How to Create a Profit and Loss Report Comparison (Month-over-Month) in QuickBooks Online

A month-over-month Profit and Loss comparison puts a month next to the one before it, so you can catch a cost creeping up or revenue slipping before it becomes a trend. Here's how to build one in QuickBooks Online.

New to QuickBooks Online's modern view? See how it compares to the classic view.

Steps

Open the Profit and Loss report
Go to Reports and select "Profit and Loss."
Set the date range to the month you want to analyze
Use the Report period control to select a single month, for example "Last month" or a custom one-month range. The month you compare against is added in the next step.
Set "Compare to" to Previous Period
Open the "Compare to" dropdown at the top of the report and check "Previous Period (PP)." Because your period is one month, this adds the immediately preceding month. Then check "$ change" and "% change" to add the dollar and percentage difference columns.
Review the month-over-month columns
The report updates automatically, showing the selected month next to the prior month, plus the dollar and percentage change between them.

Calculation columns you can add

Alongside the comparison period, the "Compare to" dropdown offers calculation columns that add computed values rather than another time period:

$ change — The dollar difference between the current period and the comparison period.

% change — The percentage difference between the current period and the comparison period.

% of Row — Shows each amount as a percentage of its row total.

% of Column — Shows each amount as a percentage of its column total.

% of Expense — Shows each amount as a percentage of total expenses.

% of Income — Shows each amount as a percentage of total income.

Other Profit and Loss comparisons

Profit and Loss Comparison (Year-over-Year)Profit and Loss Comparison (Quarter-over-Quarter)Profit and Loss Comparison (Year-to-Date)

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between month-over-month and a Profit and Loss by month?

A by-month report (Display columns by Months) shows every month in your range as its own column so you can scan the whole year. A month-over-month comparison focuses on two consecutive months and adds explicit dollar and percentage change columns. Use by-month to spot trends across the year, month-over-month to quantify a single step change.

How do I compare this month to the same month last year instead?

Use a year-over-year comparison. Set "Compare to" to "Previous year (PY)" rather than "Previous Period." See our Year-over-Year guide for the full walkthrough.

Can I compare against a specific earlier month rather than the immediately prior one?

Yes. Choose "Custom period (CP)" in the "Compare to" dropdown and set the exact month you want to compare against.

Tired of rebuilding reports? Need more customization?

Retriever pulls QuickBooks Online reports like this one into Google Sheets on a schedule. They refresh on their own, and once the data is in Sheets you can pivot, chart, and customize it far beyond QuickBooks' fixed report layouts.

See how Retriever works

Profit and Loss by Month Profit and Loss by Customer Profit and Loss by Class Profit and Loss by Quarter Profit and Loss Comparison (Year-over-Year)Profit and Loss Comparison (Quarter-over-Quarter)Profit and Loss Comparison (Year-to-Date)Profit and Loss Detail (Detail View)Profit and Loss by Location Classic vs Modern View Reporting

Questions about this report? Reach out at aubrey@retrieverhq.com.