Balance Sheet
The Balance Sheet shows a snapshot of the assets, liabilities and equity of your organisation as at a particular date.
Other things you can do with this report:
- Add a footnote (Financial Advisers only)
- Export the report to Excel, PDF or Google Docs
- Save the report as draft (Financial Advisers only)
- Publish the report (Financial Advisers only)
- Delete the report (Financial Advisers only)
- Archive the report
- Customise report layout
Reports are available from Reports > All Reports.
Your user role will determine whether you can see this report, and whether you can save and publish or just view it.
This report is also available as part of the management reports which you can access if you have the Financial Adviser role.
Management style reporting packages for month or year end
Run the report
The Balance Sheet is generated using a Balance Date of the current month by default. There are a couple of options that you control for running and displaying the report.
- Sorting and filtering - change the sort order and/or filter on tracking categories (if you have set these up for this organisation).
- Layout options - change the report layout or create your own layout to show headings and groups of accounts of your choosing.
If you are viewing a report produced by someone in the Financial Adviser role, you may see notes or a summary on the report. You may be able to
export, archive or edit the report, depending on your user role.
Reports and budget role comparison
Choose options by which to re-run the report
- Balance Date - The end of the month at which you want to view the Balance Sheet.
- Compare To Choose a comparison option to show Balance Sheet items at that time against the Balance Date chosen for this report.
- Choose from one of the following if you don't want to use the default 'Previous year' option:
- Previous year
- Previous quarter
- Last year end
- Previous month
- None
Choose how many periods you want to compare the chosen time block against. You can choose up to 12 periods back from the date of the report if you don't want to use the default 'Previous 1 Period' option.
Click the 'More options' link to display fields to sort and filter the report.
Cash Basis
If the 'Cash Basis' box is checked, the report shows only cash transactions within the specified date range.
Click the 'Fewer Options' link if you want to close these options and just use the standard and comparison date options.
Choose how to sort your accounts
Choose how the accounts listed in each section of the report will be sorted:
- Alphabetically in order of account name (default).
- Numerically in order of account code.
Choose how to filter your accounts
If you have set up tracking categories for this organisation, 'Filter by' fields will display so that you can filter the report based on your tracking options.
By default, the report will not be filtered, you need to choose an option from the tracking category. For each tracking category displayed, you can choose to view the report with no filter.
Only transactions in the period of the report that match the tracking option(s) chosen will used to determine the totals and accounts displayed.
If there are no transactions for the period or date range for the tracking option(s) you have chosen, the report will be empty.
When you've entered the details of the report you want to run, click Update to re-generate the report.
Whenever you click Update the report will reload using the default layout. If you have customised the layout for this report and are not currently viewing the layout you have set as the default, it will revert to the default.
If you are using multi-currency the report displays in your base currency by default. If you uncheck the base currency option it will show in the currency of the transaction.
Find out how multi-currency reports in Xero work
Amounts coded to accounts that are in the categories of Assets, Liabilities and Equity as set up in your Chart of Accounts will display. Accounts will be in different categories or groups if you have customised this report.
Transactions displayed are those that occurred in these accounts in the financial year ending the balance date you have chosen for the report.
Your financial year is specified by you on the Financial Settings screen. It will be MarchJuneDecember by default unless you changed it when first setting up Xero.
Account codes only display if you have chosen to sort the report by account code.
If you have chosen to filter the report by one or more tracking options, only transactions matching these options will be shown on the report. The report heading will include the name of the option chosen so you know which option you have filtered by.
Regardless of the date of a transaction, its amount will only be recorded against an account in your Chart of Accounts once it has been approved.
Individual transaction
Click on the account name to view the overall summary for that account by way of the Account Summary Report.
Click on an amount to view the transactions that make up this amount. The transactions displayed will be those that occur in the financial year ending the Balance Date chosen. Transactions are displayed using the Account Transactions Report.
If you have customised your report and created a group of 'rolled up' accounts, click on the account group amount or opening balance amount to see all the accounts and amounts. The opening balance will show all amounts before the start of the financial year. Accounts that make up the group are displayed using the Account Group Summary report.
Report layout options
You can customise the Balance Sheet to have a GAAP format. First, you need to ensure the organisation's chart of accounts is structured correctly.
Prepare your chart and customise reports for GAAP reporting
Unless you specify otherwise by choosing or creating a different layout, the report will be displayed in Xero's standard format by default. Use the Layout Options button to change the format of the report. Layouts created for the Balance Sheet can't be used by any other reports.
The Layout Options button will show one or more options depending on how the report is currently being displayed:
- Create new layout - available at all times whether you're viewing the report using the Xero standard layout or one that's been created for the report.
- Edit this layout - available if you're viewing the report using a layout created by you or someone else in your organisation. You can't edit the Xero standard layout.
- Choose layout - switch to another layout (including the Xero standard layout) created by you or someone else in your organisation.
- Save as favourite - make the layout available for the report in all the organisations you have access to in Xero.
You will only be able to choose another layout for the report if one has been created and saved for this organisation. Regardless of whether you (or someone else) has created layouts for this organisation, the default report layout will always display.