Why profit looks incorrect on the dashboard

Why the profit figure on your Sage Sole Trader dashboard doesn't match what you expect.

Sage Sole Trader calculates profit based on how you categorise your transactions. It doesn't use the total money received into your bank. If you don't categorise transactions correctly, the profit on your dashboard won't reflect your actual earnings.

There are two common reasons for this:

Incomplete transactions

Only completed transactions contribute to profit on the dashboard. If you've received business income but the transaction is still in draft, your profit figure will be lower than expected.

To fix this, review your transactions and mark any outstanding ones as complete.

Non-business transactions

When you categorise a transaction as non-business, it doesn't affect profit. This is expected behaviour. Non-business categories exist for money that isn't related to your trading activity.

For example, don't categorise these types of transaction as Turnover:

• Cash withdrawals
• Transfers between your own accounts
• Personal money paid into the business account

If you categorise any of these as Turnover by mistake, your dashboard profit will be higher than expected.