Cybooks

Run a profit and loss report

This guide covers how to view your income and expenses for a selected period using the Profit & Loss report.

The Profit & Loss report (also called an income statement) summarises your revenue, cost of sales, and operating expenses to show whether your business made a profit or loss. It follows the IFRS for SMEs structure, presenting key subtotals like Gross Profit, Operating Profit, and Profit for the Period. All amounts are displayed in your base currency.

View the Profit & Loss report

  1. In the sidebar, go to Reports > Profit & Loss.

  2. The report loads automatically for the current month, comparing with the previous month.

  3. Set the date range using the Date range filter at the top of the page. You can choose a preset range (e.g. a specific month, quarter, or year) or select a custom date range.

  4. Click Update to refresh the report with your selected filters.

Compare periods

The Compare with dropdown lets you view the report side-by-side with previous periods to spot trends.

  1. Click the Compare with dropdown.

  2. Under Compare with, select how many periods to compare (1 to 4), or select None to show a single period.

  3. Under Period, choose the comparison interval:

    • Month -- compare with previous months (available when the date range is within a single month).
    • Quarter -- compare with previous quarters (available when the date range is within a single quarter).
    • Year -- compare with previous years (available when the date range is within a single year).
    • Custom date range -- compare with previous periods of the same length (available for custom or to-date ranges).

  4. Click Update to apply the comparison.

When comparing periods, additional columns appear in the report:

  • Variance -- the difference between the current and previous period, shown in green (favourable) or red (unfavourable).
  • Percentage -- the percentage change between periods.
  • Metric -- a sparkline chart showing the trend across the compared periods.

Break down by tags or branches

You can split the report by tags or branches to see how different parts of your business are performing.

  1. Click the Select filter dropdown to the right of the Compare with filter.

  2. Choose a breakdown type:

    • Tags -- select a Tag Group, then choose one or more tags to compare.
    • Branches -- select one or more branches.

  3. Click Update to apply the breakdown.

The report adds columns for each selected tag or branch alongside a Total column. To clear the breakdown, click the x icon in the filter dropdown.

Understand the report structure

The report groups your accounts into IFRS-compliant sections:

SectionWhat it shows
RevenueIncome from your core business activities
Cost of SalesDirect costs of delivering your products or services
Gross ProfitRevenue minus Cost of Sales
Other IncomeIncome from non-core activities
Operating ExpensesDay-to-day running costs of your business
Operating ProfitGross Profit plus Other Income, minus Operating Expenses
Other ExpensesNon-operating expenses
Finance CostsInterest and other financing charges
Profit Before TaxOperating Profit minus Finance Costs and Other Expenses
Income Tax ExpenseTax charges for the period
Profit from Continuing OperationsProfit Before Tax minus Income Tax
Loss from Discontinued OperationsLosses from operations that have been shut down
Profit for the PeriodFinal profit after all items
Other Comprehensive IncomeItems recognised outside of profit or loss
Total Comprehensive IncomeProfit for the Period plus Other Comprehensive Income

Each section expands to show the individual accounts and their balances. Section headers and key subtotals are shown in bold.

Export or print the report

  1. Click More (the three-dot menu) at the top right of the report.

  2. Under Export As, choose a format:

    • PDF -- generates a downloadable PDF file.
    • XLSX -- exports to Excel with IFRS-compliant formatting, including a header with your company name, report title, period, and currency.
    • CSV -- exports raw data in comma-separated format.

  3. To print the report, click Print from the same menu.

Schedule the report

You can set up the Profit & Loss report to be generated and emailed automatically on a recurring basis.

  1. Click More (the three-dot menu) at the top right of the report.

  2. Select Schedule Report.

  3. Configure the schedule:

    • Frequency -- choose Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Quarterly.
    • Start Date & Time -- set when the first report should be sent.
    • Email Recipients -- enter one or more email addresses.
    • Attach Report as -- choose the file format: PDF, CSV, XLSX (Microsoft Excel), or XLS (Microsoft Excel 1997-2004 Compatible).
    • Status -- toggle the schedule on or off.

  4. Click Save to activate the schedule.

Customise visible columns

Click the Columns panel on the right side of the report grid to show or hide specific columns. This lets you simplify the view by toggling off columns you do not need, such as the account code or comparison columns.

Frequently asked questions

What date range does the report default to? The report defaults to the current month, comparing with 1 previous month.

Why are some sections empty? Sections like Finance Costs or Discontinued Operations only show account details when there are transactions in those accounts. If a section has no transactions across any compared period, it appears as a single row with a zero balance.

What currency are the amounts shown in? All amounts are displayed in your base (company) currency, regardless of the original transaction currency. A note at the bottom of the report confirms this.

Can I drill down into a specific account? Click on an account name in the report to view its transactions in the Account Transactions report for the same period.

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