Initial Chart of Accounts

Welcome and thank you for choosing QuickBooks, @schmidtfs.

I can share some information about the chart of accounts in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

QBO has already a set of standard accounts. It'll add additional accounts automatically based on the type of business you have.

From here, you can add or edit accounts. Just follow the steps below:

1. Go to Gear icon ⚙ and select Chart of Accounts.
2. Click the New button to create a new account.
3. In the Account Type ▼ dropdown, choose an account type.
4. In the Detail Type ▼ dropdown, select the detail type that best fits the transactions you want to track. 
5. Provide all the necessary information. 
6. Select Save and Close.

To know more about the chart of accounts like adding or editing and then hiding or deleting the account, refer to this article: Learn about the chart of accounts in QuickBooks.

If you no longer need the account, you can delete it by making it inactive. However, default or preset accounts can't be deleted. Check this article for more information about deleting an account on your chart of accounts in QuickBooks Online.

Here are some video tutorials that can help you get started with QuickBooks Online: Video tutorials for QuickBooks Online.

You can always get back to me if you have questions or other concerns about the chart of accounts by leaving a comment below. I'm always here to assist. Have a great rest of the day!

Is there a way to see which chart of accounts come with each business type?

Hello schmidtfs, 

Thank you for reaching back out to us! Great question! The chart of accounts would have been already set up automatically based on the type of business you chose in the initial setup. However, if you would like to see the setup for other business types, you need to change this in the Tax Form field. Here's how:

1. Go to the Gear Icon.
2. Select Account and Settings.
3. Press the Company tab, and within the Company Type section, you can edit and make changes.
4. Select Save to keep those adjustments.

That should do it! If you have any questions about the Chart of Accounts, the links my colleague mentioned above are very resourceful! 

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to let me know. I will be around to assist! Be safe.

 Boy are you correct. You just need a simple chart of accounts. I hate the new long chart of accounts intuit is rolling out for new users. I'm the one has to fix the extra 100 accounts because no one wants all those accounts and making them inactive only leaves them for clients to mess up down the road.

7 utility accounts. Really? Are you kidding me? Could you possibly be more more out of touch with your customer base? Forget your customer base, what about big corporations? Does anyone at Intuit read the INTUIT financial reports?  Whoever did this knows nothing about the world of business & finance. 

Small businesses may need 1 utility account named, "utility". They may need zero utility accounts. Does any business want both a water and a sewer account under Utility? Does anyone want gas & electric too under Utility (or is that new 2 new accounts?). 

I'm an expert. I've setup and fixed chart of accounts thousands of times (yes, thousands). I've written a book on this subject titled, "radically simple accounting". I've been using QB Online since day one and am as fast as anyone can be. It takes me 3 (THREE) hours to clean up this mess. And I have to do it for every new user. Nightmare. 

One can't just delete an account, it just makes it inactive, and there is a chance it will be posted to again. So I rename every single one of the now 100 EXTRA accounts. My naming system is "AAA Inactive 1" ---> "AAA Inactive 100". So for 100 accounts I have to keep my #'s straight. Otherwise it  merges them and leaves that old account there and inactive. This system of renaming accounts signals that those accounts are available to reuse in the future for any Intuit doesn't include that are needed. This is different from when one has to delete an account with transactions inside of it (like a closed loan). I rename that account to include the word "closed" before making it inactive. Those account names cannot be reused in the future. 

I hope Intuit fixes this mess. Only give new users the accounts that QB Online requires and no more. Let us add in the few accounts we need beyond that. NOW. PLEASE. 

We just opened a 2nd QBO Advanced account because the old company file was so junked up.  I had NO IDEA Intuit would install a lengthy standard COA!!!!  That was 50% of what I was trying to get away from by opening a new company file!  Aaaaargh! 

Luckily I can clean up their ridiculous COA and put in my own before any transactions are entered. Appreciate your hint to rename the accounts I need to make inactive.  What does AAA stand for in your naming system:  original account name?  

Thanks for your help, and for fixing QB/Intuit's stupidity!

Chart of Accounts Nightmare

I am with you both. QBO should allow one to choose a very simply COA or none at all so that the user can import their own.  I hate making accounts inactive because I backup and copy my businesses to other business files.  The inactive accounts follow from business to business. Also, the staff often finds a way to use the inactive accounts....that is very frustrating.  

I make accounts inactive but also rename them z1, z2, z3 so that they fall to the bottom and I don't have to look at them because they annoy me.

I am a real perfectionist about my accounts and boy do I hate that I cannot make it purfect.

QBO - PLEASE allow us to delete unused accounts.  Please allow us to import our own.  

Hello there, Controller 1.

I hear your sentiments. Just like you, I want everything to be perfect to my liking.

That being said, I'd suggest sharing this idea with our Developers. To do so, you can visit our Feedback page. 

You can also see the latest and updated features in QuickBooks Online via the Feedback portal.

Also, if you want to use account numbers in your chart of accounts, you can check this reference on how to turn on account numbers: Use account numbers in your chart of accounts in QuickBooks Online.

Keep me posted if you have other ideas that may help us have a customer-friendly interface.