Free Chart of Accounts Template
Download a free chart of accounts template for small business — 60+ accounts with standard numbering, plain-English descriptions of what belongs where, and a QuickBooks Online import-ready tab. Excel format, works in Google Sheets.
Get the Free Chart of Accounts Template (Excel)
60+ numbered accounts with descriptions + a QuickBooks-import tab — the starter chart our Ex-PwC bookkeepers deploy for new clients.
What's Inside the Template
- Chart of Accounts tab — 60+ accounts with standard numbering (1000s–8000s), account types, and a plain-English description of what belongs in each account.
- QuickBooks Import tab — the same accounts formatted for direct import into QuickBooks Online (save as CSV → Settings → Chart of Accounts → Import). Works for Xero's importer too.
- Instructions tab — numbering conventions, how to customize safely, and the one rule that keeps charts clean.
Sample Chart of Accounts Structure
1000s — Assets (cash, receivables, inventory, equipment)2000s — Liabilities (payables, credit cards, deferred revenue, loans)3000s — Equity (contributions, draws, retained earnings)4000s — Revenue (product, service, subscription income)5000s — COGS (materials, direct labor, merchant fees)6000s+ — Operating Expenses (payroll, rent, marketing, software)
This numbering isn't decoration — it mirrors the order of the financial statements. The 1000s–3000s build your balance sheet; the 4000s onward build your P&L. A bookkeeper (or software) reading account 5040 knows instantly it is a direct cost of sales, not overhead — and that single distinction is what makes your gross margin number trustworthy.
Details That Separate a Good Chart From a Generic One
- Merchant & payment fees sit in COGS, not operating expenses — they scale with every sale and belong in your gross margin, especially for e-commerce.
- Deferred revenue has its own liability account — customer prepayments are not income until earned. Subscription and retainer businesses that skip this overstate revenue.
- Meals get their own account — they're only 50% deductible, and mixing them into "Travel" creates tax-time archaeology.
- Opening Balance Equity is included deliberately — QuickBooks creates it during setup, and a balance that never clears is the most common sign of a botched migration.
- Number gaps are left on purpose — insert account 6015 next year without renumbering anything.
Set It Up Once, Correctly
Every transaction you ever record flows through this structure, which is why chart-of-accounts cleanup is one of the most common first tasks in our bookkeeping engagements — untangling months of miscategorized data costs far more than setting the chart up right on day one. Once your accounts are in, our guides to double-entry bookkeeping and accrual vs cash accounting cover how transactions actually move through it.
Want your books set up by professionals?
Chart of accounts design, software setup, and clean monthly bookkeeping — done by an Ex-PwC CA & ACCA team that has onboarded 100+ US businesses.
Book a Free 30-Min Call →