QuickBooks Online Budget vs Actuals Doesn't Match the Profit and Loss: Six Things to Check

The actuals on your Budget vs. Actuals report should be the same numbers you see on the Profit and Loss. When they are not, it is almost always a setting, a filter or a gap in the budget, not a bug. Check these six things in order.

You run the Profit and Loss and see one number. You run Budget vs. Actuals and the actual column says something else. Before you assume QuickBooks is wrong, make sure the two reports are really asking the same question. Most mismatches come from one of the checks below.

1. Same accounting method

A Profit and Loss on the accrual basis counts income when it is invoiced and expenses when they are billed. On the cash basis it counts them when money moves. Open Customize on each report and confirm that the accounting method is the same. A mismatch here produces differences that look random and are really timing.

2. Same dates and the same fiscal year

Check the report period on both. "This month" and "This fiscal year to date" are different numbers, and a budget built for the wrong fiscal year will not line up with the actuals. If you changed your fiscal year start, check that the budget year is the one you meant.

3. Same filters and columns

Look for a class, location, customer or vendor filter on one report and not the other. Also check the column setting. A report shown by month and a report shown as a total can look different even when the totals agree. And if one has the option to hide zero rows turned on, lines can seem to be missing.

4. Every account that has activity has a budget row

A budget only compares the accounts it contains. Depending on how it was built, an account that has transactions but no budget line can be left out of the comparison or show against a zero budget, so the actual total no longer agrees with the P&L. Compare the list of accounts on both reports. Anything that appears only on the Profit and Loss needs a budget row, even if the amount is $0.

5. Sub-accounts and parent accounts

If a budget was entered on a parent account while the transactions sit in its sub-accounts, or the other way round, the subtotals will not match even though the grand total does. Decide on one level and keep the budget and the transactions at that level.

6. Catch-all and changed accounts

Look for balances in Ask My Accountant or Uncategorized Expense. They show up on the Profit and Loss but are rarely in a budget. Also check whether anything was reclassified, added or deleted since the budget was built, since a new account will not have a budget row.

Making it stop happening

The root problem is that a budget and a chart of accounts are two separate lists that someone has to keep in step. DrillFi maps each budget line to one or more GL accounts once, then compares the budget to the same actuals the Profit and Loss uses. Accounts with activity but no budget home are flagged as unmapped, so they cannot quietly drop out of the comparison. See how the mapping works.

DrillFi is an advisory and reporting tool. It is not an audit, review or compilation, and it is not tax preparation or legal advice. QuickBooks menus and plan features change, so check the labels in your own file.