ⓘ This article is for small businesses who use Xero
- The Statement of Cash Flows - Direct Method report shows how your business has received and used cash within a certain time frame.
About the report
The Statement of Cash Flows - Direct Method report only includes cash-based transactions.
When you run the report, Xero sorts your cash movements into these four sections based on the account type of the account they're coded to:
- Operating Activities – Cash movements in revenue and expense type accounts.
- Investing Activities – Cash movements in asset type accounts.
- Financing Activities – Cash movements in liability and equity type accounts.
- Cash and Cash Equivalents – A summary of your cash flow.
Run the report
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In the Accounting menu, select Reports.
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Find and open the Statement of Cash Flows - Direct Method report. You can use the search field in the top right corner.
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Set a Date range. You can also click the arrow
next to the date to choose a set reporting period, eg This quarter or Last month.
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Select other options you want the report to show.
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Click Update.
Report options
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Comparison period(s) – compare amounts for your chosen date range with amounts from previous periods or no comparison.
By default, Xero compares like with like. Eg if you choose Last month as your date range, Xero uses months for your comparison periods. You can choose other comparison periods to suit your needs.
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Filter – filter the report to only include amounts for specific tracking categories. Once you've selected your filters, click Apply.
- Under More:
- Select Gross or Net tax on operating activities to display movement in revenue and expense type accounts as tax inclusive or exclusive. This setting doesn’t change how transactions in other account types are displayed as they’re always displayed as net (tax exclusive).
- Select to show or hide Decimals.
You can change the format of the report, and the location of each account, by using the layout editor.
Merge or split debits and credits
Accounts split into debits and credits display the Dr or Cr icons. Accounts that merge debits and credits display the merged icon.
- Click Edit layout.
- Select the accounts you want to merge or split. For multiple accounts, press Ctrl, then select each account. To select an entire group, click the group name.
- Click either Merge Dr/Cr or Split Dr/Cr.
- Click Update layout.
- (Optional) To keep this layout, click Save as, then select either Draft, Published or Custom.
If both parts of a split account are in the same group, they're merged automatically.
Drill down to the Account Movements report
From the Statement of Cash Flows - Direct Method report, you can click through to the Account Movements report for a particular account. Simply click on an amount to see the cashflow details relating to it.