Chart of Accounts
Typically accounts are arranged as a tree, in heirarchical form.
The main trunks represent entire categories or groups, while the
leaves of the tree denote individual bank accounts or expense
categories. When a summary report is requested, typically only
the main branches are shown in the report, not each of the
individual accounts. For example, a chart of accounts might look
like the following:
300 Expenses
|
+--310 Living Expenses
| |
| +--311 Beer
| |
| +--312 Cable
|
+--320 Business Expenses
| |
| +--321 8-inch Floppies
| |
: :
Note that accounts are coded: when a report is generated,
the sort order is determined entirely by the numbering.
By tradition and common practice, accounts that are not
leaf accounts have a number that ends in zero; each higher
level has one more zero in the account code.
When you create a new account,
GnuCash offers a guess
at what it thinks the account code might be; you are free
to change this. GnuCash does not prevent duplicate numbering,
although you are encouraged to avoid this. Account codes
are treated as numbers, base-36: thus, if you run out of numbers,
you can use the letters, a through z.
A Bigger Example
A "typical" chart of accounts is shown below. Each account
is of a given account type.
This example is a combination of some typical business
and personal accounts.
- Assets
- Cash On Hand
- Checking account
- Money Market Account
- Certificate of Deposit
- Fixed Assets
- Furniture
- Computers
- Jewelry, Collectibles
- Tools, Machinery
- Investments
- Stocks
- Bonds
- Mutual Funds
- Real Estate
- Liabilities
- Taxes
- Federal Income Tax
- Social Security
- Medicare
- FUTA
- State Income Tax
- Accounts Payable
- MasterCard
- Visa
- American Express
- Diner's Club
- Loans
- Debentures
- School Loan
- Uncle Harry's Tide-me-over
- Equity
- Retained Earnings
- Current Year Earnings
- Historical Adjustments
- Income
- Interest Income
- Bank Account Interest
- Certificate of Deposit
- Bond Interest
- Dividends
- Consulting
- ABC Design
- PQR Infomatics
- Salary
- Commissions
- Expenses
- Rent and Utilities
- Rent
- Rent Late Fees
- Electricity
- Gas
- Phone
- Internet
- Cable TV
- Office Expenses
- Accounting
- Legal
- Software
- Postage
- Bank Charges
- Credit Card Charges
- Toner, Paper, Paper Clips
- Auto Expenses
- Gas
- Insurance
- Repair
- Rental
- Taxes
- Social Security
- Unemployment
- IRS penalties
- Wages & Salaries
- Consulting
- Wages
- Health Insurance
- Travel
- Marketing
- Advertising
- Trade Shows
- Give Aways