Foundations · Track 4 · Tutorial 3 of 5

Build the reports you need

The standard statements answer the standard questions. When your management team asks for a different view — gross margin by month, a short P&L for the board — build it once as a custom report, and it updates every month on its own.

You will needA group with its accounts mapped, as in the Foundations tracks. Administrator or Report Admin access.

By the endA Management P&L report with section totals, gross profit, gross margin % and operating profit for the last three months, available to everyone in the subscription.

1Choose the kind of report

In the running example the board wants a one-page Management P&L: revenue, direct costs, gross profit, gross margin %, operating expense and operating profit, for the last three months.

Row/column report	Built row by row; the columns come from the period you choose. Best for structured financial reports like this one — the running example.
Cell-based report	A spreadsheet where every cell can be text, a formula or live data. For layouts the rows and columns cannot give you. Free, Pro and Premium editions — see Cell Report.
BrizoBuilder	Describe the report in plain words and get an editable cell-based draft.

2Create the report

Open Reports → Custom Reports, and click Add a new report.
Choose Row/column report. The editor opens.
Type the name, Management P&L, in the name box.
Set Period to Last 3 Months and Data Type to Movement — the right type for a profit and loss.

To start from a report you already have instead — the standard Profit & Loss, say — click Duplicate Existing and change the copy.

3Add the section rows

In the preview, click click to configure on row 1. The Add Rows dialog opens.
Choose Section, pick the REVENUE section, set Section display to Total only, and set the Row label to Revenue.
Click Add Row.
Do the same on row 2 for DIRECT COSTS.

Add Rows dialog with seven row types: Label, Section, Account, Formula, By Entity, KPI and Operational Data, each with its description — Every row is one of these types (1); this report uses Section and Formula (2).

A section follows your chart of accounts, so a new revenue account mapped next year is included without touching the report. Choose Show detail instead of Total only to list the section’s accounts as well.

4Add the calculated rows

On row 3, choose Formula and Custom Formula. Type Gross Profit as the Description.
From Add Row, choose Revenue; click the − operator; choose Direct Costs. Click Add Row.
On row 4, build Gross Margin % the same way: Gross Profit / Revenue.
Click row 4 to edit it, tick Percentage under Format, and click Update Row.

Formula row: Custom Formula described as Gross Margin %, built from Gross Profit divided by Revenue — The row’s name (1), the rows it uses (2), and the formula built from them (3).

Do not multiply by 100: a Percentage row shows 0.411 as 41.1%. A formula can only pick rows that are already in the report, so add the rows it needs first. Finish with a Section row for OPERATING EXPENSE and a formula row for Net Operating Profit = Gross Profit − Operating Expense.

5Share it and save

Set Category to Performance, so the report sits with similar ones in the library.
Set Available to to This subscription, so every organisation in the subscription can open it. This organisation keeps it to the one you are in.
Click Save.

Management P&L in the editor: Category Performance, available to This subscription, Last 3 Months of Movement, and a preview of the six rows for Aug to Oct 2026 — The period (1), the finished rows (2), Save (3), and room for more rows (4).

Check

The preview’s Revenue and Gross Profit for Oct-2026 match the standard Profit & Loss for the same month. If they do not, a section row is pointing at the wrong section.

6Use it every month

The report is now in Reports → Custom Reports. It reads each new month as it loads, so there is nothing to update.

Pin it	Click the star on the report to keep it in the left navigation.
Change the view	Use the period selector when you open it — Actual vs Budget, Last 12 Months or any other — without editing the report.
Send it	Schedule it, or add it to the monthly pack, as in Send the monthly pack.
Same columns everywhere	For a column layout you use on many reports, save it once as a column set.

7If something does not look right

What you see	What to do
Save is greyed out	The report has no rows yet. Add at least one.
A formula row is empty or wrong	Check the Result line in the formula: it must name the rows you meant.
Gross Margin % shows 4,110%	The formula multiplies by 100 and the row is set to Percentage. Remove the × 100.
Profit and loss rows show balances, not each month’s figures	Set Data Type to Movement. Balance is for balance sheet reports.
Cell-based report shows Unavailable for this plan	Cell-based reports and BrizoBuilder are on the Free, Pro and Premium editions. Row/column reports are on all editions.

Want more detail? See the documentation

Customizing Reports Custom Columns Cell Report - Spreadsheet-Style Custom Reports Comparing Periods & Actuals vs Forecast

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