Discrepancy in Reports

[John R. Sowden]

On 02/19/2015 02:20 PM, Wm wrote:
> Thu, 19 Feb 2015 11:27:38 <024801d04c60$fa8adbc0$efa09340$@gmail.com> 
> Shawn McGowan <shwnmcgowan at gmail.com>
>
>> My business is a new start up and I am preparing for the initial year
>> corporate tax return (US). When running the balance sheet and P & L 
>> reports
>> for last calendar year, the net loss figure from the P & L and the 
>> retained
>> loss from the balance sheet are different numbers. Can anyone suggest 
>> the
>> source for this difference?
>
> Run an Equity Statement for the period.  If that matches your P&L then 
> you are probably not understanding how a balance sheet looks if you 
> don't close a book.  Also look out for whether you are using the same 
> prices for any currencies or stocks.
>
Remember that some expenses are not 100% deductible.  This is way the 
schedule M-1 exists, to document the difference.  If you are going from 
a calendar year (schedule C?) to a fiscal year that is not on a calendar 
basis, there might be depreciation issues, or payroll tax liability 
accounts that cross over the 2 periods.

John