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Accounting | How To

How To Create a Balance Sheet in QuickBooks Online

Updated October 20, 2022

Tim Yoder, Ph.D., CPA

REVIEWED BY: Tim Yoder, Ph.D., CPA

Tim is a Certified QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets) Pro, QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and CPA with 25 years of experience. He brings his expertise to Fit Small Business’s accounting content.

 

WRITTEN BY: Mark Calatrava

Published July 1, 2022

Mark has researched and reviewed accounting software at Fit Small Business since 2019 and has developed an extensive knowledge of accounting software features and how unique business needs determine the best accounting software.

Published July 1, 2022

This article is part of a larger series on Accounting Software.

Learn More With Our QuickBooks Online Course
Explore the chapters in the guide.
  1. How to Set Up QuickBooks Online
  2. Part 1: Setting Up QuickBooks
    1. How to Set Up Company Information
    2. How to Customize Invoices, Sales Receipts & Estimates
    3. How to Set Up Invoices, Sales Receipts & Estimates
    4. How to Set Up Products and Services
    5. How to Set Up Messages
    6. How to Set Up Statements
    7. How to Set Up Expenses
    8. How to Set Up Advanced Settings
  3. Part 1: Setting Up QuickBooks (Cont.)
    1. How to Import Bank Transactions
    2. How to Import Credit Card Transactions
    3. How to Set Up Multiple Users
    4. How to Set Up the Chart of Accounts
    5. How to Set Up the Products and Services List
    6. How to Set Up Customers
    7. How to Set Up Vendors
  4. Part 2: Managing Sales and Income
    1. How to Create Estimates (Quotes or Bids)
    2. How to Create and Send Invoices
    3. How to Receive Payments
    4. How to Create & Send Sales Receipts
  5. Part 3: Managing Bills and Expenses
    1. How to Write & Print Checks
    2. How to Enter Bills
    3. How to Pay Bills
  6. Part 4: Managing Banking Transactions
    1. How to Enter Banking Transactions Manually
    2. How to Manage Downloaded Banking Transactions
    3. How to Record Bank Deposits
    4. How to Transfer Funds Between Bank Accounts
    5. How to Handle Bounced Checks From Customers
    6. How to Process Bank Reconciliation
  7. Part 5: Managing Business Credit Card Transactions
    1. How to Enter Business Credit Card Transactions Manually
    2. How to Manage Downloaded Business Credit Card Transactions
    3. How to Enter a Credit Card Refund
    4. How to Reconcile Business Credit Card Accounts
  8. Part 6: Managing Credit Card Sales
    1. How to Manage Credit Card Sales With QuickBooks Payments
    2. How to Manage Credit Card Sales With a Third-party Credit Card Processor
  9. Part 7: Set Up and Manage Payroll
    1. How Set Up and Run Payroll
    2. How to Manage Payroll Tax
    3. How to Add Historical Payroll Data
    4. How to Set Up Automatic Deposits
    5. How to Print Payroll Checks
    6. How to Run Payroll Reports
    7. How to Reconcile Payroll Liabilities
  10. Part 8: Reporting in QuickBooks Online
    1. How to Run a Profit and Loss Statement
    2. How to Run a Balance Sheet Report
    3. How to Run a Statement of Cash Flows
    4. How to Run an A/R Aging Report
    5. How to Run an A/P Aging Report
Quickbooks Online

In this lesson, we’ll illustrate how to create a balance sheet in QuickBooks Online. First, we’ll show you how to generate the balance sheet with basic setup options, then we’ll teach you how to further customize the report. We also included a sample balance sheet, and we’ll walk you through its different sections.

This course, which is part of our free QuickBooks Online tutorials, aims to help you build a better understanding of QuickBooks Online, our top recommended small business accounting software. If you have a QuickBooks subscription, watch the video below, or execute the steps we list, as you follow along in your own account. If you haven’t signed up for QuickBooks yet, then get a 30-day free trial or 50% off for three months.

Visit QuickBooks Online

Step 1: Locate Balance Sheet

To create a new balance sheet in QuickBooks, choose Reports in the left menu bar and then click on Balance Sheet under Business overview, as shown below.

Creating a new balance sheet in QuickBooks Online.

Create a new balance sheet in QuickBooks Online


Step 2: Set Options for the Balance Sheet Report

Scroll to the top of the Balance Sheet screen to access fields that you can edit.

Setting basic options for the QuickBooks Balance Sheet Report.

Set basic options for the QuickBooks Balance Sheet Report

Set the following options for your balance sheet.

