By - November 6, 2020
Categories: General
Within this post we’re going to pull back the covers and take a look at what goes into a quarterly report. For this conversation we’ll be talking about privately owned auto repair shops only.
By definition a quarterly report is a summary or collection of unaudited financial statements. These include balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements. These are prepared by your bookkeeper every quarter (three months). Some quarterly reports may also include year-to- date figures and compare last year’s quarter to this years quarter results.
Companies fiscal years may begin on January 1st and end on December 31st. Some will mirror the federal government’s fiscal year which begins on October 1st and ends on September 30th.
For calendar year accounting the quarters end on March 31st, June 30th, September 30th and December 31st. Using the government fiscal year model the quarters end on December 31st, March 31st, June 30th, and
September 30th. File quarterly reports within a few weeks of a quarter’s end.
Quarterly reports include key accounting and financial data for a company. This includes gross revenue, net profit, operational expenses, and cash flow. If there are investors in the shop, there may be a meeting where the
owner presents the quarterly report. The quarterly report is a summary or a collection of the shop’s financial statements. These include balance sheets and income statements and the comparison reports mentioned
earlier.
Other ingredients in quarterly reports may include an executive summary, goals and objectives, highlights, and new and ongoing challenges. When addressing challenges, the quarterly report may include strategies
planned and implemented to overcome them.
The specific reports and other ingredients depend upon the ownership structure and what financial data is relevant to the shop. Ownership decides what to include and shares with your bookkeeper so these reports
are available on time with accurate data. The presentation of the data is also important. The format is also a decision that is made during a conversation between the shop’s owner and their bookkeeper.
Besides the written line-by-line data, graphs and spreadsheet provide a visual representation of the date and help to add context.
There are also quarterly payments due and reports that are filed with the IRS, state, and local governments. An example of these is on a quarterly checklist available from Three Rivers Bookkeeping and include the
following items::
Make estimated tax payments
Make payroll payments which include
State report and payment
941 report
940 deposit
Communication is the most important ingredient to achieve accurate and timely quarterly reports. This ensures quarterly payments are made and reports are filed. I am your source for which reports and payments are
needed. Requirements vary depending upon your state and local regulations.
You as a shop owner need to communicate what your expectations are for the quarterly report. One sign that you have a competent and professional bookkeeper is the questions she asks. I can guide you to having the quarterly report that will serve you best.
