The profit & loss statement is only available on the web version of Wave.
The profit & loss statement, or Income statement, shows the money earned and spent over a specific period, providing a look into business profitability.
View the profit & loss statement
Understand the profit & loss statement
View the profit & loss statement
An overview of your profit & loss report is available on your business dashboard. Learn more in Get insight into your business with the dashboard.
- On the left-side menu, click Reports, then Profit & Loss Statement.
- Select your date range or input a custom date range.
- To compare your statement with another time period, click Compare to a prior period and select the date range.
- Select the Report Type from Accrual (Paid and Unpaid) or Cash Basis (Paid).
- Accrual (Paid and Unpaid) includes income and expenses. Non-cash expenses like depreciation and amortization are included.
- Cash Basis (Paid) includes income that has been invoiced but not yet received and expenses that have been billed but not yet paid.
- Click Update Report to review your statement.
An overview of your income, expenses, and overall profit for your selected timeframe is displayed at the top of your report. If you’re comparing report periods, the overall profit for each period, along with the difference in profits, is displayed.
You can view your statement in full in either the Summary or Details tab:
- The Summary tab provides an overview of income, cost of goods sold and the business gross profit, as well as the operating expenses and the business net profit.
- The Details tab provides an in-depth look at the specific income and expense account balances that contribute to the business's gross and net profits.
Understand the profit & loss statement
Income and gross profit
The top section of your profit & loss statement reflects the income accounts and the cost of goods sold that make up your business's net gross profit.
Gross profit is the total revenue minus the cost of goods sold. The cost of goods sold includes the costs to produce your product or service. To determine your gross profit margin or the percentage of revenue kept after covering your cost of goods sold, divide your gross profit by your total revenue, then multiply by 100.
Operating expenses and net profit
The bottom section of your profit & loss statement reflects the expense accounts that are not directly related to product or service production and the business’s overall net profit. Operating expenses include things like payroll and wages, advertising, and insurance.
Net profit is your business’s bottom line in overall profitability. If the total number is negative, this is called net loss. Use this number to track your business growth, changes in sales volume or changes in expenses.
When comparing periods in your profit & loss statement, an arrow indicates whether each line item has increased or decreased to show changes impacting your business’s financial performance.
For more information on Wave’s reporting features, check out the Video: Wave’s Reports Tour.
Export a statement
To export your profit & loss statement, at the top right corner, click Export, then select CSV or PDF format. The statement will download to your browser.