How to Tackle QuickBooks Budget Report Problems?

Last Updated on November 17, 2023

One of the most dainty features in QuickBooks is the utility to forecast a budget for the financial year. Many users retain the benefits of the tool function and plan for the curves in the cash flow that will come in the coming fiscal year. However, there are also some searched queries from the users seeking assistance for the QuickBooks Budget Report problems that they face once in a while. Keeping that in mind, we have written the solutions for some of the standard issues in the budget report below

Under any circumstances, if the QuickBooks Budget Tool is acting abnormally then, you can always reach us at 1.855.738.2784 for troubleshooting assistance

What are some of the common QuickBooks Budget Report issues that the users face?

Below are written some of the most familiar issues with the budget overview report in QuickBooks that a user faces along with the appropriate solutions.

#1 The Profit and Loss Budget Reports are showing inactive accounts

Inactive accounts can show up on your budget reports if it contains a transaction for the current or the next fiscal year. Find these accounts by following the given steps and either edit them or delete them to keep them out of your Profit and Loss Budget Reports.

1. Open QuickBooks and go to the Lists menu.
2. Click on Charts of Accounts, and under the view drop-down, click on All Accounts.
3. Double-click on the account to open it.

However, you can also customize the report to filter out the results and only show the active accounts. Here’s how you can do it.

1. After viewing the report, click on the Customize Report option on the upper-right side.
2. Select the Filters tab and click on Account under the Choose Filter box.
3. Click on Multiple accounts and select the active accounts only.
4. After choosing them, click on OK to refresh the page.

On a different note, if the inactive accounts that are showing on your report have zero balance, you can customize the report in a different manner to exclude all the zero balance accounts by following these steps.

1. Click on the Customize Report option on the upper-right side.
2. Click on the Fonts & Numbers tab and put a check on the box of Except Zero Amounts option.
3. At last, click on OK.

#2 The Reports are not showing the full budget information correctly

In this case, we have to use the Verify/Rebuild Data utility present on the QuickBooks Desktop. Follow the given instructions step-by-step to perform the action.

1. Firstly verify the data by going to the File menu.
2. Click on Utilities and select the option of Verify.
3. After the verification is done, go back to the Utilities section.
4. This time, select Rebuild.

#3 The Reports are not showing income account(s)

It is very possible that at the time when you created the budget, that income account or accounts were left out or not included. Since you cannot add the account in the budget now, you would have to create a new budget for the account or accounts. Here’s how you can do it.

1. Open QuickBooks and select Company at the top of the menu bar.
2. Click on Planning & Budgeting and choose Set Up Budgets option.
3. Select Create New Budget and mention the budget year.
4. Select either Profit and Loss or Balance Sheet.
5. Now choose either Create Budget from Scratch if you want to manually enter the amounts for the accounts you want to track or Create Budget from the previous year’s actual data if you want QuickBooks to do that.
6. At last, click on Finish.

#4 The Budget vs. Actual Profit and Loss Report is not showing the budgeted expense accounts

For this issue, you can customize the report to show only the accounts with budgeted amounts. Here’s how you can do it.

1. At the top-right on the QuickBooks Desktop homepage, click on the Gear-shaped icon.
2. Select Budgeting and click on the Run Budgets vs. Actuals Report option under the Action column drop-down.
3. Select Customize and click on the Row/Columns drop-down.
4. Put a check-mark on the Only Accounts with Budgeted Amounts box.
5. Lastly, click on Run Report.

Before concluding our blog on the QuickBooks Budget Report Problems, we would like to suggest a last resort for the above-mentioned issues if the solutions do not resolve them. Call on the toll-free number 1.855.738.2784  anytime and get a professional on the line to assist you and present reliable support.

Edward Martin

Edward Martin is a Technical Content Writer for our leading Accounting firm. He has over 10 years of experience in QuickBooks and Xero. He has also worked with Sage, FreshBooks, and many other software platforms. Edward’s passion for clarity, accuracy, and innovation is evident in his writing. He is well versed in how to simplify complex technical concepts and turn them into easy-to-understand content for our readers.