Chart of Accounts Tutorials

BOS has a fully integrated accounting system. For each Transaction Type, users can select if the transactions must also be posted to the Ledger (affect Accounting). 

The Chart of Accounts is divided into two sections:

1. Statement of Profit or Loss: Includes Income and Expense accounts. The corresponding report shows the organisation’s profitability.
2. Statement of Financial Position: Includes Assets, Liabilities, Investments, and Equity. The corresponding report shows the organisation’s financial worth and solvency.

The Accounting Setup menu option includes tabs to setup VAT Types, Currencies, and Credit Terms. 

Navigation: Main Menu > Setup > Accounting > Accounts (tab)

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Choices to be Made

How to Choose the Right Section

• Bookkeeping is based on a double-entry system. In most cases, one side of the entry is posted to the Statement of Profit/Loss, and the other side of the entry is posted to the Statement of Financial Position.
• For example, if you sell something for R5 000 without VAT and the person pays you cash the double-entry is as follows:
  • Credit Sales: R5 000 (Statement of Profit/Loss)
  • Debit Cash on Hand: R5 000 (Statement of Financial Position)

1. Choose Statement of Profit/Loss if the account relates to trading activities (generating an income and paying the related expenses).
   1. Examples of Revenue:
      1. Sales 
      2. Services Rendered
      3. Commission Received
   2. Examples of Other Income:
      1. Discount Received
      2. Interest Received
   3. Examples of Cost of Sales:
      1. Stock Movements (Opening Stock less Closing Stock)
      2. Purchases (Raw Materials or Finished Goods)
      3. Direct Labour 
      4. Processing Costs (Running of machines, or supplies for the machines)
   4. Examples of Expenses:
      1. Bank Charges
      2. Professional Fees
      3. Salaries and Wages
      4. Rent and Utilities
      5. Communication costs (Wi-Fi, Internet)
2. Choose Statement of Financial Position if the account relates to an Asset (something of value or money you are owed), Liability (accounts you must pay or loans) or Equity (shares). Assets and Liabilities are normally divided into short-term (current) and long-term.
   1. Examples of Fixed Assets:
      1. Motor Vehicles
      2. Property
      3. Computer Equipment
      4. Machinery
   2. Examples of Current Assets:
      1. Stock on Hand
      2. Receivables
      3. Cash on Hand
      4. Bank Accounts
      5. Prepaid Expenses
   3. Examples of Investments:
      1. Shares in Other Companies or Subsidiaries
   4. Examples of Equity:
      1. Capital Account
      2. Shares
      3. Retained Income or Loss
   5. Examples of Long-term Liabilities:
      1. Equipment or Vehicle Financing
      2. Mortgages
   6. Examples of Current Liabilities:
      1. Payables
      2. Bank Overdrafts
      3. Credit Cards
      4. Taxes Due (e.g. VAT)
      5. Accruals

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How to Choose Between an Asset and Expense Account

1. Choose Expense if the item is consumed during production (e.g. paper, ink) or recurring in nature (rent, salaries).
2. Choose Asset if the account has a lasting value or can be used multiple times. For example, if you buy a car, the car is a Fixed Asset because it should last for many years. However, the costs incurred to use the car are consumed and are expenses (e.g. insurance, fuel, maintenance). 
3. Small Tools: Tax authorities often allow assets with low values to be written off as expenses. These assets are posted to Small Tools (an Expense account) and not to a Fixed Asset account. In South Africa, in 2025, this value is R7 000. 

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How to Choose the Level of Detail in Account Structures

This is an example using Expenses. The same principle applies to the other types of accounts (e.g. Assets, Revenue).

1. You should create a separate account for each separate Expense (e.g. Stationery, Cleaning Supplies, Refreshments). 
2. You do not need to create a separate account for each Branch or Department, because you can choose an Entity (branch or department) when entering the transaction. However, you may need to enter multiple transactions because a transaction can only be allocated to one Entity.
3. You can subdivide accounts if the information is meaningful to your business or needed for tax purposes. For example, Motor Vehicle Expenses are often divided into Fuel & Oil and Repairs & Maintenance. Some companies may choose to further divide those expenses. For example:
   1. Motor Vehicle Expenses
      • Fuel & Oil
        • Staff (excluding Reps)
        • Reps
        • Management
      • Repairs & Maintenance
        • Staff (excluding Reps)
        • Reps
        • Management

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How to Display a List of Accounts

1. Navigate to Main Menu > Setup > Accounting.
2. Click Tree View (button).
   • Note: If the button shows Grid View, Tree View is already active.
3. Use the + – next to Grid View (button) to expand the list of accounts.
   • Note: Grid View displays the accounts in grid format. This view is ideal if you want to export the accounts.

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How to Add a Section to the Statement of Profit or Loss 

1. Display a list of accounts in Tree View. 
2. Click Edit (button).
3. Right-click Statement of Profit/Loss to display a context menu. Select Add Section > Revenue or Expense whichever one is applicable.
4. The new section is added to the bottom of the list. Edit any of the details as needed.
5. Click Save (button).

