Sample Chart of Accounts for a Small Company

This will help you organize your financial transactions and generate accurate financial reports. ‍The first step in creating a chart of accounts is to determine your business needs. Consider the nature of your business, the types of transactions you make, and the financial reports you need to generate. A COA is a list of the account names a company uses to label transactions and keep tabs on its finances. You use a COA to organize transactions into groups, which in turn helps you track money coming in and out of the company. They’re like a map that helps you categorise your transactions correctly and group similar accounts together for reporting.

The purpose of the code is simply to group similar accounts together, and to provide an easy method of referring to an account when preparing journal entries. When allocating account codes (chart of accounts numbers) don’t forget to leave space for additional accounts and codes to be inserted in a group at a later stage. For example the inventory codes run from 400 to 499 so there is plenty of room to incorporate new categories of inventory if needed. The business should decide what accounting reports it needs and then provide sufficient account codes to allow the report to be produced.

What Is a Chart of Accounts (COA)?

A chart of accounts is an essential tool for businesses for several reasons. Firstly, it helps businesses organize their financial transactions and track their financial performance. Secondly, it facilitates the preparation of financial statements, such as the balance sheet and income statement. How to Start Your Own Bookkeeping Business: Essential Tips Thirdly, it enables businesses to monitor their cash flow and make informed financial decisions. A chart of accounts organizes your finances into a streamlined system of numbered accounts. You can customize your COA so that the structure reflects the specific needs of your business.

• Below, we’ll go over what the accounting chart of accounts is, what it looks like, and why it’s so important for your business.
• It shows peaks and valleys in your income, how much cash flow is at your disposal, and how long it should last you given your average monthly business expenses.
• This sample chart of accounts structure allows the business to easily identify accounts and account codes enabling transactions to be posted and the trial balance and financial statements to be prepared.
• The information is usually arranged in categories that match those on the balance sheet and income statement.

Companies in different lines of business will have different looking charts of accounts. The chart of accounts for a major airline will have a lot more references to “aircraft parts” than your local cat cafe. Chartered accountant Michael Brown is the founder and CEO of Double Entry Bookkeeping. He has worked as an accountant and consultant for more than 25 years and has built financial models for all types of industries. He has been the CFO or controller of both small and medium sized companies and has run small businesses of his own.

Financial Statement

The group refers to the categorization of the account into one of the headings shown below. It generally helps to keep the most used accounts towards the top of each group as this helps speed up locating the account and the posting of double entry transactions. That doesn’t mean recording every single detail about every single transaction. You don’t need a separate account https://turbo-tax.org/law-firms-and-client-trust-accounts/ for every product you sell, and you don’t need a separate account for each utility. An expense account balance, for example, shows how much money has been spent to operate your business, whereas a liabilities account balance shows how much money your business still owes. Back when we did everything on paper, you used to have to pick and organize these numbers yourself.

These accounts are separated into different categories, including revenue, liabilities, assets, and expenditures. This numbering system helps bookkeepers and accountants keep track of accounts along with what category they belong two. For instance, if an account’s name or description is ambiguous, the bookkeeper can simply look at the prefix to know exactly what it is. An account might simply be named “insurance offset.” What does that mean? The bookkeeper would be able to tell the difference by the account number. An asset would have the prefix of 1 and an expense would have a prefix of 5.

Guiding principles for chart of accounts design

Your chart of accounts is a living document for your business and because of that, accounts will inevitably need to be added or removed over time. The general rule for adding or removing accounts is to add accounts as they come in, but wait until the end of the year or quarter to remove any old accounts. For instance, if you rent, the money moves from your cash account to the rent expense account. Expense accounts allow you to keep track of money that you no longer have. Cost of Sales – They are the costs that relate directly to the income accounts and might include wages, parts and packaging. While the five main accounts at the top stay the same, the accounts that sit underneath can be customized to suit your business.