5080 · General ledger and close
Chart of accounts and categories
Autessa Accounting ships a startup-ready chart of accounts and two-level categories. A category says what money was for and an account is where it lands in the books; every category posts to an account, so each transaction lands in the right line of your financial statements.
The problem
A chart of accounts nobody but the accountant understands
Founders think in “Software” and “Airfare”; financial statements need “Research & Development” and “Travel”. Categories give the team words they recognize, and accounts keep the statements clean. Moving a category to a new account reclassifies history without changing a single amount.
What you get
- Starting chart: Checking, Accounts Receivable, Inventory, Accounts Payable, Credit Card Payable, Deferred Revenue, Contributed Capital, Retained Earnings, Revenue, Other Income, Cost of Revenue, Inventory COGS, Research & Development, Sales & Marketing, General & Administrative, Travel, and realized and unrealized FX gain/loss.
- Add accounts with a code, name, section and parent (sub-account of).
- Accounts with history are never deleted.
- Categories are two levels deep: a group such as Travel and subcategories such as Airfare; subcategories post to their group’s account.
- Built-in categories can be turned off but never deleted, because posted lines point at them forever.
- Move a category group to another account: future spending posts there and posted spending is reclassified; amounts never change, so net income and the balance sheet stay the same.
- Exchange rates for foreign-currency invoices and bills live here too.
How it works
How does chart of accounts and categories work in Autessa Accounting?
Start with the defaults
The startup chart and categories are set up for you.
Add what you need
Add a category for most new spending; add an account only when something should be its own line on the statements.
Reshape later safely
Move a category group to another account, or create a new account on the way, and history is reclassified.
Every option
Accounts and categories
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Account | Code, name, section (asset, liability, equity, revenue, expense), sub-account of. |
| Category | Name, group, money out or money in, posts to account. |
| Move a group | Choose the new account or create one; optionally move subcategories too. |
| Turn off | Built-in categories can be deactivated, never deleted. |
Permissions
Who can do what?
| Role | Can |
|---|---|
| Bookkeeper and up | Manage categories and rules. |
| Accountant and up | Manage the chart of accounts. |
| Admin | Move a category group to another account. |
Connected
How it connects to the rest of Accounting
FAQ
Questions about chart of accounts and categories
What is the difference between a category and an account?
A category says what money was for; an account is where it lands in the books. Each category posts to one account.
Does reclassifying change my numbers?
Amounts never change, so net income and the balance sheet stay the same. Only which line of the income statement shows them moves.
Can I delete an account?
Accounts with history are never deleted, and built-in categories can be turned off but not deleted.
100% customizable, code and all
Make Autessa Accounting fully your own.
Use it out of the box, then change anything. Ask Autobot, Autessa’s AI builder, for a new field, screen, report, workflow or agent and it builds it into your copy of the app. Or open the code and edit it yourself. Nothing is locked: the app, its data and its code are yours.
Start free and make it yours