Reports and posting back

Pull your first report

Run any report from Xero, QuickBooks Online or Zoho Books into Excel and refresh it whenever the books change. We use the profit and loss here because every set of books has one. The other reports work the same way.

  • Less than 2 minutes
  • Xero, QuickBooks Online, Zoho Books and more
  • Excel for Windows and Mac
On this page
  1. Before you start
  2. Steps
    1. 1. Find the profit and loss
    2. 2. Choose the months and run it
    3. 3. Read the report
    4. 4. Refresh it
    5. 5. Add your own formulas
  3. If something goes wrong
  4. Talk to a person

Before you start

From your books to a live report

  1. Find the profit and loss

    In Excel

    With your entity's name under the Rows logo, select Run Report on the Dashboard. Every report Rows can pull for that entity is listed here: 16 on Xero, more than 30 on QuickBooks Online and more than 70 on Zoho Books. For this guide, type profit in the search box and choose Profit and Loss - Multiple Periods under Rows Reports. On Zoho Books, choose Profit and Loss under Business Overview.

    The Rows pane Dashboard for Demo Company (Global) with three cards: Run Report, Create & Edit Data and Capture Data
    Rows pane, Dashboard
    Run Report in the Rows pane: profit typed in the search box, with Profit and Loss - Account Details and Profit and Loss - Multiple Periods under Rows Reports, and Profit and Loss under Standard Xero Reports
    Rows pane, search for the report

  2. Choose the months and run it

    In Excel

    Under Date, pick the month to report on. Leave Period on Previous Months and set Total Periods to how many earlier months you want beside it: 1 gives you October and September side by side. The other settings can stay as they are. Then select Run Report to fill the sheet you're on, or Run Report on a new Sheet to keep it apart from what's there. On Zoho Books the profit and loss covers one period, so you pick a Date Range and Report Basis instead.

    Profit and Loss - Multiple Periods settings in the Rows pane: Date set to October 2026 with Whole Month on, Period set to Previous Months and Total Periods set to 1
    Rows pane, choose the month
    The rest of the report settings in the Rows pane: Total Periods, Period set to Year to Date, Order, then the Run Report button and the Run Report on a new Sheet link
    Rows pane, Run Report

  3. Read the report

    In Excel

    The report lands in a tab named after it. Row 1 shows the entity, the report name and when it ran. Below that is a navy header row with filters (it's an Excel Table), then Income, Cost of Sales and the rest, each with its subtotal. Use the 1 and 2 buttons on the left to fold the accounts away and see only the totals.

    A profit and loss in Excel for Demo Company (Global): row 1 shows the entity, Profit and Loss - Multiple Periods and the run time, then a navy header row with filter buttons and Income and Less Cost of Sales sections with totals for October and September 2026, grouped with outline buttons on the left
    Excel for Mac, the report in its own tab

  4. Refresh it

    In Excel

    Each Rows sheet in the workbook has a card in the pane showing its Last sync time. When the books change, select the refresh arrow on a card to update that report, or tick several cards and select Refresh selected sheets. A refresh takes under a minute and the figures change in place.

    The Rows pane after a run: a toolbar with Refresh, then a report card for Profit and Loss - Multiple Periods with a tick box, Demo Company (Global), the last sync time and its own refresh arrow
    Rows pane, refresh one report
    Two report cards ticked in the Rows pane, Balance Sheet - Multiple Periods and Profit and Loss - Multiple Periods, with 2 out of 2 selected and the Refresh selected sheets button
    Rows pane, refresh several at once

  5. Add your own formulas

    In Excel

    Type your own formulas in the column straight after the report, for example the change between two months. Excel takes the column into the report's table, and it's still there after every refresh.

    The profit and loss with October and September 2026 figures and an extra Change column added by the user, showing the difference for each line after a refresh
    Excel for Mac, your own Change column

If something goes wrong

I can't find the report

Check your entity's name shows under the Rows logo, then type part of the report name in the search box (profit, balance, trial). Or open Rows Reports in the list: the profit and loss, balance sheet and trial balance over several periods are all there.

The figures look out of date

Look at Last sync on the report's card. If it's older than your latest changes, select the refresh arrow on the card. Anything saved in your books after that time shows up on the next refresh.

The report stops with "Organisation not authorised"

The link between Rows and your books has dropped, and the entity shows Reconnect in the Rows portal. Open Entities in the portal, select Reconnect, allow access again, then run the report once more. The connect guide for your platform (see Before you start) has the full steps.

My own columns disappeared after a refresh

Formulas in the column straight after the report become part of its table and stay through a refresh. Hidden columns and number formats inside the report's own columns can reset when it refreshes, so keep those changes in your own columns.

Next step

Next guideUse a report templateStart from a ready-made Rows template, such as a management report, and fill it from your own entity.

Want to send figures the other way? Read Post journals and records from Excel. Looking for something else? Browse every guide in the Help centre.

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