An accounting report is a structured summary of a company's financial transactions, balances, or obligations, built either for a set period, such as a month or quarter, or as of a single date. The type of report depends on what decision it needs to support: an income statement answers whether the business made money, a balance sheet answers what it owns and owes, and an aging report answers which invoices need to be chased. This post defines the report types used in day to day accounting and finance work, and the table or visual shape each one takes when you build it in Power BI.

Quick reference

Statements that summarize a period or a point in time

Income statement (profit and loss)

An income statement lists revenue and expenses for a period and nets them down to a profit or loss: revenue, minus cost of goods sold, minus operating expenses, equals net income. It answers whether the core business is profitable and where the cost base is growing faster than revenue.

In Power BI, this is a matrix with the chart of accounts hierarchy (Revenue, COGS, Opex, and their sub-accounts) on rows and month or quarter as columns, plus a few cards for headline numbers such as gross margin. The DAX for the underlying revenue, COGS, and gross margin measures is in our guide to financial analysis and reporting. Because these same numbers usually end up tracked on a scorecard between reporting periods, not just inside one report, see our guide to KPI reports for how to turn them into an ongoing metric with a target.

Balance sheet

A balance sheet lists assets, liabilities, and equity as of a single date rather than over a period: what the company owns, what it owes, and the difference between the two. It answers whether the company can cover its obligations and how it is financed, through debt or through equity. In Power BI, this uses the same account hierarchy idea as an income statement. The column is a point in time rather than a date range, so the matrix usually shows one or two periods side by side (current versus prior) rather than a trend across many months.

Cash flow statement

A cash flow statement tracks cash moving in and out across operating, investing, and financing activities. It answers whether the business is generating cash from its core operations, separate from cash raised through loans or investment, something an income statement does not show on its own because it includes non-cash items like depreciation. In Power BI, this is usually a waterfall chart: a starting cash balance, then a bar for each activity category, ending at the closing balance, so the reader can see where cash entered and left in one view.

Statement of retained earnings

The statement of retained earnings shows how retained earnings changed over a period: the beginning balance, plus net income, minus dividends paid, equals the ending balance. It answers how much of the period's profit stayed in the business versus went out to shareholders. Some companies present it as a full statement of stockholders' equity instead, which adds paid-in capital and other equity components to the same roll-forward. In Power BI, this is usually a small table or a row of cards, four numbers side by side, since a full account hierarchy rarely adds anything here.

A report that checks the numbers, not one that presents them

Trial balance

A trial balance lists every account in the general ledger with its ending debit or credit balance, used to confirm the ledger is in balance before financial statements are finalized: total debits must equal total credits. It functions as a control check during the close rather than a report a business reader would open. In Power BI, this is a plain table: one row per account, a Debit column, a Credit column, and a validation card computing the difference, which should read zero.

Trial Balance Check =
VAR TotalDebits =
    CALCULATE(
        SUM('General Ledger'[Amount]),
        'General Ledger'[DebitCredit] = "Debit"
    )
VAR TotalCredits =
    CALCULATE(
        SUM('General Ledger'[Amount]),
        'General Ledger'[DebitCredit] = "Credit"
    )
RETURN
    TotalDebits - TotalCredits

If this measure returns anything other than zero, the ledger does not balance and the source data needs checking before you trust any other report built on it. This assumes the same general ledger model as our guide to financial analysis and reporting, which has the full table and column list.

Reports built for collections and payables

Accounts receivable (A/R) aging report

An A/R aging report groups outstanding customer invoices into buckets by how overdue they are, typically current, 1 to 30 days, 31 to 60, 61 to 90, and 90-plus. It answers which customers to chase for collection and how much cash is tied up in unpaid invoices. In Power BI, this is a matrix: customer on rows, aging bucket as columns, invoice amount as the value. The bucket itself is usually a calculated column on the invoice table, computed from the due date:

Days Overdue =
IF(
    ISBLANK('Accounts Receivable'[PaidDate]),
    TODAY() - 'Accounts Receivable'[DueDate],
    BLANK()
)

Aging Bucket =
SWITCH(
    TRUE(),
    ISBLANK('Accounts Receivable'[Days Overdue]), "Paid",
    'Accounts Receivable'[Days Overdue] <= 0, "Current",
    'Accounts Receivable'[Days Overdue] <= 30, "1-30",
    'Accounts Receivable'[Days Overdue] <= 60, "31-60",
    'Accounts Receivable'[Days Overdue] <= 90, "61-90",
    "90+"
)

Both are calculated columns, not measures, because the bucket needs to sit on a matrix row or column rather than summarize a value. Sort Aging Bucket by a separate sort-order column (Column tools > Sort by column) so the buckets read left to right instead of alphabetically. Then set a fixed width on the matrix's bucket columns so they line up evenly; see our guide to fixed column widths in Power BI.

Accounts payable (A/P) aging report

An A/P aging report is the same idea from the other side: outstanding vendor bills grouped into the same day buckets. It answers which payables to prioritize when cash is limited, and which vendors are approaching a due date that risks a late fee or a strained relationship. The Power BI shape matches A/R aging: a matrix with vendor on rows and the same bucket columns, built from an Accounts Payable table using the same Days Overdue and Aging Bucket pattern applied to a bill due date instead of an invoice due date.

Reports for planning and stock

Budget vs actuals (and variance analysis)

A budget vs actuals report compares a budgeted or forecasted amount against the actual result for the same account and period, then shows the variance and variance percentage. It answers where spend or revenue is off plan and by how much. Variance analysis is the same comparison taken further: breaking a variance into components such as price variance and volume variance, or comparing actual against a prior period instead of a budget. In Power BI, both use the same matrix: accounts on rows, Budget, Actual, Variance, and Variance % on columns, usually with conditional formatting, an icon or a color scale on the variance column, so anything past a threshold stands out.

Inventory report

An inventory report summarizes what is in stock: quantity on hand, cost per unit, and how fast each item turns over. It answers what to reorder, what to discount before it goes stale, and how much cash is tied up in stock that has not sold. In Power BI, this is a table or matrix with one row per SKU, columns for quantity on hand, unit cost, extended value, and a turnover measure:

Inventory Turnover =
VAR UnitsSold = SUM('Sales'[Quantity])
VAR AvgOnHand = AVERAGE('Inventory'[QuantityOnHand])
RETURN
    DIVIDE(UnitsSold, AvgOnHand)

A low turnover value next to a high extended value is what flags stock worth reviewing, whether that means reordering it or discounting it before it ages further.

Building these in one model

Most of these reports draw from the same general ledger, chart of accounts, accounts receivable, and accounts payable tables, just filtered or shaped differently. Building one model that supports all of them, rather than a separate extract per report, is what makes it practical to add a new report type later without starting over. For the model itself and the core P&L measures, see our guide to financial analysis and reporting. For the step-by-step build in Power BI Desktop, see our guide to creating a financial report.

Sources

• Beginners' Guide to Financial Statements - U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

• Sort One Column by Another Column in Power BI - Microsoft Learn