Getting Started with Runbook

1. Setup

Install the Runbook Extension

Runbook is available as a Google Sheets add-on. Install it from the Google Workspace Marketplace here:

Launch Runbook

Once installed, open any Google Sheet and navigate to Extensions → Runbook → Open Runbook. This will open the Runbook panel on the right side of your spreadsheet.

Connect QuickBooks

Click the Connect QuickBooks button in the Runbook sidebar. You'll be redirected to QuickBooks Online to authorize the connection. To connect additional QuickBooks companies, in the Runbook sidebar go to Settings → Connect QuickBooks.

2. Creating Reports

You can create new reports in the "New" tab in Runbook. This section focuses on standard reports. Read about creating variance reports below.

Select a Company

Choose a QuickBooks company from the dropdown.

Select a Report Type

Runbook supports all major QuickBooks reports including Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, General Ledger, Trial Balance, and more. You can also create Budget and Budget vs. Actual reports.

Select a Date Range

Preset Dates (Dynamic)

Preset dates are dynamic. For example, say you want to create an A/R Aging report that always shows the A/R balance by customer as of the current date. You can set the date range to "Today", and it will update with fresh data every day.

Choose from 40+ preset dates, including Today, This Month, This Calendar Year-to-Date, Trailing 12 Months, and more.

Custom Dates (Fixed and Editable)

Custom date ranges are fixed; however, you can always edit them later on existing reports.

Configure Your Report

• Choose between Accrual and Cash accounting methods
• Choose how you want to display columns in your report (Total, Month, Customer, etc.)
• Add filters for Class, Location, Customer, etc. (optional)

3. Creating Variance Reports with AI Commentary

Switch the report mode to "Variance." Variance reports compare two different periods and automatically calculate the $ and % variance between them. You can also run AI analysis on variance reports to automatically explain what's causing variances.

Compare Periods

There are 2 ways to compare periods:

1. Select a preset period like "Prior Month vs. Current Month" or "Same Month Last Year vs. Current Month"
2. Select custom periods to compare. These can be any two months, quarters, or years.

AI Variance Analysis

In the "Actions" tab, there are 2 ways to generate variance explanations.

Individual Variance Explanations

1. Select any two cells in the same row (i.e., two comparison periods for the same account)
2. Click "Explain Variance"
3. Runbook will generate a variance explanation for that account and add it to the "Commentary" column

Bulk Variance Explanations

1. Click "Bulk Explain"
2. Add a materiality threshold ($ and/or %) and click "Run"
3. Runbook will generate variance explanations for every account that exceeds your materiality threshold

4. Creating Drill-Down Reports

You can drill down into one or multiple values in a report by selecting the relevant cells and clicking "Drill Down" in the Actions tab. This creates a new tab in your Google Sheet with all of the transactions that make up the selected values, plus a pivot table built on top of those transactions.

You can edit the pivot table to drill down on any dimension. For example, if you want to show software expenses by vendor, you can drill down into the "Software Expense" account on your P&L and edit the pivot table to show expenses by vendor.

5. Refreshing and Editing Reports

In the Reports tab, you can view and manage all the reports in your Google Sheet workbook. This includes standard, variance, and drill-down reports.

There are 3 main ways to refresh reports with new QuickBooks data.

Option 1: Manual Refresh

Click "Refresh" on a report to update it with the latest QuickBooks data.

Option 2: Automatic Refresh

Toggle on "Auto-refresh hourly" to keep your reports updated automatically.

Option 3: Edit a Report

Click "Edit Settings" and change the report dates to whatever date range you want to see. For example, if you have a P&L for January - July and you want to add August, you can edit the date range to add August to your existing report.

Refreshing or editing a custom report won't overwrite your formatting or break your formulas. Any rows, calculations, or notes you've added alongside the report will be preserved.