Chart of Accounts Template
This is a free chart of accounts (COA) template for small businesses and the firms that serve them — a complete numbered account structure covering assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, and expenses. Copy it as a clean starting point for a new entity or as the standard you migrate a messy file toward.
The chart of accounts template
Standard numbering blocks: 1000s assets · 2000s liabilities · 3000s equity · 4000s revenue · 5000s COGS · 6000s+ operating expenses.
ASSETS (1000–1999)
1000 Operating checking
1010 Savings / reserve
1050 Petty cash
1100 Accounts receivable
1150 Allowance for doubtful accounts
1200 Inventory
1300 Prepaid expenses
1400 Undeposited funds
1500 Fixed assets — equipment
1510 Fixed assets — furniture & fixtures
1520 Fixed assets — vehicles
1590 Accumulated depreciation
LIABILITIES (2000–2999)
2000 Accounts payable
2100 Credit card payable
2200 Accrued liabilities
2300 Payroll liabilities
2350 Payroll taxes payable
2400 Sales tax payable
2500 Line of credit
2600 Long-term debt
2700 Deferred revenue
EQUITY (3000–3999)
3000 Owner's / common equity
3100 Owner's draws / distributions
3200 Retained earnings
3900 Opening balance equity
REVENUE (4000–4999)
4000 Product sales
4100 Service revenue
4200 Other income
4900 Sales discounts / returns (contra)
COST OF GOODS SOLD (5000–5999)
5000 Cost of goods sold
5100 Direct labor
5200 Merchant / processing fees
OPERATING EXPENSES (6000–6999)
6000 Payroll — wages
6010 Payroll taxes
6020 Employee benefits
6100 Rent & occupancy
6110 Utilities
6200 Marketing & advertising
6300 Software & subscriptions
6400 Professional fees
6500 Insurance
6600 Office supplies
6700 Travel & meals
6800 Depreciation expense
6900 Bank & interest charges
How to use this template
Keep the numbering blocks and only add accounts within them — a new expense goes in the 6000s, not wherever there's a gap. Leave space between numbers (increments of 10 or 100) so you can insert related accounts later without renumbering. Resist over-segmenting: a client rarely needs fifteen marketing accounts, and every extra account is a place to miscode. Use classes, locations, or tags for dimensions like department or property rather than multiplying accounts. When you set this up during client onboarding, map the old accounts to the new ones before you migrate balances.
Common mistakes and tips
- Too many accounts. A bloated COA guarantees inconsistent coding. Fewer, well-defined accounts beat a sprawling list.
- Duplicate accounts. "Software," "Subscriptions," and "SaaS" splitting the same spend makes reports meaningless — merge them.
- Using accounts for dimensions. Department and location belong in classes/tags, not separate accounts.
- Changing the COA mid-year without mapping. It breaks comparatives and budget vs actual. Map old to new first.
Run this template automatically in OCTA Flow
Standardizing and cleaning up a chart of accounts across a book of clients is tedious, judgment-light work. In OCTA Flow, the chart-of-accounts Skill reads the existing COA from QuickBooks, Xero, Sage, or Zoho, maps it against a standard structure like this one, flags duplicates and rarely-used or miscoded accounts as findings by severity, and proposes a cleaned-up structure with a mapping of old to new. Flow logs every step for the audit trail; your team reviews and approves before anything changes. See chart of accounts cleanup automation, set it up during client onboarding, and keep it stable so the financial statements stay comparable.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is a chart of accounts numbered? By type in blocks: 1000s for assets, 2000s liabilities, 3000s equity, 4000s revenue, 5000s cost of goods sold, and 6000s and up for operating expenses. Leave gaps between numbers so you can insert accounts later.
How many accounts should a small business have? Enough to report meaningfully, not more. Most small businesses run well on 40–60 accounts; use classes or tags for department and location detail instead of adding accounts.
Standardize and clean up the chart of accounts across every client → start a 30-day OCTA Flow trial.