Josh Aharonoff (Your CFO Guy)

6 Ways to View Your Class Reports (and When to Use Each One)

If you're using classes in QuickBooks...

you've probably realized that reporting gets complicated FAST.

There's no "one size fits all" view.

Sometimes you need to compare departments side by side.

Other times you need to drill into one specific department.

And sometimes you need everything in one massive view.

Here are the 6 most common formats I use with clients, and when each one makes sense.

→ Format 1: Summary P&L by Class

This is your side by side comparison view.

Columns show time periods (Jan, Feb, Mar).

Rows show classes (Sales, Engineering, Support).

Perfect for comparing department spending over time.

The downside? You can't see account details.

→ Format 2: Summary P&L with Class Filter

This one flips the script.

Months go across the top, but now each month breaks into class columns.

You're comparing both dimensions at once.

But watch out...if you have 5 classes and 3 months, that's 15+ columns.

→ Format 3: Summary P&L by Class, Summary

This is the most detailed view you'll ever create.

Three levels of nesting: Section, Class, Summary Grouping.

Everything in one view...sections, classes, AND details.

It's comprehensive, but it's also the longest report you'll create.

→ Format 4: Summary Class Columns

Similar to Format 3, but organized differently.

Rows show summary sections (Revenue, OpEx, G&A).

Columns show each class breakdown.

You can see which departments contribute to each category.

→ Format 5: KPI Dashboard with Class Filter

This is my favorite for monthly reviews and board meetings.

Rows show KPI cards (Revenue, Expenses, Gross Margin).

Filter by classes (Sales, Engineering, Support, Finance).

Clean, visual, board ready.

→ Format 6: Comparison Financials with Class Filter

This one's perfect for variance analysis.

Columns show current period, prior period, prior year.

Rows show full P&L sections (Revenue, COGS, OpEx).

You're comparing both dimensions at once.

→ So Which Format Should You Use?

Depends what question you're trying to answer.

Comparing departments? Format 1.

Need everything in one view? Format 3.

Presenting to the board? Format 5.

The problem is creating all these views manually takes HOURS.

You're exporting from QuickBooks, filtering, copying into Excel, formatting...

At Model Wiz, you connect your QuickBooks Online account and we automatically build all 6 of these dashboards for you.

No exporting, no manual formatting, no mess.

Just click which view you want and it's ready.

Which format do you use most? Let me know in the comments 👇

17 hours ago | [YT] | 50

Josh Aharonoff (Your CFO Guy)

Building a financial model isn't complicated when you know the right framework.

These 7 steps take you from raw data to executive ready dashboards.

A financial model is the most valuable tool in any organization.

It shows you where the company has been, where it's going, and how to bridge the gap.

After building models for over 100 companies, here's the exact framework I follow every time.

> Step 1: Import your historical data.

The best models don't just show projections.

They show actuals and projections side by side so you can see the full picture.

Bring in your P&L, balance sheet, revenue data, headcount, everything that forms the basis for your forecast.

> Step 2: Create a three statement model by linking your income statement, balance sheet, and cash flows.

Most people think this is complicated but it's actually simple when you follow the right structure.

> Step 3: Build your revenue forecast using the EPN framework.

Existing customers, pipeline customers, and new customers.

Every business acquires and retains customers differently, but this framework applies to all of them.

> Step 4: Forecast your operating expenses.

Some expenses tie directly to revenue like cost of goods sold.

Others are fixed like rent or tied to headcount like salaries.

The key is understanding which category each expense falls into.

> Step 5: Forecast the balance sheet.

This is where most people get stuck.

The framework is simple though.

Beginning balance plus additions minus subtractions equals ending balance.

Apply this to accounts receivable, accounts payable, loans, and every other balance sheet account.

> Step 6: Connect everything together so your three statements flow seamlessly.

When one number changes, everything else updates automatically.

> Step 7: Present your model with dynamic dashboards.

KPI dashboards, budget vs actuals, comparison views, all living directly in your model so reporting becomes effortless.

Once you've built your model, the real work begins.

Every month you need to analyze where you were on target and where you missed.
That's how you get better at forecasting and understanding your business.

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 82

Josh Aharonoff (Your CFO Guy)

Turn One Messy Report into Multiple Powerful Views

Your Chart of Accounts tells you WHAT happened.

But it can't tell you WHERE it happened or WHO spent the money.

That's the problem with standard P&L reports.

You see $50,000 in advertising spend.

But you have no idea if that was Sales, Marketing, or IT.

You see $200,000 in salaries.

But which team consumed that? Engineering? Operations?

Without classes, everything is just mixed together.

