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provincialmoving
October 19, 2025
Question

profit and loss report

  • October 19, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 8 views

I'm trying to find the profit of particular goods/services.

As a simple example we charge our customers a fuel surcharge.

I'd like to make sure each month or quarter we're covering our fuel costs with these surcharges.
I have a Product in the "Product and services" list as "Fuel"
And I have a COG-Fuel category in my charter of accounts.
If I run a profit and loss report and filter it by the product/service "Fuel" it doesn't have anything in the cost of goods sold line. How do I the correct account to the cost? Or am I going about this the wrong way?

Thanks

2 replies

J
Janiqueca_TQuickBooks Team
QuickBooks Team
October 21, 2025
You’re not doing anything wrong, provincial. You can just update the product’s settings and set the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) account to the default expense account. This way, your costs will be correctly categorized and show up accurately in your Profit and Loss report.
 
If a different account is selected, it is normal for no amounts to appear under the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) section in your Profit and Loss report. Be sure to use the default expense account to ensure accurate tracking and reporting of your costs. You can understand inventory assets and cost of goods sold tracking to gain more insight.
 
You can update the product’s information and set the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) account as the expense account to ensure your costs are correctly categorized and reflected accurately in your Profit and Loss report.
 
For steps: You'll want to ensure that the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) account is linked to the Expense account for your item by following these steps:
 
  1. Click the Gear icon.
  2. Under LISTS column, select Product and services.
  3. Look for the item and click Edit.
  4. On the Purchasing section, click the dropdown menu under Expense account.
  5. Choose Cost of Goods Sold and click Save.

 

 
Please see the attached screenshot below for a visual reference of how it is supposed to appear in the report:
 
 
If you have additional questions, feel free to click the Reply button below.
P
provincialmovingAuthor
February 4, 2026

I put this on the back burner for to long. 

I've tied the accounts together, but I'm still not getting any cost of goods sold under my profit and loss report.

I ran a Transaction Detail by Account report for January, and I see that there have been costs,
I ran a Sales by Product/Service Detail report for January and I see there has been sales,

But if I run a profit and loss report I only see the sales:

K
KayePeQuickBooks Team
QuickBooks Team
February 4, 2026

Thank you for returning to the thread, @provincialmoving. The amounts displayed in your Profit and Loss report depend on how you record your transactions and the items you use.


To ensure the correct amounts appear, I recommend reviewing your item's As of date and comparing it to the transaction dates. The entry dates should match or be later than the item's As of date for the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) to be calculated correctly.


To verify, click on the Sales of Product Income amount in the report. This will display the transactions associated with the Fuel item, allowing you to review them.


Let us know if you have additional concerns. We're here to guide.

M
MichaelaSQuickBooks Team
QuickBooks Team
March 4, 2026

Thank you for your follow-up, ProvincialMoving. The item detail section does not appear directly on the expense page by default. You’re correct—it needs to be enabled first in order to display. Please follow these steps to enable it:
 

1. Click the Gear icon and select Account and Settings.

2. In the left menu, choose Expenses and then click Edit in the “Expenses” section.

3. Enable the option "Show items table on expense and purchase forms" and click Save, then Done.
 

Once this is done, you will be able to see the Item details dropdown below the category details when entering an expense.

Please don't hesitate to leave us a response if you have other questions or concerns.

P
provincialmovingAuthor
March 5, 2026

I don't have that option.

This seems very complex for a very basic function. 

Is there a better way to compare two accounts? This seems like the most basic of accounting functions.

RazzieE
RazzieEQuickBooks Team
QuickBooks Team
March 5, 2026

Hi there, Provincialmoving. I appreciate the screenshot you attached. Please note that this specific feature is not available in your current subscription, this feature is available in QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced.

 

In Essential, you can track income and expenses, but to track quantities on hand and automated inventory assets, you would need to upgrade your subscription to the Plus tier.

 

If you have follow-up questions, please don't hesitate to click the Reply button

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