--- title: Chart of Accounts description: "**Audience:** bookkeeper, admin · **Last updated:** 2026-06-07 · [Edit on GitHub](https://github.com/phreesoft/bizuno/edit/main/docs/04-modules-in-depth/01-phreebooks/01-chart-of-accounts.md) # Chart of Accounts The Chart of Accounts (COA) is the structural skeleton everything else hangs on. Every journal posting lands in a GL account; every report sums them.…" url: "https://www.bizuno.com/docs/chart-of-accounts/" updated: "2026-06-18" category: PhreeBooks --- # Chart of Accounts **Audience:** bookkeeper, admin · **Last updated:** 2026-06-07 · [Edit on GitHub](https://github.com/phreesoft/bizuno/edit/main/docs/04-modules-in-depth/01-phreebooks/01-chart-of-accounts.md) # Chart of Accounts The Chart of Accounts (COA) is the structural skeleton everything else hangs on. Every journal posting lands in a GL account; every report sums them. Get the COA right at install and the rest of Bizuno falls into place — get it wrong and you're fighting it for the life of the company file. This page covers the account-type system, how the chart is stored, the default-account mechanism that makes day-to-day posting "just work," and what's safe to change after transactions have posted. > **Set it up once, carefully.** Bizuno can't stop you from building a messy > chart, and rebuilding mid-life means re-mapping defaults, item GL accounts, and > contact defaults. Start from a template close to your business and prune. --- ## Account types Every account has a **type** — an integer that tells Bizuno where the account belongs on the financial statements and how it behaves at year-end. The full set (defined as `PHREEBOOKS_CHART_TYPES` in `bizunoCFG.php`): | Type | Name | Statement | Closes at FY end? | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 0 | Cash | Balance Sheet | no | | 2 | Accounts Receivable | Balance Sheet | no | | 4 | Inventory | Balance Sheet | no | | 6 | Other Current Assets | Balance Sheet | no | | 8 | Fixed Assets | Balance Sheet | no | | 10 | Accumulated Depreciation | Balance Sheet | no | | 12 | Other Assets | Balance Sheet | no | | 20 | Accounts Payable | Balance Sheet | no | | 22 | Other Current Liabilities | Balance Sheet | no | | 24 | Long Term Liabilities | Balance Sheet | no | | 30 | Income / Sales | Income Stmt | **yes** | | 32 | Cost of Sales (COGS) | Income Stmt | **yes** | | 34 | Expenses | Income Stmt | **yes** | | 40 | Equity — does not close | Balance Sheet | no | | 42 | Equity — gets closed | Balance Sheet | **yes** | | 44 | Equity — Retained Earnings | Balance Sheet | no (it's the sink) | The type drives behavior across the system: which side of the statement the account reports on, whether the account's balance is rolled into Retained Earnings (type 44) at [fiscal-year close](/docs/fiscal-year-management/), and which accounts are offered in type-filtered dropdowns (e.g. only Cash accounts in the register's account picker). --- ## How the chart is stored The chart **definition** lives in Bizuno's module config (cached as `getModuleCache('phreebooks', 'chart')`), persisted in the `common_meta` table under the `chart_of_accounts` key. The chart is **company-wide** — there is no per-store chart (see [Multi-store](#multi-store)). Each account row carries: | Field | Meaning | | --- | --- | | `id` | The GL account number (text — `1200`, `40000-01`, etc.) | | `title` | The account name shown in reports and dropdowns | | `type` | One of the types above | | `heading` | `1` = heading row, `0` = a real posting account | | `default` | `1` = the default account for its type (see below) | | `inactive` | `1` = hidden from new transactions, kept for history | | `cur` | Currency ISO code (defaults to the company locale) | | `parent` | The heading this account rolls up under | Account **balances** are not stored on the chart — they live per-period per-account in `journal_history`, which is where reports read beginning balances and period activity. ### Heading rows vs. account rows A **heading** (`heading=1`) is a label that groups accounts on reports — "Current Assets", "Operating Expenses". It never receives postings and is skipped when Bizuno builds account history. Everything with `heading=0` is a real account you can post to. --- ## Default accounts — why posting "just works" When you enter an invoice line and don't pick a GL account, Bizuno has to know which revenue account to credit. It resolves this through a layered default system, most specific wins: 1. **Per-SKU override** — an inventory item can carry its own `gl_sales`, `gl_inv`, and `gl_cogs` accounts. If set, these win. 2. **Per-inventory-type default** — each inventory type (stock, non-stock, service, assembly, …) has configured sales/inventory/COGS accounts under *Settings → Inventory*. 3. **Module defaults** — *Settings → PhreeBooks* holds the customer-side and vendor-side fallbacks: | Setting key | Used for | | --- | --- | | `gl_receivables` | Accounts Receivable (customers) | | `gl_sales` | Default revenue | | `gl_payables` | Accounts Payable (vendors) | | `gl_purchases` | Default inventory/expense on bills | | `gl_cash` | Default cash account | | `gl_discount` | Discounts given/taken | | `gl_deposit` | Customer/vendor deposits | | `gl_liability` | Sales-tax and other liabilities | | `gl_expense` | Default expense | 4. **Type default** — as a last resort, the account flagged `default=1` for the relevant type is used (`getChartDefault($type)`). > **One default per type.** Exactly one account per type should carry the > `default` flag. The type defaults are the safety net behind the named settings > above — keep them pointing at sensible accounts even if you rely mostly on the > module settings. --- ## Building the chart ### Start from a template Bizuno ships four starter charts (under `locale//modules/phreebooks/charts/`): | Template | For | | --- | --- | | `retail-single` | Single-location retail / wholesale | | `retail-multi` | Multi-location retail | | `mfg-single` | Single-location manufacturing | | `mfg-multi` | Multi-location manufacturing | Pick the closest at install. Each is a CSV of account id, default flag, parent, inactive flag, description, and type code — so you can also open one in a spreadsheet, tailor it, and import your own. ### Build from scratch You can start empty and add accounts by hand, but you must cover the essentials the default system expects — at minimum AR, AP, a cash account, sales, COGS, inventory, a sales-tax liability, and Retained Earnings — and wire them into the module settings above. --- ## Editing the chart after go-live **Editing account properties is allowed** at any time — you can rename an account, mark it inactive, or change its type. Be deliberate: changing an account's *type* reclassifies its balance on the statements and changes its year-end close behavior, retroactively. **Deleting an account is blocked** when it would orphan data. Bizuno refuses to delete an account that is: - referenced by any posted transaction (`journal_main.gl_acct_id` or `journal_item.gl_account`), - set as a default on any contact (customer/vendor AR/AP accounts), - set as a GL account on any inventory item (`gl_sales` / `gl_inv` / `gl_cogs`), - the Retained Earnings account (type 44), or - carrying a non-zero ending balance in the last period. When you can't delete an account you no longer use, **mark it inactive** instead — it disappears from new-transaction dropdowns but stays available for historical reports. --- ## Multi-store The chart of accounts is **shared across all stores** — there is no per-store chart. The only store-related wrinkle is the `isolate_stores` setting (*Settings → PhreeBooks → General*), which, when enabled, isolates **COGS posting** by store. It does not create separate charts; account structure is global to the company file. --- ## Related - [Journals (the journal_id reference)](/docs/journals/) — what posts to these accounts - [Inventory types and COGS](/docs/inventory-types-and-cogs/) - [Fiscal-year management](/docs/fiscal-year-management/) — how income accounts close into Retained Earnings - [Register & Reconcile](/docs/register-and-reconcile/)