chart of accounts (COA)

A chart of accounts (COA) is a financial organizational tool that provides a complete listing of every account in an accounting system. An account is a unique record for each type of asset, liability, equity, revenue and expense.

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A COA, which lists the names of the accounts that a company has identified and made available for recording transactions in its general ledger, establishes the level of detail tracked in a record-keeping system. Typically, a COA contains the accounts’ names, brief descriptions and identification codes.

In practice, the COA serves as the foundation for a company’s financial record keeping system. It provides a logical structure that facilitates the addition of new accounts and deletion of old accounts.

Within the COA, accounts will be typically listed in order of their appearance in the financial statements. Typically, Balance sheet accounts are listed first followed by the income statement accounts.

An important purpose of a COA is to segregate expenditures, revenue, assets and liabilities so that viewers can quickly get a sense of a company’s financial health. A well-designed COA not only meets the information needs of management, it also helps a business to comply with financial reporting standards. A company has the flexibility to tailor its chart of accounts to best suit its needs. Within the categories of operating revenues and operating expenses, for instance, accounts might be further organized by business function and/or by company divisions.

A chart of accounts will likely be as large and as complex as the company itself. An international corporation with several divisions may need thousands of accounts, whereas a small local retailer may need as few as one hundred accounts.

Contributor: Harold Averkamp MBA, CPA