Chart of Accounts

The Chart of Accounts is the master list of all general ledger (G/L) accounts used by your organisation. It defines the structure of your financial records — every transaction posted in Ayiza is recorded against one or more G/L accounts from this list.

A well-organised chart of accounts makes it easier to produce accurate financial statements, analyse your spending, and meet regulatory requirements.

Key concepts

What is a Chart of Accounts?

A chart of accounts is a numbered catalogue of G/L accounts, grouped by type. It acts as the backbone of your financial reporting. In Ayiza, you can maintain one or more charts of accounts (for example, a group chart and a local statutory chart) and assign them to your company codes.

G/L accounts

Each G/L account represents a category of financial activity. Every account has the following key properties:

Property	Description
Account number	A unique identifier within the company code (up to 11 characters).
Account name	A descriptive name for the account (e.g. "Office Rent", "Trade Debtors").
Account type	Either Balance Sheet or Profit & Loss, which determines how the account behaves at year-end.
Account currency	The currency in which this account is denominated.
Control account type	If set, this account acts as a subledger control account (see below).
Locked	Whether posting to this account is blocked entirely.

Balance Sheet vs. Profit & Loss

• Balance Sheet accounts (assets, liabilities, equity) carry their balance forward from one financial year to the next.
• Profit & Loss accounts (revenue and expenses) are reset to zero at year-end, with the net result transferred to a retained earnings account.

Control accounts

A control account is a G/L account that is linked to a subledger. When you set the control account type on a G/L account, it tells Ayiza that this account is managed by a specific subledger and should not be posted to directly (except through the subledger process).

Control account type	Purpose
Accounts Receivable (AR)	Links to the customer subledger. Customer invoice and payment postings are recorded here.
Accounts Payable (AP)	Links to the supplier subledger. Supplier invoice and payment postings are recorded here.
Bank	Links to a bank account. Bank statement postings are recorded here.
Fixed Assets	Links to the fixed asset subledger, if applicable.
Products	Links to the product/inventory subledger, if applicable.

When a control account type is set, Ayiza automatically posts to this account when processing subledger transactions (e.g. posting a supplier invoice uses the AP control account). You generally should not post to control accounts manually — let the subledger handle it.

Account restrictions

You can restrict a G/L account in several ways:

• Locking — a locked account cannot be posted to at all. Use this for accounts you want to keep in your chart for historical reference but no longer use.
• Do Not Allow Manual Posting — prevents manual journal entries from being posted directly to this account. The account can still receive postings from automated processes (e.g. subledger postings, bank reconciliation). Use this for accounts like tax accounts, gains/losses accounts, and inventory accounts where postings should be system-derived.

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G/L accounts where the control account type is set (e.g. Bank, AR, AP) are automatically excluded from the G/L account selection in manual journal entries. You do not need to set the "Do Not Allow Manual Posting" flag separately for control accounts.

These restrictions help maintain data integrity and prevent accidental postings to sensitive accounts.

Tax settings on G/L accounts

When your company code is VAT-registered, each G/L account has tax-related settings that control how indirect tax is handled during manual journal entries (Advanced Journals). These settings are only visible when the company code is VAT-registered.

Setting	Description
Is Taxable	Whether this G/L account is tax-relevant.
Post Without Tax	Allows posting to this account without specifying a tax code, even if tax is generally required.
Is Indirect Tax Enabled	If enabled, the tax code field is shown when posting to this G/L account in a manual journal.
Is Indirect Tax Required	If enabled, the tax code is mandatory when posting to this G/L account. Only takes effect if "Is Indirect Tax Enabled" is also true.
Indirect Tax Type Restriction	Restricts which types of tax codes can be used with this account. Possible values: Input Tax, Output Tax, Input and Output, Customs and Excise. If set, only tax codes of the specified type appear in the value help.
Is Withholding Tax Enabled	If enabled, the withholding tax field is shown when posting to this G/L account in a manual journal.

