# 17. Profit & Loss (Estimated) Report

The [Profit & Loss (Estimated) Report](https://autosoftware.company/profit_loss_report.php) (its heading reads Profit & Loss Report (Finalized Invoices)) is a management view of whether the shop made money in a period. It takes the net sales of the finalized invoices, subtracts the cost of parts and the cost of labor to reach a gross profit, then subtracts the shop's operating expenses, both the estimated fixed expenses such as rent prorated to the period and the actual paid-outs entered in Expenses, to arrive at an estimated net income or loss before taxes. It is marked Management Report Only - Not To Be Used For Financial Accounting Purposes because the payroll and fixed expenses are estimates you set up, not the books. Use it to see the margin for a week or a month at a glance, to check whether sales are covering fixed costs, and to compare periods.

## How do I run the Profit & Loss (Estimated) Report?

1. From the Home Screen, click Reports → Sales & Financial Reports → Profit & Loss (Estimated) Report.
2. Click the From : … To : … date box and pick the first and last day of the period; the report uses the finalized date of the invoices. The × beside the box clears the dates.
3. Choose Open 6 days A Week or Open 7 days A Week. This decides how monthly fixed expenses are prorated: with 6 days, Sundays in the range are not counted and a month is taken as 26 working days; with 7 days every day counts and a month is 30 days.
4. Click Search to calculate. Click [Print](https://autosoftware.company/mpdf/profit_loss_report_pdf.php) to open a PDF copy in a new tab.
5. Before the first use, click [Estimated Fixed Operating Expenses](https://autosoftware.company/fixed_operating_expenses.php) beside the heading to enter your monthly rent, utilities, estimated payroll and other recurring costs; without them the expense section is empty and the result is only gross profit.

![Profit & Loss (Estimated) Report sales, payroll and cost of parts section](/images/s164_ec6772c7.png)
*Profit & Loss (Estimated) Report sales, payroll and cost of parts section*

![Profit & Loss (Estimated) Report operating expenses and result](/images/s164_8b0d1df8.png)
*Profit & Loss (Estimated) Report operating expenses and result*

## How do I set up the fixed expenses the report uses?

1. From the Home Screen, click Reports → Sales & Financial Reports → Profit & Loss (Estimated) Report, then click Estimated Fixed Operating Expenses beside the heading.
2. Enter the monthly amount for each recurring cost: rent, utilities, insurance, estimated gross payroll, and any other account listed, and save.
3. Run the report again; each account now appears under Recurring Operating Expenses prorated to your date range.

## How do I read whether the shop made money in a month?

1. From the Home Screen, click Reports → Sales & Financial Reports → Profit & Loss (Estimated) Report.
2. Set From : … To : … to the first and last day of the month, choose the days-open option that matches your hours, and click Search.
3. Read Total Net Sales for the Period, then Gross Profit and its percentage, which shows what is left after parts and labor.
4. Read Net Income/Loss Prior to Taxes at the bottom: positive is profit after the estimated fixed costs and paid-outs, negative is a loss. Click Print to keep a copy.

## About this screen

The top right shows the sales for the period: Net Sales for the Period (finalized invoices, before tax and fees), Net Refunds for the Period (refunds given in the range) and Total Net Sales for the Period, which is sales less refunds and is the base every percentage on the page is measured against. Cost of Parts lists Cost of Goods from Inventory, the purchase cost of the parts and oil taken from stock on those invoices (stock oil and stock parts are prorated to the period), Outside Part Purchase (OPP), what was paid for parts bought for specific jobs, and Total Cost of Parts, each with its percentage of total net sales. Cost of Labor lists Total Payroll Cost, the estimated gross payroll from your fixed expenses (or the actual payroll from the time sheets when the store records it), Total Sales Commissions and Total Tech Commissions earned on the invoices in the period, again with percentages. Gross Profit is Net Sales less Total Cost of Parts less Total Cost of Labor less Total Sales Commissions less Total Tech Commissions, shown as an amount and as a percentage of total net sales.

The lower half lists the operating expenses. Recurring Operating Expenses shows each fixed expense account you set up, such as Rent (Estimated), with the monthly amount prorated to the period: the monthly figure divided by 26 or 30, depending on the days-open choice, multiplied by the open days in the range. Accounts with an actual monthly payment entered in Expenses appear with (Actual) instead. The pencil icon beside an expense opens its account in Financial Accounts so you can change the amount. Total Recurring Expenses (Prorated) sums them. Daily Shop Paid Outs lists the paid-outs entered under Expenses → Daily Shop Paid Outs in the period, by account, with a Total Daily Shop Outs line. Total Operating Expenses is the two totals together, and Net Income/Loss Prior to Taxes (Gross Profit minus Total Operating Expenses) is the result, as an amount and as a percentage of total net sales; a negative figure is a loss for the period. Because every percentage is measured against net sales, a very short or very quiet period shows large percentages, so read the report over at least a full week.

The Estimated Profit Report tab above the filters leads to the older estimate view, and the Profit & Loss Report tab is this report. The Add To Favorites switch beside the heading saves the report under Favorites on the Reports page. Which reports you see depends on your admin group permissions.