How to Modify a Profit & Loss Budget Performance Report by Class in QuickBooks
Published 05/05/2011 | 
A standard variance report in most accounting software has columns for YTD, Budget, Variance and Budget for Year. For a company with classes a Variance Report by Class does not exist in QuickBooks or in any add-on program I have tried. This is the most important report I use to monitor and control a company. What is odd is that the template is available in [Reports][Budgets & Forecasts][Profit and Loss Budget Performance][Account by Month]. But, the [Profit and Loss Budget Performance] does not have the option for [Account by Class] in its report layout, however it is available with [Reports][Budgets & Forecasts][Budget vs Actual]. Feel free to edit my comment in any way, if you would like to use it in your QuickBooks Tips and Tricks, or any other area. I’ve asked QuickBooks suppor, and they just shrug their shoulders (or that is what it sounds like on the telephone).
You can filter the Profit & Loss Budget Performance report to show data for just one class (Modify Report > Filters > Class) but you’ll have to create a separate report for each class. I recommend memorizing them in a group, so you can process them in a batch each month (Reports > Process Multiple Reports).
This article is provided for informational purposes and is not intended to be construed as legal, accounting, or other professional advice. For further information, please consult appropriate professional advice from your attorney and certified public accountant.
Written by +Ruth Perryman, CMA, CFE, CFM, MBA
Ruth is the president of The QB Specialists, an Intuit Premier Reseller that offers huge savings and expert advice on QuickBooks POS and QuickBooks Enterprise. She is an Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and a member of Intuit’s Trainer/Writer Network. She is also certified in QuickBooks POS and QuickBooks Enterprise and has provided expert QuickBooks help to thousands of businesses all over the world since 1996.
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Doe the report pull numbers from anywhere else? We have setup a budget by class, and when we rung a budget profit and loss overview, the numbers are different than if we filter the report with just the classes that have a budget. We cleared all the other classes, then tried putting in a zero value for the item on all of the class budgets, but the two reports still do not show up. Do you know if there is another place that QB gets numbers from the budget?
Hi Lisa,
Go to Company > Planning & Budgeting > Setup Budgets, and select the dropdown menu to see if you have more than one budget for the year.
Thanks for your help. I had an extra, but it was all blank. I deleted it and accidentally deleted the right one too. After re-creating the right one all the reports come out correct. I probably should have done from the beginning instead of spending 5 hours trying to figure out what was wrong!
Hi Lisa,
If you have a backup of the file before you deleted the budgets, you can restore the backup, export the budget (File > Utilities > Export > Lists to IIF Files) and then you can import it into your current file (File > Utilities > Import > IIF Files).
I’m really sorry, Ingrid, but I tested it in both QuickBooks Enterprise 12.0 and 13.0 and the budgets show up fine when when I filter for only one of the accounts.
How are you doing the filtering? You need to go to Customize Report, select the Filters tab, and select the account. Make sure you’re not selecting balance sheet accounts.
Ruth
When I run a P/L budget performance report all is OK. When I attempt to run the same report but modifying the report so that only on account shows up, I can’t get the “budget, YTD budget and Annual budget” numbers to show on the report.
Please advise on how to accomplish this as I have co-workers that are looking for this report with specified parameters. We are using Quickbooks Enterprise 2012 for a non-profit organization.
Thank you in advance for you assistance with this issue.
Warm Regards,
Ingrid
Hi Ingrid,
I just tested it and it worked fine. Are you sure the accounts you’re selecting have budgets?
Ruth
Hi Ruth,
The accounts that I am working with all are budgeted. When I attempt to run the other reports available in the Budget and Forecasts section the same thing happens.
Please advise.
Thanks and Warm Regards,
Ingrid