# Profit and Loss Detail (Detail View)

When a Profit and Loss summary raises a question (why did travel expense spike this month?), the Detail report is where you find the answer. It lists every transaction behind each account, not just the totals.

## Steps

### 1. Open the Profit and Loss Detail report

Go to Reports and search for "Profit and Loss Detail" (distinct from the standard summary "Profit and Loss" report).

### 2. Set your date range

Choose the period you want to investigate, often a single month when you're drilling into a specific variance.

### 3. Filter to the accounts you care about (optional)

Click Customize, open the Filters section, and set "Filter by" to an option like Distribution account (or Customer, or Class) to investigate part of the report rather than every transaction.

### 4. Review the transaction list

The report updates automatically, listing every transaction (bills, invoices, journal entries, and more) grouped under each income and expense account, with running totals.

## FAQ

### Can I click into a transaction from the Detail report?

Yes. Every line in the Profit and Loss Detail report is clickable and opens the original transaction (bill, invoice, journal entry, etc.) so you can review or edit it directly.

### Is this the same as the Transaction Detail by Account report?

They're closely related. Profit and Loss Detail is scoped to income statement accounts specifically, while Transaction Detail by Account covers a broader set of account types including balance sheet accounts.

### Why is this report so much slower to load than the summary version?

It's pulling every individual transaction rather than pre-aggregated totals, so large date ranges or high transaction volume will take noticeably longer to run. Narrowing the date range or filtering to specific accounts speeds it up.