Your business story, told in numbers

Every invoice you send, every expense you record, and every payment you receive tells a part of your business story. Financial reports bring all these pieces together so you can see the full picture and make confident decisions.

Officaid automatically generates reports from the data you already enter. There's no extra work involved, just navigate to Finance → Reports and choose the report you need.

The Three Core Financial Statements

If you're new to financial reports, start with these three. Together, they answer the most fundamental questions about your business.

Profit & Loss Statement answers: "Am I making money?"

This report adds up everything you've earned (income) and subtracts everything you've spent (expenses) over a period of time. The result is your net profit or net loss. A positive number means your business is profitable. A negative number means you're spending more than you're earning.

Business owners typically review this report monthly to spot trends. Are your expenses increasing? Is revenue growing? The Profit & Loss helps you catch these patterns early.

Balance Sheet answers: "What is my business worth?"

Unlike the Profit & Loss which covers a period of time, the Balance Sheet is a snapshot of a single moment. It shows three things: what your business owns (assets like cash, equipment, and money owed to you), what your business owes (liabilities like loans and unpaid bills), and what's left over (equity, which represents the owner's stake).

The Balance Sheet always balances: Assets = Liabilities + Equity. If your assets are growing faster than your liabilities, your business is building value.

Cash Flow Statement answers: "Do I have enough cash?"

Here's something that surprises many business owners: you can be profitable and still run out of cash. This happens when customers haven't paid their invoices yet, or when you've invested heavily in equipment. The Cash Flow Statement tracks actual money moving in and out of your accounts, regardless of what your Profit & Loss says.

This report helps you plan ahead. If you can see that cash tends to dip in certain months, you can prepare by delaying purchases or following up on outstanding invoices.

Reports for Managing Money Owed

Two reports help you stay on top of payments, both money coming in and money going out.

Accounts Receivable Aging shows who owes you money and for how long.

When you send an invoice, you're trusting that customer to pay. But the longer an invoice remains unpaid, the less likely you are to collect it. This report groups your outstanding invoices into time buckets (0-30 days, 31-60 days, 61-90 days, and over 90 days) so you can see at a glance which customers need a follow-up.

If you notice invoices piling up in the older buckets, it's time to tighten your collection process or reconsider extending credit to certain customers.

Accounts Payable Aging shows what you owe and when it's due.

This is the opposite view. It lists all your unpaid bills to suppliers and vendors, grouped by how long they've been outstanding. Use it to prioritise payments, avoid late fees, and maintain good relationships with suppliers.

Reports for Detailed Record-Keeping

These three reports are more detailed and often used when working with an accountant, preparing for taxes, or troubleshooting discrepancies.

General Ledger is your complete financial history.

Every single transaction in your business, organised by account, lives in the General Ledger. If you need to find out exactly when a payment was made, which account it came from, or trace an amount that doesn't look right, this is where you look. Think of it as your detailed financial diary.

Trial Balance checks that your books are balanced.

In accounting, every transaction has two sides (a debit and a credit) that should always equal each other. The Trial Balance lists all your accounts with their debit and credit totals. If the totals match, your books are mathematically correct. If they don't, there's an error somewhere that needs investigating.

Most business owners won't use this report regularly, but your accountant likely will, especially before preparing financial statements or filing taxes.

Chart of Accounts shows how your finances are organised.

In traditional accounting software, business owners need to manually create and manage their chart of accounts, which often requires accounting knowledge or professional help. Officaid removes this complexity entirely. All accounts are pre-configured and managed automatically, so you can focus on running your business instead of setting up accounting structures. The Chart of Accounts report lets you view how your finances are organised without needing to build or maintain it yourself.

Which Report Do I Need?

Use this quick reference to find the right report for your question:

• "Is my business profitable?" → Profit & Loss Statement
• "What is my business worth?" → Balance Sheet
• "Can I afford to pay my bills next month?" → Cash Flow Statement
• "Which customers haven't paid me?" → Accounts Receivable Aging
• "What bills do I need to pay soon?" → Accounts Payable Aging
• "Where did this specific transaction go?" → General Ledger
• "Are my books mathematically correct?" → Trial Balance
• "How is my accounting structured?" → Chart of Accounts

How Often Should I Review Reports?

Not all reports need the same attention:

• Weekly: Accounts Receivable Aging (to chase overdue invoices) and Accounts Payable Aging (to plan payments)
• Monthly: Profit & Loss Statement and Cash Flow Statement (to monitor performance and liquidity)
• Quarterly: Balance Sheet (to assess overall business health, especially before major decisions)
• As needed: General Ledger, Trial Balance, and Chart of Accounts (for troubleshooting, audits, or tax preparation)

Frequently Asked Questions

What's Next?

Ready to dive deeper? Each report has its own detailed guide:

• Profit & Loss Statement to understand your income and expenses
• Balance Sheet to see what your business owns and owes
• Cash Flow Statement to track money moving through your business