QuickBooks Chart of Accounts Design for a Small Business
Plan a clean, reportable list of accounts before transactions pile up.
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Help me plan a chart of accounts for QuickBooks. Type of business and how it earns money: [BUSINESS_AND_INCOME]. Main costs: [MAIN_COSTS]. Reports I want to read (profit by service, cost of goods, payroll cost): [REPORTS_WANTED]. Whether I use classes, locations or projects: [TRACKING]. My accountant's preferences: [ACCOUNTANT_NOTES]. Return a table with Number (if I use numbering), Account name, Type, What goes here and Notes, grouped as assets, liabilities, equity, income, cost of goods sold and expenses, with the account type to choose [VERIFY type and detail type names in my version]. Keep income accounts to the ways I really earn and expenses to about 25 to 35 lines. Each account needs a rule for what belongs in it; a line is added only if the business wants to see it on its own in a report each month. Example for an invented consultancy: Consulting income, Training income, Reimbursed expenses income, Subcontractors, Software subscriptions, Travel, Meals and entertainment, Professional fees, Insurance, Office costs, Bank fees, Depreciation. Show what to track with classes or products instead of extra accounts, and which accounts not to create, such as a miscellaneous account that becomes a dumping ground. Migration from my current list: what to merge or rename, with a backup and my accountant's agreement first, since merging cannot easily be undone. Test: run a profit and loss on a month of sample data and check every line makes sense. Monthly review: which lines were above their usual amount and why, and which are never used. My accountant should confirm the final list. Treat this as learning material on bookkeeping routines, not professional advice; rules differ by country, so note what my accountant or bookkeeper should confirm [VERIFY].
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