A quarterly report in Xero usually means the profit and loss and balance sheet for a three-month period, sent to a board, a lender, investors or whoever does your tax. Running them takes a few clicks. Sending them every quarter is the part Xero leaves to you.
How to run a quarterly profit and loss in Xero
In Xero:
- Go to Reporting, then All reports, and open the Profit and Loss.
- Set the Date range to the quarter, for example 1 July to 30 September. The arrow next to the date also offers set periods such as This quarter.
- Under Compare with, pick how many past periods to show. Xero suggests comparison periods of the same type as your date range, so with This quarter it offers earlier quarters. Check the dates in each column heading. Xero can reuse the day numbers of your date range, so a quarter ending 30 September can make the January to March column end on 30 March.
- Under More, choose cash or accrual as the accounting basis.
- Click Update. To reuse the setup next quarter, choose Save as and save it as a custom report.
Comparison periods and tracking columns don't mix. If you compare earlier quarters, you can't also split the report into columns by department or location in the same run. Filtering to one department still works. For the split, see reports by tracking category.
The quarterly balance sheet
The Balance Sheet shows one date, not a period. For a quarterly report, set the date to the last day of the quarter, such as 30 September, and add earlier quarter-end dates as comparison columns. Readers then see how cash, debtors and loans moved from one quarter end to the next.
The quarter on its own, or the year to date
The quarter on its own shows the trend from one quarter to the next. The year to date shows where you stand against the annual plan or budget. A board or lender pack often wants both. Xero's common format Current financial year by month shows each month of this financial year with a year-to-date column, in monthly columns rather than quarters. For actuals against budget, add the Budget Variance for the same quarter.
When your financial year doesn't start on a calendar quarter
Calendar quarters run January to March, April to June, July to September and October to December. If your financial year starts on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July or 1 October, your financial quarters are the same as calendar quarters. If it starts in another month, say 1 March, your quarters are March to May and so on. Type those dates into the date range yourself, and check which months This quarter and the comparison columns pick before you rely on them.
Quarterly reports for tax
Tax quarters come with their own reports and deadlines, covered in separate guides:
- Australia: the Xero reports to check before lodging a BAS.
- UK: the reports to check before each Making Tax Digital quarterly update.
Sending quarterly reports without doing it by hand
Xero's standard report screens have no schedule option. Each quarter someone opens the saved report, changes the dates, exports it and attaches it to an email. Reportpost does that part for you. A quarterly schedule runs in January, April, July and October on the day and hour you choose. With the period set to Last quarter, each email covers the last full calendar quarter, so the July email covers April to June.
The profit and loss can carry up to 11 earlier quarters beside the latest one, each running to its real month end, on a cash or accrual basis. Add the balance sheet, aged receivables and payables, budget vs actual or the cash flow statement, and send it all as one PDF, one Excel workbook or a CSV per report. Whoever receives it doesn't need a Xero login. The Quarterly lender pack is a ready-made starting point: last quarter's profit and loss and balance sheet with aged debtors and creditors, sent on the 10th of the month after each quarter. Quarterly schedules follow calendar quarters, so if your financial year starts in another month, Last quarter won't line up with your own quarters. Try the demo with sample data.
Common questions
How do I run a quarterly report in Xero?
Open the Profit and Loss from Reporting, All reports, set the date range to the quarter and click Update. Use Compare with to add earlier quarters. For the Balance Sheet, set the date to the last day of the quarter.
Can Xero send quarterly reports automatically?
Not from the standard report screens. They have no schedule option, so you export and attach them each quarter. Reportpost sends them every quarter instead.
Does a quarterly report in Xero include GST or VAT?
The Profit and Loss shows income and expenses excluding GST or VAT. For the tax side of a quarter, use Xero's BAS, GST or VAT reports.
Related: building a report pack in Xero, sending monthly management accounts, a Xero month-end checklist.