pro · Lesson 5 · 8 min
Reports a bookkeeper actually sends
Monthly pack: P&L, Balance Sheet, aged AR/AP, cash, and three sentences. Not forty PDFs.
The pack
- Profit and Loss vs prior month (and vs YTD / last year if useful).
- Balance Sheet as at month-end.
- Aged Receivables and Aged Payables, with 30/60/90.
- Bank summary — every account rec’d, balances listed.
- Short commentary: cash, collection risk, one margin oddity, one action.
Xero reporting
Reporting hub: P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash flow, Budget vs actual, Aged reports, Sales by item/contact, Tracking summary. Save layouts. Schedule a send if the owner will actually read email. Draft invoices and unreconciled lines do not belong in a pack you have signed.
Cash-flow talk
Profit is not cash. A month with fat revenue and slow collections feels rich and then bounces payroll. Xero’s cash-flow forecast (plan-dependent: Early ~30 days, Growing ~60) only works if invoices, bills, and recs are current. Say that, in those words, in the commentary.
Check
Choices shuffle each visit. Misses send you back to the section — Look back clears the quiz so you can try again.
Choose an answer, then check.
A useful monthly commentary always includes:
Practice: Which statement?