FitSmallBusiness
  • HR
  • Retail
  • Sales
  • Marketing
  • Accounting
  • Real Estate
  • More Categories
    • Starting a Business
    • Banking
    • Credit Cards
    • Financing
    • Insights and Trends
    • Insurance
    • Office Technology
    • Online Business
    • Taxes
    • Restaurants
  • BE A PARTNER
  • WORK AT FSB
  • About
  • HR
  • Retail
  • Sales
  • Marketing
  • Accounting
  • Real Estate
  • More Categories
    • Starting a Business
    • Banking
    • Credit Cards
    • Financing
    • Insights and Trends
    • Insurance
    • Office Technology
    • Online Business
    • Taxes
    • Restaurants

Accounting | How To

How To Create a Balance Sheet in QuickBooks Online

Published May 30, 2023

Published May 30, 2023

Tim Yoder, Ph.D., CPA

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

Mark Calatrava

WRITTEN BY:
Mark Calatrava

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. Module 1: Setting up QuickBooks Online
    1. How To Set Up Company Information
    2. How to Customize Your Dashboard
    3. How To Set Up Sales Form Content
    4. How To Customize Invoices, Sales Receipts & Estimates
    5. How To Set Up Products and Services
    6. How To Set Up Messages
    7. How To Set Up Customer Statements
    8. How To Customize Expenses
    9. How To Set Up Advanced Settings
    10. How To Set Up Multiple Users
    11. How To Set Up the Chart of Accounts
    12. How To Set Up the Products and Services List
    13. How To Set Up Customers
    14. How To Set Up Vendors
  3. Module 2: Managing Sales and Income
    1. How To Create Quotes, Bids, and Estimates
    2. How To Create and Send Invoices
    3. How To Receive Payments
    4. How To Create & Send Sales Receipts
    5. How to Enter Partial Payments
    6. How to Track Billable Hours
  4. Module 3: Managing Bills and Expenses
    1. How To Write & Print Checks
    2. How To Enter Bills
    3. How To Pay Bills
    4. How To Make Expenses Billable
    5. How To Write off a Bad Debt
  5. Module 4: Managing Banking Transactions
    1. How To Import Bank Transactions
    2. How To Enter Banking Transactions Manually
    3. How To Manage Downloaded Banking Transactions
    4. How To Record Bank Deposits
    5. How To Use the Undeposited Funds Account
    6. How To Transfer Funds Between Bank Accounts
    7. How To Record Bounced Checks From Customers
    8. How To Process Bank Reconciliations
  6. Module 5: Managing Business Credit Card Transactions
    1. How To Import Credit Card Transactions
    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
    5. How To Process Credit Card Sales With QuickBooks Payments
    6. How To Record Credit Card Sales With a Third-party Credit Card Processor
  7. Module 6: Setting Up and Managing Payroll
    1. How To Process Payroll
    2. How To Set Up & Pay Payroll Tax
    3. How To Add Historical Payroll Data
    4. How To Set Up QuickBooks Payroll Direct Deposits
    5. How To Print Payroll Checks
    6. How To Run Payroll Reports
    7. How To Reconcile Payroll Liabilities
  8. Module 7: Reporting
    1. How To Run a Profit and Loss Statement
    2. How To Create 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
  9. Module 8: Advanced Accounting in QuickBooks Online
    1. How To Make a Journal Entry
    2. How To Use Classes and Locations
    3. How To Create Recurring Transactions
    4. How to Create and Manage Projects
Related Content
  • QuickBooks logo.
    QuickBooks Online Review: Features & Pricing
  • QuickBooks Online Dashboard in Desktop and mobile screen.
    Top 25 QuickBooks Online Tips (Including Keyboard Shortcuts)
  • Close up shot of a young woman using laptop and calculator while working on a project.
    5 Best Accounting Software for Small Retail Businesses

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.

Step 1: Navigate to ‘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.

