Chart of Accounts Tutorials

How the Chart of Accounts is organised is explained on Understanding the Chart of Accounts, and its buttons and fields on Chart of Accounts Interface.

💡These tutorials explain how to add, rearrange, delete and block accounts and sections, and generate account codes and lookups.

Choices to Be Made#

These tutorials guide you to choose the right section and type of account.

How to Choose the Right Section#

1. Choose Statement of Profit or Loss if the account relates to trading activities (generating income and paying the related expenses).
   • Examples of Revenue:
     • Sales
     • Services Rendered
     • Commission Received
   • Examples of Other Income:
     • Discount Received
     • Interest Received
   • Examples of Cost of Sales:
     • Stock Movements (Opening Stock less Closing Stock)
     • Purchases (Raw Materials or Finished Goods)
     • Direct Labour
     • Processing Costs (running of machines, or supplies for the machines)
   • Examples of Expenses:
     • Bank Charges
     • Professional Fees
     • Salaries and Wages
     • Rent and Utilities
     • Communication Costs (Wi-Fi, internet)
2. Choose Statement of Financial Position if the account relates to an Asset (something of value or money you are owed), a Liability (accounts you must pay or loans), or Equity (shares). Assets and liabilities are normally divided into short-term (current) and long-term.
   • Examples of Fixed Assets:
     • Motor Vehicles
     • Property
     • Computer Equipment
     • Machinery
   • Examples of Current Assets:
     • Stock on Hand
     • Receivables
     • Cash on Hand
     • Bank Accounts
     • Prepaid Expenses
   • Examples of Investments:
     • Shares in other companies or subsidiaries
   • Examples of Equity:
     • Capital Account
     • Shares
     • Retained Income or Loss
   • Examples of Long-term Liabilities:
     • Equipment or Vehicle Financing
     • Mortgages
   • Examples of Current Liabilities:
     • Payables
     • Bank Overdrafts
     • Credit Cards
     • Taxes Due (e.g. VAT)
     • Accruals

How to Choose Between an Asset and Expense Account#

1. Choose Expense if the item is consumed during production (e.g. paper, ink) or recurring in nature (e.g. rent, salaries).
2. Choose Asset if the item has a lasting value or can be used multiple times. For example, if you buy a car, the car is a Fixed Asset because it should last for many years. However, the costs incurred to use the car are consumed and are expenses (e.g. insurance, fuel, maintenance).
3. Small Tools: Tax authorities often allow low-value assets to be written off as expenses. These assets are posted to Small Tools (an Expense account) and not to a Fixed Asset account. In South Africa, in 2025, this value was R7 000.

How to Choose the Level of Detail in Account Structures#

1. Create a separate account for each kind of Expense (e.g. Stationery, Cleaning Supplies, Refreshments).
2. You do not need to create a separate account for each branch or department, because you can choose an Entity (branch or department) when entering the transaction. However, you may need to enter multiple transactions because a transaction can be allocated to one Entity only.
3. You can subdivide accounts if the information is meaningful to your business or needed for tax purposes. For example, Motor Vehicle Expenses are often divided into Fuel & Oil and Repairs & Maintenance. Some companies may choose to further divide those expenses. For example:
   • Motor Vehicle Expenses
     • Fuel & Oil
       • Staff (excluding Reps)
       • Reps
       • Management
     • Repairs & Maintenance
       • Staff (excluding Reps)
       • Reps
       • Management

How to View a List of Accounts in Tree View#

1. Navigate to Main Menu > Setup > Accounting > Accounts (tab).
2. Click Tree View (button).
   • Note: If the button shows Grid View, Tree View is already active.
3. Use the + – next to Grid View (button) to expand the list of accounts.
   • Note: Grid View shows the accounts in a grid, which is ideal if you want to export them.

Adding Sections and Accounts#

These tutorials explain how to add sections and accounts.

How to Add a Section to the Statement of Profit or Loss#

1. Display a list of accounts in Tree View.
2. Click Add/Edit (button).
3. Right-click Statement of Profit or Loss and select Add Section > Revenue or Expense.
   • Note: The new section is added at the bottom of the list.
4. Edit the details as needed.
5. Click Save (button).

How to Add a Section to the Statement of Financial Position#

1. Display a list of accounts in Tree View.
2. Click Add/Edit (button).
3. Right-click Statement of Financial Position and select Add Section > the type of section:
   • Asset
   • Liability
   • Equity
     • Note: The new section is added at the bottom of the list.
4. Edit the details as needed.
5. Move the section with the context menu or the keyboard shortcuts shown on it.
6. Click Save (button).