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Adding Sections and Accounts

How to Add a Section to the Statement of Financial Position 

1. Display a list of accounts in Tree View.
2. Click Edit (button).
3. Right-click Statement of Financial Position to display a context menu. Select Add Section > Asset, Liability, or Equity whichever one is applicable.
4. The new section is added to the bottom of the list. Edit any of the details as needed.
5. Click Save (button).

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How to Add an Account

• You may duplicate the account name as long as the account is in a different section.
• For example, you could create two raw material accounts:
  • Purchases > Raw Materials
  • Inventory > Raw Materials
• If you edit the lookup lists, please ensure that you can distinguish between accounts with the same names when entering transactions.

1. Display a list of accounts in Tree View.
2. Right-click the applicable Section to create a main account or right-click an Account to create a sub-account and select Add Account from the context menu.
3. A new row will be opened just below the last line of the section or account you clicked on. Fill in the details as follows:
   1. Account = Type a name for the account.
   2. Code = Type an account number for the account (if applicable).
   3. Lookup = Type the name you want to appear when you use the account in a transaction.
   4. Type = Select the Type of account. This column will be prefilled based on the account or section you first clicked on.
   5. Default = Select whether the account is a default for one of these:
      1. Retained Income: Should be an Equity account in the Statement of Financial Position section. Your profit or loss is posted to this account.
      2. VAT Control: Should be a Current Liability account in the Statement of Financial Position section. All the VAT portions on transactions are posted to this account.
      3. Payables: Should be a Current Liability account in the Statement of Financial Position section. This account is a total of your Supplier Age Analysis (i.e. all your Supplier accounts). 
      4. Receivables: Should be a Current Asset account in the Statement of Financial Position section. This account is a total of your Customer Age Analysis (i.e. all your Customer accounts). 
      5. Bank: Can be a Current Asset if you have a positive bank account or Current Liability if you operate an overdraft in the Statement of Financial Position section. 
      6. Accrual: Should be a Current Liability account in the Statement of Financial Position section. Accrual accounts are temporary accounts (suspense accounts). These accounts are shown on the dashboard of the financial statements to alert owners and managers that transactions are still outstanding. 
   6. Currency = Only applicable if the account is a Bank account. Select a default currency for the bank account from the dropdown list of Currencies.
   7. Status = No action required. The Status defaults to Active.
4. Click Save (button).

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How to Change an Account into a Sub-Account

1. Display a list of accounts in Tree View.
2. Click Edit (button).
3. Right-click the account you want to change to display a context menu. Select Nest Under > and an applicable option.
   • Note: The options depend on the type of account you clicked on. For example, an Expense account will list the other Expense- and Cost-of-Sales Accounts as nesting options.
4. Click Save (button).

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How to Rebuild the Accounting Reports

If you add or remove accounts, or change their types, you should rebuild the accounting reports. This feature clears the Financial Statements and recreates them using the new accounts. No data is lost; this is just an internal procedure to ensure all the data is displayed correctly.

1. Navigate to Main Menu > Setup > Accounting > Accounts (tab).
2. Click Actions (button) > Rebuild Accounting Report.

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How to Generate Account Codes

Using Account Codes are optional. You can type Account Codes or use this procedure to automatically generate numerical Account Codes. 

1. Navigate to Main Menu > Setup > Accounting > Accounts (tab).
2. Click Actions (button) > Generate Account Codes.

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How to Generate Account Lookups

• You must have account lookups else the accounts will not show on transactions. 
• BOS creates lookups using the full account and nesting information.
• You can either skip that step and create your own or use BOS to create lookups and edit them.
• Lookups should only be created for accounts in which transactions are posted.
• The Lookup names are displayed on the Financial Statements.

1. Navigate to Main Menu > Setup > Accounting > Accounts (tab).
2. Click Actions (button) > Generate Account Lookups.
3. Click Edit (button).
4. Edit the lookups as needed.
5. Click Save (button).

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How to Order Accounts Alphabetically

Accounts will be alphabetised in their sections. Using this feature will not harm the nesting of accounts. 

1. Navigate to Main Menu > Setup > Accounting > Accounts (tab).
2. Click Actions (button) > Order Alphabetically.

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How to Rearrange Accounts

1. Display a list of accounts in Tree View.
2. Right-click the account you want to move and select Move Up or Move Down from the context menu.

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How to Delete an Account

Accounts can only be deleted if there are no transactions in them. If there are transactions, set their Statuses to Archive instead.

1. Display a list of accounts in Tree View.
2. Right-click the account you want to move and select Delete from the context menu.

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How to Prevent an Account from Being Used

1. Display a list of accounts in Tree View.
2. Click Edit (button).
3. Navigate to the account you want to change and change the Status to Archive.
4. Click Save (button).

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