Free chart of accounts template for Excel (with QuickBooks and Xero import files)
A chart of accounts is the list of every account a business records money in: bank accounts, what customers owe, loans, owner's money, income and each kind of expense, numbered so they sort in report order. Get it right once and every bank line, bill and receipt has an obvious home. This free Excel template gives you a 50-account starter chart for a small US business with numbering, categories, the report each account lands on and its normal balance, plus the matching QuickBooks Online and Xero account types, and two import-ready CSV files. Below: what's in it, how the numbering works, the starter accounts, how to import into QuickBooks and Xero without the classic mistakes, and where a real month of bank lines would go.
Short answer: download the chart of accounts template (.xlsx). Delete the accounts you'll never use, add what's missing, and keep the numbering: 1000s assets, 2000s liabilities, 3000s equity, 4000s income, 5000s cost of sales, 6000s expenses, 7000s other. For software, use the ready files: the QuickBooks Online CSV (Account Number, Account Name, Type, Detail Type) and the Xero CSV (*Code, *Name, *Type, *Tax Code and the optional columns). In Xero, accounts that aren't in the file get archived, so import into a new organisation or merge your current chart in first.
Download the free chart of accounts template
The workbook has four sheets: the Chart of accounts (50 starter accounts, room for 200, with a duplicate check), a QuickBooks import sheet, a Xero import sheet and How to use. It uses only IF, OR, AND, COUNTIF, COUNTA and SUM, so it works in Excel, Google Sheets (File, Import), LibreOffice and Numbers. No sign-up, no email, no macros. The two CSVs hold the same 47 accounts as the import sheets.
1. What's in the template
- Chart of accounts sheet: Number, Account name, Category (a drop-down of Asset, Liability, Equity, Income, Cost of sales, Expense, Other income, Other expense), and a plain-English What goes here note for each account. Yellow cells are inputs.
- Calculated columns: Report (Balance sheet for assets, liabilities and equity; Profit and loss for the rest) and Normal balance (Debit for assets, cost of sales and expenses; Credit for liabilities, equity and income), so you can see where each account will show up.
- Software columns: the QuickBooks Online account type and detail type, and the Xero account type, for every account.
- Check line: counts the accounts and flags any duplicate number or name. QuickBooks and Xero both reject duplicates, so fix them here first.
- QuickBooks import and Xero import sheets: the same accounts in each program's import columns, as plain values. They match the two CSV downloads.
2. How to number a chart of accounts
Numbers keep accounts in the same order as the financial statements: balance sheet accounts first, in order of how quickly they turn into cash or come due, then income and expenses. The four-digit ranges below are the common US convention, and they're what the template uses.
| Range | Category | Report | Examples in the template |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1000–1999 | Assets | Balance sheet | Business checking 1000, Petty cash 1050 (kept with the petty cash log template), Inventory 1200, Equipment 1500 |
| 2000–2999 | Liabilities | Balance sheet | Business credit card 2100, Sales tax payable 2200, Loan payable 2700 |
| 3000–3999 | Equity | Balance sheet | Owner's investment 3000, Owner's draws 3100, Retained earnings 3900 |
| 4000–4999 | Income | Profit and loss | Sales 4000, Service income 4100 |
| 5000–5999 | Cost of sales | Profit and loss | Cost of goods sold 5000, Subcontractors 5100 |
| 6000–6999 | Expenses | Profit and loss | Advertising 6000, Bank fees 6050, Rent 6450, Wages 6900 |
| 7000–7999 | Other income and expense | Profit and loss | Interest income 7000, Depreciation 7600 |
Leave gaps (1000, 1010, 1050) so a new account can slot in where it belongs, and keep one account per real bank account and per credit card, so each one reconciles against its own statement.
3. The 50 starter accounts
The starter chart suits a small US service or product business. It follows the expense lines most owners and tax preparers think in, so the profit and loss reads like a tax return's expense list (our profit and loss template uses the same accounts). Cut it down rather than adding to it: a chart of 30 to 60 accounts is easier to keep consistent than one with 200.
| Category | Accounts |
|---|---|
| Assets (10) | Business checking, Business savings, Petty cash, Accounts receivable, Inventory, Prepaid expenses, Equipment, Furniture and fixtures, Vehicles, Accumulated depreciation |
| Liabilities (6) | Accounts payable, Business credit card, Sales tax payable, Payroll liabilities, Line of credit, Loan payable |
| Equity (3) | Owner's investment, Owner's draws, Retained earnings |
| Income (3) | Sales, Service income, Discounts and refunds given |
| Cost of sales (3) | Cost of goods sold, Subcontractors, Shipping and delivery |
| Expenses (21) | Advertising and marketing, Bank fees, Car and truck expenses, Contract labor, Dues and subscriptions, Insurance, Legal and professional fees, Meals, Interest expense, Office supplies, Rent, Repairs and maintenance, Software and subscriptions, Supplies, Taxes and licenses, Telephone and internet, Travel, Utilities, Wages and salaries, Payroll taxes, Employee benefits |
| Other income and expense (4) | Interest income, Other income, Depreciation, Ask my accountant |
A corporation would replace Owner's investment and Owner's draws with stock and distribution accounts, and a partnership with one capital and one draws account per partner. Which ones you need is a question for your accountant; the template is a starting point, not tax advice.
