Chart of accounts

Where: Accounting → Chart of accounts. Who: accounting.account.view to browse; create, update and deactivate to change.

The chart of accounts is the list of ledger accounts every journal posts to. It is shared by the whole organisation.

How accounts are organised

Accounts are grouped by type. The type decides which report an account appears in and which side its balance normally sits on.

The number ranges are a convention used in the examples. The system relies on the account type, not the number range.

Browse and search accounts

1. Open Chart of accounts. The Accounts register lists every account, active and inactive.
2. Narrow the list with:
   • Search accounts: part of a code or name, for example receiv;
   • Account type: All types or one type;
   • Status: All statuses, Active or Inactive.
3. Select a column header to sort. Use the page controls under the table to change the page size.

Column	Meaning	Example
Code	Unique account code	1100
Name	Account name	Accounts Receivable
Type	Asset, Liability, Equity, Revenue or Expense	Asset
Normal balance	Debit or Credit	Debit
Parent ID	The grouping account, if any	(empty)
Posting	Manual allowed, System, or neither	System
Status	Active or Inactive	Active
Actions	Edit, Deactivate

Which accounts can receive postings

An account accepts journal lines only when it is active and is either a system account or allows manual posting.

Posting column	Can be posted to?	Typical accounts
System	Yes (used by automatic postings)	1100 Accounts Receivable, 2010 Accounts Payable, 4000 Sales Revenue
Manual allowed	Yes	1020 Main Bank Account, 5100 General Expenses, 2200 Accruals
neither	No: a heading only	4010 Retail Sales Revenue (grouping)
any, but Inactive	No	A retired account

Accounts the automatic postings need

Automatic postings find these accounts by code. They must exist and stay active, or the matching document can't be posted in its own module.

Code	Name in the standard chart	Used when
1100	Accounts Receivable	Sales invoices, receipts, credit notes
4000	Sales Revenue	Sales invoices
4100	Sales Returns	Credit notes
1000	Current Assets	Customer receipts and supplier payments (the money side)
2010	Accounts Payable	Supplier invoices and supplier payments
5000	Cost of Goods Sold	Supplier invoices

Don't recode these accounts

Renaming is fine. Changing the code, or deactivating one of these, stops invoices, receipts or supplier invoices from posting. They are system accounts, so the screen protects them: "System accounts cannot be changed."

Create an account

Where: Accounting → Create account, or Create account from the register. Who: accounting.account.create.

1. Fill in the Account details:

Field	Required	Rule	Example
Account code	Yes	Unique; stored in capitals; can never change	5500
Account name	Yes	Up to 255 characters	Software Subscriptions
Account type	Yes	Asset, Liability, Equity, Revenue, Expense	Expense
Normal balance	Yes	Debit or Credit	Debit
Parent account	No	Another account, for grouping	5000 Cost of Goods Sold (or none)
Allow manual posting	No	Tick for accounts people may post to directly	Ticked

2. Select Save account. You see "Account created successfully." and return to the register.

Example: Farah adds 5500 Software Subscriptions, type Expense, normal balance Debit, manual posting allowed. It appears in the register as Active.

Refused:

Message	Why
Account code already exists: 5500	Codes are unique, ignoring capitals
Parent account not found	The parent was removed or belongs elsewhere

Edit an account

Who: accounting.account.update.

1. In the register, select Edit on the account.
2. Change the name, type, normal balance, parent or Allow manual posting. The Account code can't be changed.
3. To bring back a deactivated account, tick Reactivate account.
4. Select Save account.

Refused: "System accounts cannot be updated manually"; "Account cannot be its own parent".

Deactivate an account

Who: accounting.account.deactivate.

Accounts are never deleted, because past journals must stay readable. Deactivate instead.

1. In the register, select Deactivate on the account.
2. Confirm "Deactivate 5500 - Software Subscriptions?".

An inactive account still shows its past amounts in reports. New journals to it are refused with "Account is inactive: 5500".

Next: What happens automatically.