Chart of accounts and registers

The chart of accounts is the backbone of a company's books. Every journal entry, bank-feed posting, and report reads from it, so the accounts you create here decide how the company's activity is organized. LedgerHQ keeps the chart double-entry from the start: each account has one of five types, and its register shows a running balance built from posted activity.

This article covers building and maintaining the chart of accounts, the per-account settings, and how to read an account register — the ledger view with a running balance.

Open The Chart Of Accounts

Open Chart of Accounts from the company workspace. The page groups accounts into five type tabs — Assets, Liabilities, Equity, Revenue, and Expenses — each with a count, and a distribution bar showing the mix across types. The header shows how many accounts exist in total and how many are active.

Accounts connected to a bank or card feed sort to the top of their type and carry a Bank feed or Card feed badge; balance-sheet accounts (assets, liabilities, and equity) also show a Balance column. Use the search box to filter within the selected type, and the sort control to order by Code or Name. Inactive accounts stay in the list with an Inactive marker.

Create An Account

Select New Account to open the account drawer. An account needs:

• a Code — the account number, such as 1000;
• a Name, such as Cash;
• a Type — Asset, Liability, Equity, Revenue, or Expense;
• a Currency;
• an optional Description.

Choose the type carefully. It sets whether the account lands on the balance sheet or the income statement and which normal side (debit or credit) it follows, and the type cannot be changed after the account is created. Codes do not have to be sequential, but a consistent numbering scheme — assets in the 1000s, liabilities in the 2000s, and so on — keeps the chart readable.

Open An Account And Its Settings

Select any account row to open its detail page. The header shows the account name, its type and currency badges, and the account code, followed by four stats — Balance, Total Debits, Total Credits, and Entries. Two tabs sit below: Ledger (the register, covered next) and Settings.

The Settings tab is organized into sections:

• General — edit the Account Code, Account Name, Sub Type, and Description. Changing the code does not affect existing journal entries.
• Status — switch the account between Active and Inactive.
• Info — the Type and Currency, shown read-only because they cannot change after creation.

Rename Versus Deactivate Versus Delete

These three actions are not the same, and choosing the right one matters:

• Rename or recode — edit the name or code under General and Save changes. History follows the account; existing entries are untouched.
• Deactivate — use the Deactivate account control in the Danger zone (or set Status to Inactive). An inactive account stops appearing in the dropdowns you use when coding new entries, but its existing transactions and balance stay intact. Deactivating is the normal way to retire an account you no longer use without losing its history. It is reversible: Reactivate returns it to the dropdowns.
• Delete — permanently removes the account. An account that has any existing transactions cannot be deleted, and an account linked to a bank register must have that register disconnected first.

Read An Account Register

The Ledger tab on an account — and the dedicated Registers page — show the account's posted activity as a register: a dated list of entries with a running Balance in the last column. Each row shows the entry number (a link to the full journal entry), the date, the description, a status, the line amount, and the balance after that line.

Amounts are color-coded by side: debits in green and credits in red. Status badges tell you where a line came from — JE for a journal entry, Imported for migrated history, and Reconciled or Unreconciled for bank-feed activity. Use the All / Debits / Credits tabs, the search box, the date range, and the sort control to narrow the view. Registers page through the activity in blocks; the account Ledger tab shows 50 lines per page.

The register only reflects posted activity. A draft journal entry does not appear until it is posted, so a register balance always ties to the general ledger rather than to work in progress.

Use The Registers Page

Open Registers to inspect any account's ledger without leaving for its detail page. Pick an account from the combobox — feed-connected accounts show their Bank feed or Card feed badge — and the page shows a summary row with the account, its type, total Debits, total Credits, and the Balance, followed by the same register table.

When the selected account is connected to a feed, a banner names the connected institution and account mask and links straight to Open bank feed. You can also Add entry from here or jump to the full account detail with Open account detail. If a company has no accounts yet, the page points you to Open Chart of Accounts to create them first.

Add A Quick Entry From A Register

Both the account Ledger tab and the Registers page have an Add entry form for a fast two-sided posting. One side is fixed to the account you are viewing; you choose whether it is a Debit or a Credit, enter the amount and a description, and pick the Other account for the opposite side. Post creates a balanced entry and posts it immediately, so it lands in the register right away.