Chart of Accounts

The Chart of Accounts lists a set of default accounts that can be used in your business, grouped into categories like Income, Expenses, Equity, Liabilities, and Assets. Each account helps track financial transactions accurately. If you need accounts apart from the default list of accounts, you can create them. If you’re unsure how to customize accounts for your business, consult your accountant.

Default Account Types in Chart of Accounts

Account Category	Default Account Types
Assets	Other Asset, Other Current Assets, Cash, Bank, Fixed Asset, Stock, Payment Clearing and Accounts Receivable.
Liability	Other Current Liability, Credit Card, Long Term Liability, Other Liability, Overseas Tax Payable and Accounts Payable.
Equity	Equity
Income	Income and Other Income
Expense	Expense

Create a New Account

To track transaction amounts under a specific account, you can manually create a new account instead of using the default ones. Here’s how:

Log in to your Zoho Books organization.
Go to Accountant on the left sidebar, and select Chart of Accounts.
Click + New Account in the top right corner.
In the Create Account popup, fill in the following fields:
- Account Type: Select the account type.
- Account Name: Enter a name for the account.
- Account Code: Enter a unique code (up to 50 characters).
- Description: Add a description if needed.
- Add to the watchlist on my dashboard: Check this option to add the account to the Account Watchlist on the Dashboard tab of the Home page.
- Zoho Expense: This is available when you integrate your Zoho Books organization with Zoho Expense. Check Show as an active account in Zoho Expense to sync the account, and it’ll be displayed as a category in Zoho Expense.
Click Save.

You can now use this account to track transactions.

Import Chart of Accounts

If you have account details stored locally or you are migrating from another accounting system, you can easily import them into Zoho Books. Here’s how:

Log in to your Zoho Books organization.
Go to Accountant on the left sidebar, and select Chart of Accounts.
Click the More icon in the top right corner, and select Import Chart of Accounts from the dropdown.
In the Import page, click Choose File and select the file you want to import.

Notes:

You can only import files in CSV, TSV, and XLS formats.
File size must not exceed 10 MB.

Pro Tip: You can download and use the sample file as a reference for the format, and fill it with the data you want to import, if needed.

After you select the file, fill in the following fields:
- Duplicate Handling: Select how you want to handle duplicates. Duplicates are identified by comparing the account names in Zoho Books with those in the import file. Choose one of the following:
  - Skip Duplicates: To keep the existing accounts in Zoho Books and ignore duplicates in the import file.
  - Overwrite Accounts: To import the duplicates from the import file and overwrite the existing accounts in Zoho Books.
- Character Encoding: The default is UTF-8 (Unicode). Ensure you select the correct encoding based on your file.
Click Next >.
On the next page, map all the necessary fields, If you’d like to reuse the mapping for future imports, check Save these selections for use during future imports.
Click Next >.
In the Preview page, review the data, and click Import.

The accounts from your file are now imported into Zoho Books.

Other Actions in Chart of Accounts

Edit an Account

Log in to your Zoho Books organization.
Go to Accountant on the left sidebar, and select Chart of Accounts.
Select the account you want to edit.
In the Account Details page, click Edit in the top left corner.
In the Edit Account popup, modify the necessary details, and click Save.

Attach Files to an Account

You can attach invoices, receipts, contracts, or tax records to an account to keep everything organized and accessible for reference or auditing. Here’s how:

Log in to your Zoho Books organization.
Go to Accountant on the left sidebar, and select Chart of Accounts.
Select the account you want to attach files to.
In the Account Details page, click Attach Files in the top right corner.
In the Attach Files dropdown, select how you want to upload the file from the following options:
- Drag and Drop: Upload files directly from your device.
- Cloud: Upload files from cloud services like Zoho Workdrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.
- Documents: Upload files from the Documents module in Zoho Books.

Once attached, you can easily access these files for internal purposes.

Mark an Account as Inactive

Warning: You can only mark accounts you created manually as inactive. The default accounts cannot be marked as inactive.

If you don’t need an account right now, you can mark it as inactive instead of deleting it. Here’s how:

Log in to your Zoho Books organization.
Go to Accountant on the left sidebar, and select Chart of Accounts.
Select the account you want to mark as inactive.
In the Account Details page, click the More icon in the top left corner and select Mark as Inactive from the dropdown.

The selected account is now inactive.

Note: To mark an account as active again, follow the same steps as above, and click Mark as Active from the dropdown.

Export Chart of Accounts

If you need to back up your data, migrate to another accounting system, or share records with your accountant, you can export the Chart of Accounts from Zoho Books. Here’s how:

Log in to your Zoho Books organization.
Go to Accountant on the left sidebar, and select Chart of Accounts.
Click the More icon in the top right corner, and select Export Chart of Accounts from the dropdown.
In the Export Chart of Accounts popup, fill in the following fields:
- Module: By default, the module will be Chart of Accounts.
- Export Template: Select a template from the dropdown to export the file with your chosen fields. To create a new template, click + New Template from the dropdown.
- Decimal Format: Choose how the currency in the transactions for this account should be displayed.
- Export File Format: Choose the format (CSV, XLS, or XLSX).
- File Protection Password: Enter a password if you want to lock the file.
Click Export.

The file is downloaded to your device, containing the accounts with your selected preferences.

Export Current View of Chart of Accounts

To export the Chart of Accounts with its visible columns as they are:

Log in to your Zoho Books organization.
Go to Accountant on the left sidebar, and select Chart of Accounts.
Click the More icon in the top right corner, and select Export Chart of Accounts from the dropdown.
In the Export Current View popup, fill in the following fields:
- Decimal Format: Choose how the currency should be displayed in the transactions for this account. Export File Format: Choose the format (CSV, XLS, or XLSX).
- File Protection Password: Enter a password to lock the file if needed.
Click Export.

The file is downloaded to your device, containing the accounts in the same order as they appear on the Chart of Accounts page.

Mark Accounts in Bulk as Inactive

Warning: You can only mark accounts you create manually as inactive. System default accounts cannot be marked as inactive.

To mark multiple accounts as inactive at once:

Log in to your Zoho Books organization.
Go to Accountant on the left sidebar, and select Chart of Accounts.
Select the accounts you want to mark as inactive.
Click the Bulk Actions dropdown in the top left corner, and select Mark as Inactive.

The selected accounts are now inactive.

Note: To mark multiple accounts as active again, follow the same steps as above, and click Mark as Active from the dropdown.

Delete an Account

Warning: You can only delete accounts you’ve created manually. System default accounts cannot be deleted.

Prerequisite: You cannot delete an account if it’s associated with any transactions in Zoho Books. Either update the transactions to use another account or delete the transactions individually before you proceed with the deletion.

Log in to your Zoho Books organization.
Go to Accountant on the left sidebar, and select Chart of Accounts.
Select the account you want to delete.
In the Account Details page, click the More icon in the top left corner, and select Delete from the dropdown.
In the popup, click OK to confirm the deletion.

The account is now deleted.