that turns a set of statements into a report someone can act on.

Updated

What a monthly management report should contain

A management report is for the people who run the business, not for the tax return. It answers three questions: how did the month go, where does the cash stand, and what needs a decision. Most good ones have the same spine:

  • Profit and loss for the month, beside the prior month and, once you have the history, the same month last year.
  • Balance sheet at the month end, beside the prior month end, so movements in cash, receivables, payables and debt are visible.
  • Cash: the balance today and what is due in and out over the coming weeks.
  • Working capital: who owes you and how late, and what you owe and when.
  • Commentary: a few paragraphs on what moved, why it moved, and what you are doing about it.

What should you do in QuickBooks Online before running the reports?

Close the month first: reconcile the bank and card accounts, post the month's bills and invoices, and record any accruals your accountant uses. Then check the accounting method under Settings, Account and settings, Advanced. Accrual is what a management report usually wants; whichever you choose, keep it the same every month.

Reports are only as good as the books under them. Reconcile the bank and card accounts for the month, post the bills and invoices that belong to it, and record any accruals your accountant uses. Then check the accounting method the reports default to:

  1. Go to Settings (the gear icon) and select Account and settings.
  2. Select Advanced, then the pencil icon in the Accounting section.
  3. In the Accounting method dropdown choose Accrual or Cash, then select Save and Done.

Accrual shows income when it is earned and costs when they are incurred, which is what a management report usually wants. Whichever you choose, keep it the same every month so the comparisons mean something.

Step by step: run the reports

1. The Profit and Loss, compared with last month

  1. Go to Reports, then Standard reports.
  2. Use Find report by name to open Profit and Loss.
  3. Set the date range to the month you are reporting.
  4. Open Compare another period, choose the previous period, and select the dollar change and percentage change columns. Run the report.

For a trend view instead, set Display columns by to Month over the year to date. The same comparison works for quarters and years.

2. The Balance Sheet at the month end

Open Balance Sheet the same way, dated at the last day of the month, and set the prior month end beside it. The lines to read first are cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable and any loans.

3. Receivables and payables

Run A/R Aging Detail for who owes you and how overdue each invoice is, and A/P Aging Detail for what you owe and when it falls due. Together they are the working-capital page of the report.

4. Save the setup for next month

After you customise a report, Save As keeps the settings under a name of your choice, so next month each report is one click rather than four.

How do you assemble the report in QuickBooks Online?

Go to Reports, then Management reports, and pick a template: Company Overview holds the Profit and Loss and the Balance Sheet; Sales Performance and Expenses Performance add aging and summary reports. Set the report period, preview the PDF, then choose Edit to change the cover, add your own text or compare periods.

QuickBooks Online can bind the reports into one document with a cover page and your own text.

  1. Go to Reports, then Management reports.
  2. Pick a template. Company Overview holds the Profit and Loss and the Balance Sheet; Sales Performance adds A/R Aging Detail and Sales by Customer Summary; Expenses Performance adds A/P Aging Detail and Expenses by Vendor Summary.
  3. Set the Report Period, then select Preview to see the PDF.
  4. From the dropdown next to Preview choose Edit to change the cover, add a page of your own text, compare with the previous period or year, or include a breakdown of sub-accounts. Send and Export as PDF are in the same dropdown.

To add another standard report, find it under Reports > Standard reports, open its more-options menu (the three dots) and select Add to Management reports. Intuit lists custom reports, chart and KPI widgets and scheduled delivery as features of QuickBooks Online Advanced and Intuit Enterprise Suite.

Prefer a spreadsheet? On any open report, Export/Print offers Export to Excel, Export as CSV and Print/Save as PDF, and More actions > Email report sends it as Excel, CSV or PDF.

How do you write the commentary?

Start at the bottom line: net income against last month, in one sentence. Then walk the largest movements and name the accounts behind each one, separate one-offs from trends, say where the cash went if profit and cash moved apart, and end with one to three decisions, each with an owner.

The statements say what happened; the commentary says why. A method that holds up month after month:

  1. Start at the bottom line. State net income and how it compares with last month in one sentence.
  2. Walk the largest movements. Take the lines that moved most, in money, and name the accounts behind each one. "Marketing up 18,000: the annual conference sponsorship, booked in March" beats "marketing increased".
  3. Separate one-offs from trends. A one-time bill and a cost that will recur every month call for different decisions.
  4. Reconcile profit to cash. If profit rose and cash fell, say where the cash went: receivables, inventory, loan repayments or capital spending.
  5. End with decisions. One to three things someone needs to approve, chase or change, each with an owner.

QuickBooks can write a summary now. Why Ataski?

On QuickBooks Online Advanced and Intuit Enterprise Suite, Intuit's Management reports can include an AI-generated executive summary and can be scheduled for recurring delivery. If your plan has them and they cover what your readers need, use them.

Ataski's Financial Analyst does a different job: it delivers the finished month-end report, whichever accounting system the company keeps its books in.

  • One report across ledgers. It reads QuickBooks Online and Xero, and NetSuite and Sage Intacct in beta.
  • History from the first day. On the first connection it reads the trailing 24 months, so the very first report already compares each month with the same month last year.
  • Cash, 13 weeks out. A weekly forecast with its minimum balance and headroom, beside a calendar of the open invoices and bills falling due each week.
  • Variance with causes. Each line that moved is explained by the accounts that moved it, and by how much.
  • Checked before it reaches you. A second, independent AI reviewer reads every monthly narrative, and a disagreement comes to you instead of being settled quietly. An AI explanation that cites a source outside your books is discarded, not published.
  • On a schedule. The report is refreshed on the 1st of every month for the month just ended, as a draft that waits for your approval; once approved it also comes out as a board deck (PPTX), beside an investor report and an Excel workbook with live formulas.

Or have it written for you

Connect QuickBooks Online once (Ataski only ever sends it read requests), and the steps above happen every month without you: the statements, the comparisons, the working-capital view and the commentary, each actual opening down to the postings behind it. Plans start at $599/mo, and the first month is free.

Monthly report from QuickBooks Online See a sample report

Sources

Menu and report names were checked against Intuit's help articles in October 2026; Intuit updates its menus from time to time. Run reports in QuickBooks Online and Create, view, or edit a Management report.

Questions

Which QuickBooks Online reports go into a monthly management report?

At minimum the Profit and Loss and the Balance Sheet for the month, each compared with the prior period. Most management reports add the A/R Aging and A/P Aging reports for working capital, and a short written commentary on what moved and why.

Can QuickBooks Online compare this month with last month?

Yes. On a report such as the Profit and Loss, use Compare another period to add the previous period, and select the dollar change and percentage change columns. The same option compares weeks, quarters and years.

Where are Management reports in QuickBooks Online?

Go to Reports, then Management reports. Intuit's help lists the Company Overview, Sales Performance and Expenses Performance templates for Simple Start, Essentials and Plus; Advanced and Intuit Enterprise Suite add custom reports, charts and KPIs, AI-generated executive summaries and scheduled delivery.

Does Ataski change anything in my QuickBooks company?

No. Intuit's accounting permission has no read-only version, so the access you approve is technically read and write, but Ataski only issues read requests. It never posts a journal entry, never edits a transaction and never closes your books.

How soon does the first report arrive?

Right after you connect, the first sync reads the trailing 24 months of your books, and your first report draft is prepared from it. After that the report is refreshed on the 1st of every month, for the month just ended, as a draft that waits for your approval. A month your books have not closed yet shows revenue only: cost of sales and margin stay blank rather than being invented.