The Chart of Accounts (CoA) is the complete list of every account in your company's accounting system. Think of it as the foundational index or filing system for all your financial data. Every single transaction that flows through your business—every sale, every expense, every loan payment—is categorized and sorted into one of these accounts.
A well-organized Chart of Accounts is essential for creating accurate financial statements and gaining clear insight into your business's performance. This guide explains what the CoA is, how to view it in Dappr, and how to customize it to fit your business needs.
What is a Chart of Accounts?
Imagine your accounting system is a large filing cabinet. The main drawers are labeled with the five major accounting categories: Assets, Liabilities, Equity, Revenue, and Expenses. The Chart of Accounts is the list of all the individual folders within those drawers. Each folder has a unique name (like "Software Subscriptions") and a number for easy identification.
When you reconcile a transaction and categorize a $100 payment as "Software Subscriptions," you are essentially placing that transaction's record into the correct folder. This organization allows Dappr to easily total up all the transactions in each folder to produce your financial statements.
When you set up Dappr Accounting, Dappr automatically creates a standard Chart of Accounts for you based on your business's entity type and selected accounting method. This provides all the most commonly used accounts so you can get started right away.
How to access and manage your Chart of Accounts
You can find the complete list of your accounts in the "Advanced" section of Dappr Accounting.
From the main menu, navigate to Accounting, then select Advanced from the top menu.
The Chart of accounts is the default page in this section and will be displayed automatically.
On this page, you will see a list of all your accounts, which you can filter by type or category. You can also export a complete list of your accounts using the Export button.
Adding a new account
While Dappr provides a comprehensive default list, you may want to add new accounts to track your finances with more detail. For example, instead of one general "Marketing" expense account, you might want separate accounts for "Online Advertising," "Content Creation," and "Conferences."
To add a new account:
Click the Add account button in the top-right corner.
In the pop-up window, you will need to enter the following details:
Account category: Select the appropriate high-level category (e.g., Expense, Fixed Asset, etc.).
Account name: Give the account a clear, descriptive name.
Account number: Dappr will suggest a unique number based on standard accounting practice for the category you selected. You can keep this number or change it, but each account must have a unique number.
Description: This is optional but can be helpful for clarifying the purpose of the account.
Click Save new account.
The new account will be created immediately and will be available for you to select when reconciling transactions or creating manual journal entries.
Viewing and editing accounts
From the Chart of Accounts list, you can click on any account to view its details or make changes.
Viewing Account Details: When you click on an account, where you are taken depends on the account type.
For accounts that have special functions in Dappr—like Bank and cash accounts, Reimbursement accounts, or Expense accounts—you will be taken to that account's dedicated page, which may include features like statement transactions, claim details, or spending graphs.
For all other accounts (such as Income or non-bank Assets), you will be taken directly to that account's transaction list within the General Ledger.
Editing and Archiving: To make changes to an account, click the three-dot actions menu on the right side of its row in the Chart of Accounts.
Select Edit account to change its name or description. Note that the account number cannot be changed after it is created, as it is the permanent unique identifier for the account.
Select Archive account if the account is no longer in use. Archiving an account removes it from selection lists for new transactions, but it does not delete any past data. All historical transactions associated with the archived account will remain in your books for accurate reporting.