How these settings affect journal entries:

When you create an Advanced Journal with a G/L line:

1. The G/L account value help only shows accounts where "Do Not Allow Manual Posting" is not set.
2. If the selected G/L account has "Is Indirect Tax Enabled" = true, the tax code field appears.
3. If "Is Indirect Tax Required" is also true, the tax code field is mandatory.
4. If "Indirect Tax Type Restriction" is set (e.g. "Input Tax"), only tax codes of that type are available in the dropdown.
5. If "Is Withholding Tax Enabled" is true and withholding tax is active on the company code, the withholding tax field appears.

Additional G/L account flags

Flag	Description
Is Bank Account	Marks this account as a bank account. When posting to a bank account G/L in a manual journal, a Company Bank Account field becomes visible and mandatory.
Is Business Expense	Marks the account as a business expense for tax and reporting purposes.
Is Income Tax Deductible	Whether amounts posted to this account are deductible for income tax.
Is Corp Tax Relevant	Whether this account is relevant for corporation tax calculations.
Is Corp Tax Deductible	Whether amounts are deductible for corporation tax.
Is Gift Aid	Whether this account is eligible for Gift Aid (UK charity tax relief).

Creating and editing G/L accounts

Creating a new G/L account

1. Navigate to Chart of Accounts > Accounts > G/L Accounts.
2. Click Create.
3. Fill in the required fields:
   • Company Code — the company code this account belongs to.
   • Account Number — a unique number for the account.
   • Account Name — a descriptive name.
   • Account Type — Balance Sheet or Profit & Loss.
   • Account Currency — the currency for this account (usually the company code currency).
4. Optionally set:
   • Control Account Type — if this is a subledger control account.
   • Cash Flow Category — for cash flow reporting classification.
   • G/L Reporting Category — for additional reporting grouping.
5. Configure Tax Settings (only visible if the company code is VAT-registered):
   • Is Indirect Tax Enabled — show the tax code field when posting to this account.
   • Is Indirect Tax Required — make the tax code mandatory.
   • Indirect Tax Type Restriction — restrict to Input Tax, Output Tax, or both.
6. Click Save.

Editing a G/L account

1. Open the G/L account from the list.
2. Modify the fields you need to change.
3. Click Save.

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Be careful when changing the control account type or account type on an account that already has postings. These changes affect how the account behaves in reporting and subledger processing.

Assigning accounts to company codes

Each G/L account belongs to a specific company code. When you create an account, you select the company code it belongs to. If your organisation has multiple company codes, you will have separate sets of G/L accounts for each one.

To see all accounts for a specific company code:

1. Navigate to Chart of Accounts > Accounts > G/L Accounts.
2. Use the Company Code filter to select the company code you want to view.

If you use a shared Chart of Accounts definition across company codes, you can view the mapping under Chart of Accounts > Accounts > Chart of Accounts G/L Accounts, which shows how accounts in the master chart map to the actual G/L accounts in each company code.

Importing G/L accounts from Excel

If you need to set up a large number of accounts at once — for example, when first configuring Ayiza — you can import them from an Excel spreadsheet.

1. Navigate to Chart of Accounts > Accounts > G/L Accounts.
2. Click Import.
3. Download the Excel template to see the required columns and format.
4. Fill in the template with your account data: account number, name, type, currency, and any optional fields.
5. Upload the completed file.

Ayiza validates each row and reports any errors (such as duplicate account numbers or missing required fields). Valid accounts are created immediately.

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Importing is also useful for bulk updates. Export your existing accounts, make changes in the spreadsheet, and re-import.

Related areas

The Chart of Accounts section in Ayiza also includes:

• Financial Statement Structure — define how your accounts roll up into a Balance Sheet or P&L report.
• Chart of Accounts Structure — manage charts of accounts definitions and G/L account groups.
• Account Determination — configure automatic account assignment rules (e.g. which G/L account to use for a specific posting type or bank transaction type).
• Cost Objects — manage cost centres and project codes for management reporting.

Next steps

• Financial Statement Structure — learn how to build a reporting hierarchy for your financial statements.
• General Ledger Overview — see how G/L accounts are used in journal entries and reports.