How to Create a Perfect P&L Report and Hit the Deadline Without Valerian

Practical walkthrough using Soffi.io as an example

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A Familiar Pain

Picture the end of the month. It's past midnight, Excel is open on eight tabs, the formula in cell D17 is breaking the totals again, and your inbox is flooded with clarifications: "Why did our currency suddenly jump?" If you’ve ever compiled a P&L manually, sadly, this isn’t a fantasy.

The Soffi.io service takes this very routine off the CFO’s plate: it automatically pulls in fresh figures from Google Sheets, runs them through a template, and your report is ready for the morning meeting. No overtime, no frantic ctrl+z. Let’s break down how to set up this magic in a single evening.

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What You'll Need

1. 1.

   Google Sheets
   Sales report and cost accounting—the main thing is a stable structure: consistent column names, fixed sheets.

2. 2.

   P&L Template in Google Docs or another Spreadsheet. Use your corporate template or draft your own: revenues at the top, costs below, margin at the end.

3. 3.

   Access to Soffi.io—sign up, verify your email, and get an empty dashboard.

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Step 1. Connect Soffi to Your Data

1. 1.

   In your Soffi personal account, click "Data Sources → Add".

2. 2.

   Select Google Sheets, grant the service access to the necessary tables.

3. 3.

   For convenience, name the source something clear: Sales_July, Costs_July.

4. 4.

   Check if the headers imported—they’ll be needed for formulas.

Lifehack: If rows are frequently added, set the range as "A:Z" instead of "A1:Z500"—Soffi will find fresh data automatically.

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Step 2. Prepare Your Report Template

1. 1.

   Open your P&L document.

2. 2.

   Mark the recipient cells with curly braces:
   {{Revenue}}, {{COGS}}, {{Gross_Margin}}—this way Soffi knows where to insert the numbers.

3. 3.

   Save the file in Google Docs (or Sheets) and copy the URL—you’ll need it for the task.

Tip: Add a {{Report_Date}} row at the bottom—the service will automatically insert the current date, so you won’t need to update the header manually.

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Step 3. Create a Task in Soffi.io

1. 1.

   On the dashboard, click "New Task" → "Template Document".

2. 2.

   Fill in the parameters:

   • •

     Data source: Sales_July, Costs_July.

   • •

     Template: link to your P&L file.

   • •

     Frequency: Monthly → Every 1st day → 09:00.

3. 3.

   In the Logic block, specify simple calculations (pseudocode is fine, Soffi will understand):

   			Revenue = SUM(Sales!B:B)
   COGS = SUM(Costs!C:C)
   Gross_Margin = Revenue - COGS
   Margin_Percent = Gross_Margin / Revenue
   		

4. 4.

   Set the delivery channel: "Send file to email + Slack #finance chat."

Click "Save". Done—the task is scheduled.

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Step 4. Test Before It’s Too Late

Don’t wait until the 31st—better to run the task manually:

1. 1.

   In the tasks list, select the one you need and click "Run Now".

2. 2.

   In a few seconds, you’ll have a PDF in your email. Open it: all values should match your manual calculations.

3. 3.

   Notice any discrepancies? Most often, the culprits are:

   • •

     extra spaces in column headers;

   • •

     a formula dividing by zero (empty row).

Fix the spreadsheet, refresh the source, and rerun the test.

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Step 5. Finalize and Forget Those Pre-Deadline All-Nighters

After a successful test, you can… do nothing. On "Day X," Soffi will automatically:

• •

  pull in fresh data;

• •

  recalculate formulas;

• •

  update the date in the heading;

• •

  send the PDF wherever you specified.

And at 09:05 you hand out the finished report at the meeting—with coffee, not red eyes.

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Key Benefits (Tested by Real People)

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Frequently Asked Questions from Finance Colleagues

• •

  "What if I change the table structure?"
  Just update the column names in "Data Sources." Formulas stay the same.

• •

  "Can I add a 'Quarterly Forecast' row?"
  Yes. Add a new field {{Forecast_Q}} in the template and add the formula to the task—done.

• •

  "Is it safe to grant the service access to financial data?"
  Soffi uses Google OAuth, never stores passwords, and encrypts data at rest and in transit.

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In Lieu of a Postscript

Automation isn’t a luxury; it’s how you reclaim time to work with your head, not just your keyboard. One evening, five steps—and your P&L is no longer a reason for overnight marathons. Try it, then look at the report in the morning and ask yourself: "What else can I delegate to algorithms?"

For some, numbers help make decisions. For everyone else, they help sleep well. Let Soffi handle the latter while you focus on the former.