Your Chart of Accounts (COA) is the master list of categories you can assign to transactions. Books ships with a travel-agency-tailored default chart; you can customize it freely.
Account Types
Every account belongs to one of five high-level types:
Asset — things you own (Bank accounts, Equipment, Inventory)
Liability — things you owe (Credit cards, Loans, Accounts payable)
Equity — owner's stake (Retained earnings, Owner contributions)
Income — money earned (Commissions, Service fees, Refunds received)
Expense — money spent (Software, Office rent, Marketing, Meals)
Account Hierarchy
Accounts can have sub-accounts. Example:
Marketing Expenses(parent)→
Email & SMS(child)→
Paid Ads(child)→
Print(child)
Sub-accounts give you both detail (in detailed reports) and roll-up (parent totals on summary reports) without re-categorizing.
Adding an Account
Go to Chart of Accounts → New Account.
Pick the account type (this is permanent — can't change later without recategorizing).
Name the account.
Optionally pick a parent account to make this a sub-account.
Optionally add a code (e.g.
5050) for accountants who want numbered accounts.Save.
Editing or Deactivating
You can rename and re-parent accounts freely — changes propagate automatically. You can't change an account's type once it has transactions (changing Asset to Income mid-year would corrupt reports).
If you stop using an account, deactivate it instead of deleting. Deactivated accounts:
Don't appear in new transaction category pickers
Still show on historical reports (so old transactions stay properly categorized)
Can be reactivated at any time
Importing a Custom Chart of Accounts
If you have a chart of accounts from another bookkeeping system (QuickBooks, Xero, etc.), you can import it as a CSV. Go to Chart of Accounts → Import and upload a CSV with columns: Name, Type, Parent, Code. Books validates the import and shows any conflicts before committing.