Screen in QuickBooks Online showing how to navigate to the Balance Sheet creation tab.

Create a new balance sheet in QuickBooks Online

You can add your balance sheet or other frequently used or important reports to the Favorites tab for quick access in the future. To do this, click on the star icon next to the report.

Seeing a Different Left-side Navigation Menu?

  • 1. Check User View
  • 2. Switch to Accountant view

QuickBooks has two user views: Business View and Accountant View. Your left-side navigation menu may look different depending on the user view you are in.

If your sidebar menu is not what is shown in our tutorial, it means that you are on Business View. We prefer and recommend using the Accountant View because it shows a full range of business accounting features and tools that you can use in QuickBooks.

To verify whether you’re using the Business View, click on the cogwheel at the top right-hand corner of your QuickBooks dashboard, and check whether the button on the lower right hand says Switch to Accountant view, as shown below. If so, then it means you are on Business View.

Verify whether you are using Business View or Accountant View in QuickBooks.

Verify whether you are using Business view or Accountant view in QuickBooks

Once you verify that you are on Business view, click on Switch to Accountant view to update the appearance of your sidebar menu. In a few seconds, you should see the same left-side menu bar illustrated in this tutorial.

Switching from Business View to Accountant View in QuickBooks.

Switching from Business view to Accountant view in QuickBooks

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.

Screen where you can set up and customize your balance sheet in QuickBooks.

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 nonzero 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 options for customizing your balance sheet 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.

Screen where you can customize rows and columns of your balance sheet in QuickBooks.

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

QuickBooks Online has several filters to choose from, as shown below.

Filter options you can use to customize your QuickBooks balance sheet.

Filter balance sheet by variable in QuickBooks Online

  • Customer: This helps you analyze how customer-related transactions affect your balance sheet, such as outstanding customer invoices or customer deposits.
  • Vendor: This allows you to narrow the report down to transactions related to a particular vendor or group of vendors, letting you analyze vendor-related transactions affecting your balance sheet, like vendor credits.
  • Classes: This shows you how specific classes impact your balance sheet, such as classifying assets, liabilities, or equity by different business segments.
  • Product/service: This helps you understand how specific products or services affect your balance sheet, such as tracking inventory assets or accrued revenue.

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 in QuickBooks Online.

Header/Footer

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

Screen where you can add and adjust headers and footers in your QuickBooks balance sheet.

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). Click on the icon of the task you want to perform.

Screen where you can email, print, and export your balance sheet in QuickBooks.

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

Here’s a sample balance sheet in QuickBooks Online:

Sample QuickBooks balance sheet showing details like assets, liabilities, and equity.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Yes, you can select the desired date range to compare the financial position of your business over different periods.


Yes, you can export your balance sheet in a PDF or Excel format.


QuickBooks Online, our best small business accounting software, lets you run a wide range of reports. These include profit and loss reports, cash flow statements, and accounts payable and accounts receivable aging reports.


Wrap Up

Congratulations on completing another 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 in QuickBooks Online, which covers how to set up a default cash flow report and modify it if needed.

← Previous Tutorial

QuickBooks Tutorials

Next Tutorial →

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, including how the importance of these features vary by business. As a QuickBooks ProAdvisor, Mark has extensive knowledge of QuickBooks products, allowing him to create valuable content that educates businesses on maximizing the benefits of the software.

Fit Small Business

Facebook Instagram Pinterest LinkedIn YouTube

Company

  • About Us
  • Editorial Policy
  • Careers

Partners

  • Work With Us

Contact Us

info@fitsmallbusiness.com

Facebook Instagram Pinterest LinkedIn YouTube

© Fit Small Business 2025

California Privacy Rights | Privacy | Terms | Sitemap

Join Fit Small Business

Sign up to receive more well-researched small business articles and topics in your inbox, personalized for you. Select the newsletters you’re interested in below.

Please select at least one newsletter.