A. Report period: Choose the period for which you’re preparing financial statements. You can either click the drop-down box to select a predefined period or enter the start and end dates for a custom period.

Choose a consistent report period.

Since the net income in the equity section of your balance sheet should agree with the net income on your Profit and Loss statement, be sure to prepare both statements using the same reporting period.

B. Display columns by: By default, the balance sheet will have a single column for the balances at the end of the reporting period. You can choose to display additional columns for interim balances, such as quarterly, by clicking the drop-down box. You can also display additional columns to separate the balances by customer, vendors, classes, locations, or other categories.

C. Show non-zero or active only: The default is to show just rows and columns that have activity during the period. This is a good setting as it’ll eradicate unnecessary clutter in your balance sheet.

D. Compare another period: For comparison purposes, you can include an additional column that shows the balances of the prior period’s Balance Sheet. You can also add a column with the difference between the current and prior periods as either a dollar or percentage change.

E. Accounting method: Choose whether the Balance Sheet should be prepared on the cash or accrual basis of accounting. Accrual accounting includes accounts payable and accounts receivable. I recommend using an accrual-basis Balance Sheet for management purposes, even though most small businesses will have to print a cash-basis balance sheet for tax purposes.

F. Run report: Hit this button to apply your changes.

G. Customize: Select this option to customize your balance sheet further. We’ll explore this section in more detail in Step 3.

H. Save customization: Click this button and name your report if you want to save your Balance Sheet settings. You’ll then be able to choose this customized balance sheet from the Reports tab in the future.


Step 3: Customize Your Balance Sheet Further

You can customize your balance sheet further by clicking the Customize button (item G in the prior section). The Customize report screen contains four sections: General, Rows/Columns, Filter, and Header/Footer.

General

The first section in the Customize report screen covers general options:

General balance sheet options in QuickBooks Online.

General balance sheet options in QuickBooks Online

The Report period and Accounting method are populated automatically based on the selections you made in the prior section. Unique options in this screen include the ability to report numbers in thousands of dollars, omit cents from your balance sheet, and choose a format for negative numbers.

Rows/Columns

This section lets you select columns you want to include in your report and change the order of the columns.

Row/columns balance sheet options in QuickBooks Online.

Row/columns balance sheet options in QuickBooks Online

The % of Column is a nice option as it’ll help you analyze how your total assets are allocated among each asset account. You can reorder the columns by first selecting them and then clicking and dragging them up or down.

Filter

You can filter the balance sheet by five variables, as shown below.

Filtering balance sheet by variables in QuickBooks Online.

Filter balance sheet by variables in QuickBooks Online

Tip:

Running a balance sheet by location might be particularly useful but only if you’re diligent about including the location variable in all your transactions. If the Location variable doesn’t appear in your Filter options, you need to turn on Location tracking, as demonstrated in Step 4 of our guide on how to set up advanced settings.

Header/Footer

Lastly, you can choose what information to display in the header and footer of the balance sheet.

Header and footer balance sheet options in QuickBooks Online.

Header and footer balance sheet options in QuickBooks Online

Tick the box of any field you wish to appear on your balance sheet. You can also change the name of the company and report that will appear in the header by entering text in the boxes next to the fields.

Once you’re done customizing your Balance Sheet report, click the green Run Report button at the bottom of the screen.


Step 4: Print, Email, or Export Your Balance Sheet

If necessary, you can email, print, and export your balance sheet (labeled A, B, and C, respectively, in the screenshot below). Simply click on the icon of the task you want to perform.

Email, print, or export your Balance Sheet in QuickBooks Online.

Email, print, or export your Balance Sheet in QuickBooks Online

Here’s a sample balance sheet in QuickBooks Online:

Sample balance sheet in QuickBooks Online.


What Is a Balance Sheet & Why It Is Important?

A balance sheet is a financial statement that summarizes everything your company owns and owes at the end of a certain period. It’s particularly important because it allows you, stakeholders, and potential investors to assess the business’s risks and returns and make adjustments to your working capital if needed. Further, it helps lenders evaluate the creditworthiness of your business, which comes in handy if you apply for a loan.

Wrap Up

Congratulations on completing another QuickBooks tutorial and learning how to create a balance sheet in QuickBooks Online. Our next guide will look at how to run a statement of cash flows, which covers how to set up a default cash flow report and modify it if needed.

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About the Author

Mark Calatrava

Find Mark OnLinkedIn

Mark Calatrava

Mark Calatrava is an accounting expert for Fit Small Business. He has covered more than 50 accounting software for small businesses and niche industries and has developed an in-depth knowledge of the important features of accounting software and how the importance of these features vary by business.

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