Chart of account templates

You can review the list to determine the template to select for your company, and then download the selected template from the QuickBooks Online Excel Import templates file. For instructions on importing your Chart of Accounts from Microsoft Excel, see Import a chart of accounts. Need to make changes or updates to your accounts or subscriptions?

Visit the Account Management Page. New to Quickbooks or using a new product? There are many different ways to structure a chart of accounts, but the important thing to remember is that simplicity is key. The more accounts are added to the chart and the more complex the numbering system is, the more difficult it will be to keep track of them and actually use the accounting system.

Simple is always better than complicated. As you can see, each account is listed numerically in financial statement order with the number in the first column and the name or description in the second column.

There are a few things that you should keep in mind when you are building a chart of accounts for your business. You will probably need to add accounts in the future. For example, assume your cash account is and your accounts receivable account is , now you want to add a petty cash account.

Look at the number pattern in our example above. The more accounts you have, the more difficult it will be consolidate them into financial statements and reports. A big change will make it difficult to compare accounting record between these years.

Trial Balance Financial Accounting Basics. By doing so, you can easily understand what products or services are generating the most revenue in your business. Be careful not to overly complicate your chart of accounts. If you create too many categories in your chart of account, you can make your entire financial reports difficult to read and analyze.

Therefore, you need to find the right balance between, creating a chart of accounts that organizes transactions in broad categories and provides the level of detail you need in order to make informed business decisions. In virtually all accounting software, chart of accounts are grouped in a specific numeric range that identifies the type of account and where is reported in the financial statements. Below is how Xero usually groups their chart of accounts, QuickBooks uses a similar methodology:.

Yes, these are called contra accounts in accounting jargon.