Profit and loss report template: a P&L to copy, with a worked example

A profit and loss report (P&L, or income statement) lists revenue, then the direct costs of earning it, then operating expenses, and ends at net income for a period, usually a month. The template below follows that order, with columns for this month, last month and the change, so the report shows what moved and not only where you ended up. Copy it into a doc or spreadsheet and fill one column per month.

The template

| Line                          | This month | Last month | Change | Year to date |
|-------------------------------|-----------:|-----------:|-------:|-------------:|
| **Revenue**                   |            |            |        |              |
| Product or subscription sales |            |            |        |              |
| Services                      |            |            |        |              |
| Refunds and discounts         |            |            |        |              |
| **Net revenue**               |            |            |        |              |
| **Cost of goods sold**        |            |            |        |              |
| Hosting or materials          |            |            |        |              |
| Payment processing            |            |            |        |              |
| Direct labor or contractors   |            |            |        |              |
| **Total cost of goods sold**  |            |            |        |              |
| **Gross profit**              |            |            |        |              |
| Gross margin %                |            |            |        |              |
| **Operating expenses**        |            |            |        |              |
| Salaries and benefits         |            |            |        |              |
| Marketing and advertising     |            |            |        |              |
| Software and subscriptions    |            |            |        |              |
| Rent and office               |            |            |        |              |
| Professional fees             |            |            |        |              |
| Other                         |            |            |        |              |
| **Total operating expenses**  |            |            |        |              |
| **Operating income**          |            |            |        |              |
| Other income and expenses     |            |            |        |              |
| Taxes                         |            |            |        |              |
| **Net income**                |            |            |        |              |

The formulas that tie it together:

• Net revenue = sales + services - refunds and discounts
• Gross profit = net revenue - total cost of goods sold
• Gross margin = gross profit / net revenue
• Operating income = gross profit - total operating expenses
• Net income = operating income + other income - other expenses - taxes

Example of a P&L, filled in

Acme is a small software company. Its September 2026 profit and loss account, on an accrual basis (numbers invented):

The three sentences that go on top: Net revenue grew 6.7% to $135,900 on subscriptions (+$10,400), partly offset by lower services revenue. Gross margin slipped from 77.9% to 76.5% because hosting grew 20% while revenue grew 7%. The net loss narrowed only slightly, to $22,200, because advertising rose $4,200 and used up most of the $4,600 gain in gross profit.

What to include and why

• Two periods side by side. One month tells you where you are; the change column tells you what to ask about. Add the same month last year if the business is seasonal.
• Gross margin. It shows whether growth is getting cheaper or more expensive to deliver. In the example, revenue grew while margin fell, which a revenue total alone would hide.
• The accounts that matter, not every account. Group small accounts under Other so the report fits on one screen. Your accounting software keeps the detail.
• The basis, stated. Accrual books revenue when earned and costs when incurred; cash books them when money moves. Say which one the report uses, because a large annual prepayment can make the two differ a lot in a single month.
• A note on open items. If the month isn't closed yet (uncategorized transactions, missing bills), label the report provisional.

A P&L is not a cash report. Net income can be negative while cash grows, for example when customers prepay annual plans, or positive while cash falls because customers pay late. Pair it with a cash check, and see burn rate for turning the two into runway.

Have an agent fill it every month

If your books are in QuickBooks Online, nobody needs to copy numbers into this template by hand. The Accounting API's ProfitAndLoss report returns the same structure, and with summarize_column_by=Month it gives one column per month. The QuickBooks monthly P&L summary skill runs on the 5th of each month: it pulls the last two months side by side, ranks the accounts that moved most, reads the transactions behind the top two, and warns when the month doesn't look closed.

You can also ask your agent directly once it has a QuickBooks connector or MCP server:

From QuickBooks, pull the ProfitAndLoss report for the last two full months, accrual basis, one column per month. Fill in this template: [paste the template]. Then write three sentences: what changed in net revenue, gross margin and net income, and which accounts caused it.

Xero's Accounting API has a Profit and Loss report as well, so the same prompt works there with a Xero connection. On a schedule, the skill posts its summary to your Briefkin board as a card, so the month's P&L gets read on the 5th instead of whenever someone finds time. For spending during the month, add QuickBooks expenses by category, and to get the books ready before the 5th, QuickBooks uncategorized transactions lists what still needs a category.