→ How Classes Work: The 2 Dimension System

Classes add a second dimension to your reporting.

Dimension 1 is WHAT (the GL account).

Dimension 2 is WHERE (the class tag).

So now when you categorize that $50,000 advertising expense, you're also tagging it...

$30k to Sales, $20k to Marketing.

That $200,000 in salaries?

$120k to Engineering, $80k to Operations.

Crystal clear accountability.

→ Two Ways to Track Departmental Spending by Class

Once you start using classes, you have two main reporting options.

The first is Summary P&L by Class.

This gives you a clean, simple view of all departments at once.

Perfect for comparing spending across classes.

No filters needed, everything appears automatically.

The second is Summary P&L with Class Filter.

This keeps your P&L structure clean (same accounts as standard P&L).

Want Sales only? Click filter. Done.

Want Engineering only? Click filter. Done.

Both formats have their place depending on what you're trying to analyze.

→ What You Can Track with Classes

Classes aren't just for departments.

You can track by:

- Departments (Sales, HR, IT)
- Product Lines (Software, Hardware)
- Locations (NYC, LA, Austin)
- Projects (Building A, B, C)

The flexibility is endless.

→ Why Classes Are a Total Advantage

Classes answer the real questions.

Which teams drive results?

You get multiple views from the same data.

Slice by team, project, or location.

True accountability kicks in.

Every dollar traces back to who spent it.

And it scales beautifully.

From 10 to 100+ employees without breaking a sweat.

The challenge? Setting up class reporting manually in QuickBooks takes forever.

You're exporting data, building pivot tables, creating filters...

At Model Wiz, you connect your QuickBooks Online account and we automatically generate these dashboards for you.

All the views, all the filters, ready to go.

Are you using classes in your business? Let me know in the comments 👇

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 72

Josh Aharonoff (Your CFO Guy)

Your full chart of accounts has 200 line items that nobody reads.

Summarizing matters. This P&L groups everything into categories that actually make sense. Revenue, COGS, operating expenses broken down by type, net operating income, other income and expenses, net income.

You can see the story without scrolling through dozens of account codes. Marketing and advertising grouped together. Office expenses in one line. Payroll separate. Professional services separate. Each summary grouping shows the detail underneath when you need it.

Toggle between custom, annual, quarterly, or monthly views. See gross margin percentage calculated automatically. Compare periods side by side.

I used to manually group accounts every time I presented financials. Now Model Wiz does it automatically. It's an Excel plugin that pulls from QuickBooks Online and builds this summarized view in one click. You control which accounts go into which summary grouping. Updates when you close your books.

Get it at modelwiz.com

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 96

Josh Aharonoff (Your CFO Guy)

Why do some dashboards make executives nod in approval while others get ignored?

It comes down to 3 mistakes most people don't even know they're making.

I made all of them when I started my accounting firm six years ago.

And they killed my credibility until I figured out what actually makes dashboards work.

Mistake number one is sending raw exports from your accounting software.

A profit and loss with 200 line items isn't a dashboard.

It's just data overwhelm.

Most founders don't even know how to read a P&L, let alone a balance sheet or cash flow statement.

You're not guiding them to what matters or what actions they need to take.

The fix is grouping everything into 5 to 8 summary categories so the story becomes obvious.

Now you can analyze at a macro level first and only drill deeper when something looks off.

Mistake number two is missing context.

Numbers without comparison are meaningless.

That's why budget vs actuals is the most powerful report you can show.

It proves you actually planned for something instead of just reacting.

Good variances show as positive, bad variances show as negative.

And when you miss your targets, you have a story ready that makes leadership sleep better at night.

Mistake number three is static dashboards.

If someone wants to see a different time period or metric, they shouldn't need to ask you for a new report.

Dynamic dashboards let viewers toggle between months, quarters, years, budget comparisons, all in real time.

One dashboard becomes ten different views depending on what they need to see.

Here's what changes when you fix these three mistakes.

Your dashboards go from data dumps to actual insights.

Leadership starts trusting your analysis.

You spend less time answering questions because the answers are already visible.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 157

Josh Aharonoff (Your CFO Guy)

Revenue growth means nothing if margins are shrinking.

I need to see all the margins at once. Operating margin shows if the business model works. Gross margin shows if pricing works. Net margin shows what you actually keep.

This dashboard tracks all four together. Revenue with a 12 month trend on the left. Then operating, gross, and net margins, each with their own chart showing movement over time.

Toggle between any month. Compare to prior period or last year. Everything's color coded so you see immediately if margins are expanding or getting squeezed.