How to Add an Account#

1. Display a list of accounts in Tree View.
2. Right-click the section (to create a main account) or an account (to create a sub-account) and select Add Account.
   • Note: A new row appears below the last row of the section or account you clicked.
3. Fill in the details:
   1. Account = Enter a name for the account.
   2. Code = Enter an account number for the account (if applicable).
   3. Lookup = Enter the name you want to appear when using the account in a transaction. Include an abbreviation if you want to filter the list of accounts (e.g. to look up only expenses on a transaction, add EXP to every expense lookup). A warning appears if the lookup is blank.
   4. Type = Select the type of account. It is prefilled from the account or section you right-clicked.
   5. Default = Select whether the account is a default for one of the following:
      • Accrual (VAT inc / exc): Should be a current liability account in the Statement of Financial Position section. Accrual accounts are temporary accounts (suspense accounts). These accounts appear on the dashboard of the financial statements as a warning that transactions may still be outstanding.
      • Bank: The account can be a Current Asset if your bank balance is positive, or a current liability if you operate an overdraft. Both options are in the Statement of Financial Position section.
      • Bank & Accrual: Should be a current liability in the Statement of Financial Position section. This option mostly applies to credit cards and lets you use them as bank accounts while still showing any balances on the Financial Dashboard.
      • Payables: Should be a current liability account in the Statement of Financial Position section. This account is a total of your Supplier Age Analysis (that is, all your supplier accounts). It can be added once only.
      • Receivables: Should be a Current Asset account in the Statement of Financial Position section. This account is a total of your Customer Age Analysis (that is, all your customer accounts). It can be added once only.
      • Retained Income: Should be an Equity account in the Statement of Financial Position section. Your profit or loss as determined by the Statement of Profit or Loss is posted to this account. It can be added once only.
      • VAT Control: Should be a current liability account in the Statement of Financial Position section. All VAT portions on transactions are posted to this account. Applies only if your organisation is registered for VAT. It can be added once only.
      • WHT Control: Should be a current liability account in the Statement of Financial Position section if you primarily withhold tax from supplier payments. Can be a Current Asset account in the Statement of Financial Position if mostly used to record the tax that your customers withheld from your invoices.
   6. Currency = Select a default currency for the bank account. Applies only to Bank accounts.
   7. Status: Set to Active by default; no action is required.
4. Click Save (button).

Using the Additional Features#

These tutorials explain how to use the additional features available from the main and context menu.

How to Change an Account Into a Sub-Account#

1. Display a list of accounts in Tree View.
2. Click Add/Edit (button).
3. Right-click the account and select Nest Under > the account you want as the main account.
   • Note: The options depend on the type of account you clicked. For example, an Expense account lists the other Expense and Cost of Sales accounts as nesting options.
4. Click Save (button).

How to Rebuild the Accounting Reports#

1. Navigate to Main Menu > Setup > Accounting > Accounts (tab).
2. Click Actions (button) > Rebuild Accounting Report.

How to Generate Account Codes#

1. Navigate to Main Menu > Setup > Accounting > Accounts (tab).
2. Click Actions (button) > Generate Account Codes.
3. On the message “This function will replace all current account codes with newly generated ones. Would you like to proceed?”, click Yes (button).

How to Generate Account Lookups#

1. Navigate to Main Menu > Setup > Accounting > Accounts (tab).
2. Click Actions (button) > Generate Account Lookups.
3. Confirm the deletion on the popup.
4. Click Add/Edit (button).
5. Edit the lookups as needed.
6. Click Save (button).

How to Order Accounts Alphabetically#

1. Navigate to Main Menu > Setup > Accounting > Accounts (tab).
2. Click Actions (button) > Order Alphabetically.

How to Rearrange Accounts#

1. Display a list of accounts in Tree View.
2. Right-click the account you want to move and select Move Up or Move Down.

How to Delete an Account#

1. Display a list of accounts in Tree View.
2. Right-click the account you want to delete and select Delete.
3. Confirm the deletion on the popup.

How to Prevent an Account From Being Used#

1. Display a list of accounts in Tree View.
2. Click Add/Edit (button).
3. Status = Select Archive on the account.
4. Click Save (button).
   • Note: Section statuses (shown in bold) cannot be changed.