One of the most powerful features in QuickBooks Online (QBO) is the ability to customize reports to get business insights tailored to your needs. QBO provides many ways to tweak report settings, customize formatting, add visuals, and save customized reports.
Overview of Customizing Reports
Here are some key ways you can customize reports in QuickBooks Online:
- Change report date range and accounting method
- Modify the Columns shown in the report
- Filter report data by specific parameters
- Add formulas, calculations or summaries
- Change formatting like fonts, colors and positioning
- Add logos, images and text boxes
- Visualize data with charts and graphs
- Automate and schedule reports
- Memorize customized reports for reuse
- Export and share reports in multiple formats
Leveraging these options allows deep customization to meet your business reporting needs. Consider getting help from your accounting advisor like QB Tax Advisor to build effective reports.
Adjusting Report Settings
When running reports in QBO, you can tweak overall settings to control the output:
- Date range – Change report period, fiscal year, start and end dates. Compare across date ranges.
- Accounting method – Choose cash or accrual basis depending on how you track income/expenses.
- Subcolumns – Add subcolumns within columns for nested data like departments.
- Rows per page – Adjust number of rows shown per page.
- Aging method – Define aging period buckets (30/60/90 days etc.)
Fine tuning these settings generates more meaningful reports.
Choosing Report Columns
QuickBooks Online reports come with default columns, but you can add or remove columns to focus on key data points.
Review the list of available columns for each report type. Check/uncheck columns to include. Order columns by dragging and dropping.
Adding too many columns can make reports noisy. Show only the most important columns.
Filtering Report Data
Filter your reports to show only relevant data by applying parameters like:
- Date created, date due, date paid
- Customer, vendor or employee
- Product/inventory item
- Class departments
- Type of transaction
- Status – paid, unpaid, overdue, etc.
Filters focus reports on pertinent subsets of data, ignoring unnecessary records.
Adding Calculations and Formulas
Enhance analysis by adding formulas and calculated columns in reports:
- Calculate % of total amounts
- Create ratios of amounts
- Show differences like year-over-year
- Calculate days outstanding
- Determine gross or net margins
Performing calculations within reports saves manual work in Excel.
Formatting Report Appearance
Make reports more visually appealing and branded to your business by customizing formatting:
- Font sizes, colors, and styles
- Text alignment and positioning
- Table, row and cell borders
- Background colors and shading
- Number formatting like currencies, decimals, percentages
A polished, professional appearance improves report readability. Make key data stand out.
Incorporating Visuals
QBO allows adding charts and graphs to turn reports into visuals. Consider graphs like:
- Column charts for trend comparisons
- Bar charts to compare categories
- Line charts to show changes over time
- Pie charts for % breakouts
Charts communicate insights and trends at a glance. But use them judiciously to avoid cluttering reports.
Logos, Images and Text
Include visual elements to enhance reports:
- Insert your logo to brand reports
- Add images like photos, diagrams or icons
- Insert text boxes for explanatory notes
Visuals break up dense data and draw attention to key areas. But keep them clear and relevant.
Automating Report Delivery
Schedule reports to run automatically on a recurring schedule and send to recipients in email or file formats.
Automating reporting saves time and ensures recipients get the latest data consistently without having to manually generate reports.
Set report frequency like daily, weekly or monthly based on needs. Include message text to explain the data.
Memorizing Custom Reports
When you customize a report to your specifications in QBO, you can “Memorize” it to save those settings for reuse anytime.
Memorized reports retain all filters, calculations, formatting and other custom tweaks for quick and easy access later.
Use memorized reports as templates to base new reports off of. Update them whenever core settings change.
Exporting and Sharing Reports
Once generated in QuickBooks Online, export customized reports for use outside the system:
- Export to Excel for additional analysis and charts.
- Export to PDF format for sharing or printing cleanly.
- Export to formatted MS Word for polished reporting.
Share exported reports with wider stakeholders beyond accounting team members.
When to Work With an Accountant
Consider getting personalized guidance from your accounting advisor like QB Tax Advisor on building impactful customized reports in QuickBooks Online tailored to your business.
An accountant at QuickBooks Online support can help identify the right reports and customizations to provide timely financial insights and visibility. Their expertise helps craft professional and actionable reporting.
Conclusion
QuickBooks Online provides powerful customization options for tailoring reports to your organization’s specific needs. Adjust settings, add visuals, apply filters, include calculations, memorize templates, and automate report delivery based on what matters most to your business. Partnering with an accountant helps build reporting that fuels data-driven decisions and performance. Custom reporting is a valuable but underutilized capability in QBO.