Chart of Accounts

Hi there, Clean Phil.

One of the great things QuickBooks offer is the ability to let you organize your transactions based on your preference. And I can show you how to do this in your Chart of Accounts.

You can opt to make these accounts with zero balances inactive. This way, they’ll be hidden from your Chart of Accounts list. Though you won’t see them, the transactions you’ve entered will remain part of your company data.

Here’s how :

1. Select the Gear icon, then Chart of Accounts.
2. Find the account you wish to make inactive.
3. In the Action column, choose the drop-down, then Delete.
4. When asked if you want to delete, click Yes.

In case you want to restore some of them in future, refer to these steps:

1. Select the Gear icon, then Chart of Accounts.
2. Above the Action column, select the small Gear icon and choose Include inactive.
3. Find the account you want to make active again.
4. In the Action column, select Make active.

Please note that there are accounts created by the program depending on your company setup which you cannot delete. To learn more about how they work, check out this article:

Delete special and default accounts in the Chart of Accounts

You can also bookmark this article for future reference:

Delete or make an account inactive

You should now be able to filter and organize your Chart of Accounts.

If you have questions with the process, feel free to let me know. I’ll be around.

Hi there @Clean Phil:

Vivien's answer was great.  Doing that will remove them from your COA list.

If you are trying to not have them be viewed on a P&L, you can click customize and filter to only show accounts with balances.

But if you delete the accounts as suggested, be sure to view a P&L so that you don't show the word deleted on financial statements. If you used it in 2018 and delete the account, that is how the report will show.  

Lynda