The Chart of Accounts (CoA) is the list of every account your books can post to — assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, expense. Every transaction in Bizuno, no matter where it originates, ultimately hits accounts on this list.
How to get there #
Menu: General Ledger → Chart of Accounts
Direct URL pattern: https://yourdomain.com/?bizRt=phreebooks/main/chartOfAccounts
Account structure #
Bizuno ships with a general-business chart of accounts. Each account has:
- Account Number — typically four or five digits. The first digit indicates the type: 1 = Asset, 2 = Liability, 3 = Equity, 4 = Revenue, 5 = COGS, 6–9 = Expense.
- Account Title — human-readable.
- Type — Asset / Liability / Equity / Revenue / COGS / Expense / Other Income / Other Expense.
- Sub-type — finer classification (Current Asset, Fixed Asset, Current Liability, etc.). Drives where the account shows on the balance sheet.
- Status — Active, Inactive, or Closed.
- Current Balance — calculated from posted transactions.
A typical bike-shop CoA #
| Range | Purpose | Ridgeline examples |
|---|---|---|
| 1000–1999 | Assets | 1010 Checking, 1020 Merchant, 1100 A/R, 1200 Inventory, 1500 Equipment (tools, work stands) |
| 2000–2999 | Liabilities | 2010 Credit Card, 2100 A/P, 2200 Sales Tax Payable, 2500 Line of Credit |
| 3000–3999 | Equity | 3000 Owner’s Equity, 3100 Retained Earnings, 3200 Owner’s Draw |
| 4000–4999 | Revenue | 4010 Bike Sales, 4020 Parts Sales, 4030 Apparel, 4100 Service Labor, 4200 Custom Build Revenue |
| 5000–5999 | COGS | 5010 Cost of Bikes, 5020 Cost of Parts, 5100 Freight In, 5200 Shrinkage, 5300 Damaged Write-offs |
| 6000–6999 | Operating expenses | 6010 Rent, 6020 Utilities, 6100 Wages, 6200 Insurance, 6300 Marketing, 6400 Software & Subscriptions |
| 7000–7999 | Other expenses | 7010 Bank Fees, 7020 Merchant Fees, 7050 Interest Expense |
Adding an account #
- Click New on the toolbar.
- Pick the Type first — Asset, Liability, etc. The Sub-type list filters accordingly.
- Enter:
- Account Number — pick a number in the appropriate range that doesn’t already exist.
- Account Title.
- Sub-type.
- Optional Description (internal notes).
- Save.
Editing, inactivating, deleting #
- Edit (pencil) — you can always change the Title and Description. You cannot change the account number or type once the account has any posted transactions.
- Inactivate — hide from most dropdowns while keeping history intact. Preferred over delete.
- Delete (trash) — only allowed on accounts with zero posted transactions. Typos on a newly created account — fine to delete. An old account you don’t use any more — inactivate.
Important: Don’t delete built-in accounts Bizuno needs for its default postings (A/R, A/P, Sales Tax Payable, Inventory, Retained Earnings, etc.). Rename freely, inactivate if you truly don’t use them, but never delete. Restoring them later is painful.
GL defaults #
Under Admin → Settings → GL Defaults, you map each default posting (sales, sales tax, cost of goods, A/R, A/P, discounts, adjustments, etc.) to a specific account number. Most installs ship with reasonable defaults — review them after you’ve set up your CoA and change them only if you’ve renumbered or created new target accounts.
Keeping the CoA clean #
- Fewer accounts is usually better. A shop with 40 active accounts is easier to analyze than one with 200.
- Resist the urge to create a new expense account for every recurring subscription. Use one Software & Subscriptions account and let the vendor or description carry the detail.
- If a category needs more granularity for a specific year, add an account; review during year-end cleanup and inactivate anything that didn’t earn its keep.
Tips for Ridgeline Cycles #
- Split revenue into Bikes, Parts & Accessories, Apparel, and Service Labor — that’s enough resolution to see your business mix without drowning in detail.
- Track Freight In (inbound freight on purchases) separately from Freight Out (what you charge customers for shipping). They behave very differently in margin analysis.
- Keep a Returns & Allowances contra-revenue account per revenue category — clearer than netting returns inside the revenue account.
Where to go next #
- Journal Entries — record a manual entry now that the accounts exist.
- Admin → GL Defaults — update default postings.
- Financial Reports — the CoA structure drives the Balance Sheet and P&L layout.