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How to Generate Financial Reports in Joy Pilot

A step-by-step guide to viewing, customising, and downloading Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet reports for sole traders and limited companies

Greg Hanton avatar
Written by Greg Hanton
Updated over a week ago

Joy Pilot provides simple yet powerful reporting tools enabling you to track your financial health clearly and effectively. Quickly generate professional Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet reports customised to your business type and location, helping you plan ahead, manage growth, and prepare for key financial activities—such as accounting duties or tax obligations.

This guide covers how to generate, customise, and download your financial reports within Joy Pilot.


1. Access the Reporting Section

To get started:

  • Select Reporting from the Joy Pilot main menu.

You’ll be able to choose from the main financial reports:

  • Profit & Loss

  • Balance Sheet

Joy Pilot automatically configures your reports based on your business type (e.g. sole trader or limited company) and your country (e.g. United Kingdom, New Zealand, or elsewhere).


2. Profit & Loss Reports

Profit & Loss reports help you clearly see your income and expenditures over your selected accounting period.

Sole Traders

  • Go to Reporting > Profit & Loss.

  • Select your accounting year-end date:

    • In New Zealand, this is typically 31 March.

    • In the United Kingdom, it's usually 5 April.

    • In other countries, select the year-end applicable to the region you operate in.

  • Click Create Report.

A complete Profit & Loss statement appears automatically.

Limited Companies

Limited companies have more flexible reporting options:

  • Select Profit & Loss.

  • Choose any specific dates or a custom date range:

    • In New Zealand, companies generally follow the 31 March year-end.

    • In the United Kingdom, you can select any appropriate year-end date, depending on your company's financial year.

    • In other locations, use the year-end applicable in your jurisdiction.

  • Click Create Report.

Your customised Profit & Loss Report appears immediately.


3. Balance Sheet Reports

The Balance Sheet summarises your business's assets, liabilities, and equity at a specific point in time.

Sole Traders

  • Select Balance Sheet from the Reporting menu.

  • Choose the relevant financial year-end date:

    • 31 March in New Zealand

    • 5 April in the United Kingdom

    • Or your region's applicable year-end elsewhere

  • Click Create Report.

  • You'll have the option to download this Balance Sheet as a PDF.

Limited Companies

  • Navigate to Reporting > Balance Sheet.

  • Select from preset date ranges or manually enter a custom date.

  • Click Create Report to view your Balance Sheet online.

  • Click to download the Balance Sheet as a PDF.


4. Download Options

Joy Pilot provides clear, convenient options to download your reports:

  • Profit & Loss Report (PDF)

  • Balance Sheet (PDF)

  • Full Accounts (combined Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet PDF)


Quick Tips for Effective Reporting

  • Use preset date ranges for quick access to common periods like quarters or previous tax years.

  • Select custom dates when generating detailed reports for specific periods or internal planning.

  • Download reports regularly to maintain accurate records for bookkeeping, advising, or tax submissions.


Summary

Joy Pilot helps make financial reporting easy, intuitive, and accurate—whether you’re a sole trader or limited company based in New Zealand, the UK, or anywhere else in the world. Take advantage of streamlined Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet reports, flexible date selections, and downloadable formats to suit your needs.

Want to clarification around what these reports are?

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