Model Wiz connects to QuickBooks Online. Excel plugin. One click and the whole dashboard builds with your data. Updates automatically when you roll forward your books instead of spending two hours rebuilding charts every month.

Get it at modelwiz.com

1 month ago | [YT] | 50

Josh Aharonoff (Your CFO Guy)

Most CFOs waste hours building dashboards that nobody understands, and if you watch this video, you'll see exactly how to fix that with just five reports -
I used to be one of them.

Hundreds of rows.

Dozens of tabs.

So much data that stakeholders would just nod and pretend they got it.

Then I figured out you only need five dashboards to run any business.

That's it.

Five.

I just recorded a complete walkthrough of each one and exactly how I use them with clients, investors, and board members.

The KPI dashboard that shows only eight metrics but tells you everything you actually need to know.

No information overload.

Just the numbers that matter.

Budget vs actuals is my personal favorite because it proves you're not just guessing.

It shows what you thought would happen versus what actually happened.
And when you miss, you have a story ready.

The three financial statements stacked together so leadership sees profit, cash, and balance sheet health in one view.

Most people show these separately and lose the narrative.

A full year trends dashboard that makes patterns impossible to miss.

You'll spot problems months before they become disasters.

Plus the exact formatting tricks that make your dashboards look professional instead of amateur.

Like how to show millions versus thousands versus percentages automatically.
The hard part isn't knowing what numbers to track.

It's making them easy to understand in a spreadsheet.

These five dashboards solve that.

1 month ago | [YT] | 74

Josh Aharonoff (Your CFO Guy)

I'll never forget my first board meeting.

I was trembling.

The CEO was there.

His major investors.

One guy had sold his companies for millions and millions of dollars.

It was my turn to present and I froze.

I didn't know what to show them.

Sales?

Cash?

Both?

Something else?

Well, now over a decade later and dozens of board meetings, I've figured it out.

You only need about 10 dashboards to really understand a business.

So I just filmed a walkthrough of every single one I actually use when reporting to clients, investors, and board members.

Like how to show exactly when you're going to run out of cash.

In big, scary visuals that make it impossible to ignore.

Budget vs actual done right.

This is hands down my favorite one to show the board because it makes you look like you actually have a grip on the business.

The variance column trick that stops you from showing negative percentages when they're actually good variances.

Seems small but it'll save you from looking foolish in meetings.

Why your P&L is only half the story.

And which report gives you the context to know if your profits actually mean anything.

Plus how I stack all three financial statements together so leadership sees the full picture in one view.

Here's the thing.

Most people spend way too much time on manual data entry and not enough on actual insights.

These 10 dashboards fix that.

And if you stick around to the end, I'll show you how to get all of them connected to your data.

1 month ago | [YT] | 59

Josh Aharonoff (Your CFO Guy)

I'm using these AI tools to get back 20+ hours a week.

And I just filmed a video breaking down exactly how.

20 specific ways I'm using AI in my accounting work that actually save me time.

Like this 30-second prompt I use to get ChatGPT to research accounting standards and cite the exact source. So I know it's not just making stuff up.

Or how AI caught a linking error in my dashboard just by looking at the image. Saved me from what would've been a really awkward client call.

There's this simple back-and-forth process where ChatGPT writes complex Excel formulas I've never seen before. Took like 10 tries, but now I've got it forever.

Connecting your inbox to AI might be the biggest time-saver in this whole video. Seriously.

Plus I invited one of the best AI specialists in finance (Nicolas Boucher) to show automation workflows that'll make you wonder why you've been doing any of this manually.

The video is live, go watch it

2 months ago | [YT] | 33

Josh Aharonoff (Your CFO Guy)

The biggest shift in accounting just happened.
QuickBooks released AI agents that categorize transactions, reconcile books, and analyze data faster than most CPAs.

And I'm not going to lie, I'm a little freaked out.

QuickBooks is calling them "digital teammates" and that language choice matters.

Some say it's the end of accountants. Others call it hype.

My team and I spent weeks testing these "digital teammates."

What I found? Honestly... it made me nervous.

Tasks that used to take DAYS now happen in MINUTES.

Bank reconciliations I used to print out and check line by line? Automated.

Anomalies that took hours to spot? The AI flags them instantly.

Should I close down my fractional CFO agency?

Should I be looking for another career?

Are all the years of experience I've accumulated... meaningless?

I recorded a full video where I brought in Intuit themselves, interviewed my cousin who's spent 10,000+ hours researching AI, and did weeks of deep research.

It’s not looking good, but there’s hope

Find out how to survive this shift in the video

3 months ago | [YT] | 18