4. Import it into QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online imports a chart of accounts from Excel, Google Sheets or CSV with four columns:
| Column | Rules |
|---|---|
| Account Number | Optional. Unique, up to 7 characters, no colon. Only imported if account numbers are turned on. |
| Account Name | Required. Unique, up to 100 characters. A colon means a sub-account (Utilities:Gas), so don't use one otherwise. |
| Type | The QuickBooks account type, such as Bank, Credit Card, Expenses or Income. |
| Detail Type | Must be a detail type that belongs to that account type, such as Checking under Bank or Rent or Lease of Buildings under Expenses. |
- Turn on account numbers if you want them: Settings, Account and settings, Advanced, Chart of accounts. Without this the Number column is ignored.
- Download the QuickBooks CSV (or save the QuickBooks import sheet as CSV after editing). Delete rows you don't want.
- In QuickBooks, go to Settings, Import data, Chart of Accounts, and browse to the file.
- Map the columns: Account Number, Account Name, Type, Detail Type.
- On the review screen, fix anything highlighted in red. If a type or detail type label doesn't match your version of QuickBooks exactly, pick the right one from the drop-down there. Then import.
The import only adds. It doesn't delete or rename the accounts QuickBooks set up when you created the company, so you can end up with near-duplicates such as "Bank Charges" and "Bank fees". Make the accounts inactive afterwards, or rename the defaults instead of importing the same idea twice. Accounts receivable, Accounts payable and Retained earnings aren't in the import files because QuickBooks creates them itself.
Intuit's help article Import your chart of accounts to QuickBooks Online walks through the same screens, and Account type and detail types explains why the type matters more than the detail type: the type decides which report the account appears on.
5. Import it into Xero
Xero imports a chart of accounts from a CSV with these columns. The starred ones are compulsory:
| Column | Rules |
|---|---|
| *Code | Unique, up to 10 characters; letters, numbers or symbols, but not a symbol first. Keep it formatted as text so codes like 0100 keep their leading zero. |
| *Name | Unique, up to 150 characters. |
| *Type | One of Xero's account types, spelled exactly: Bank, Current Asset, Fixed Asset, Inventory, Non-current Asset, Prepayment, Current Liability, Liability, Non-current Liability, Equity, Revenue, Sales, Other Income, Direct Costs, Expense, Overhead, Depreciation. |
| *Tax Code | The exact name of a tax rate in your Xero organisation. Left blank in the template because the names differ by country; a blank or unknown rate imports as Xero's no-tax rate. |
| Description, Dashboard, Expense Claims, Enable Payments | Optional. Yes or No for the last three; bank accounts must be No (or blank) and have no description. |
- Download the Xero CSV (or save the Xero import sheet as CSV after editing). If you charge sales tax, fill Tax Code with your organisation's exact rate names (Accounting, Advanced, Tax rates).
- In Xero, go to Accounting, Chart of accounts, Import, choose Xero as the system, say whether the file has balances (this one doesn't), and browse to the file.
- Review the import summary: new, updated and system accounts, and anything excluded because of errors. Xero asks for extra details for the Bank-type accounts (checking, savings and the credit card); choose the account type and leave the account number blank if you don't have it.
- Confirm, then add opening balances on the Conversion Balances screen if you're moving from other software.
Xero archives what's missing. Xero updates the chart to match the file exactly: existing accounts that aren't in the import file are archived or deleted. Import this template into a new organisation, or export your current chart first and merge the accounts you want to keep into the file. Xero adds its system accounts (such as Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable and Retained Earnings) by itself, which is why they aren't in the file. Xero has no sub-accounts; it uses tracking categories instead.
Source: Xero Central, Import a chart of accounts and Components of an account (checked November 1, 2026).
6. Where a month of bank lines goes
The quickest test of a chart is to code a real month against it. Here are the lines from our fictional sample bank statement (business checking ending 0427, September 2026) and the account each one belongs in:
| Bank line | Account | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe payouts, customer checks, Zelle, wire from Northwind Traders | 4100 Service income (or 1100 Accounts receivable if it pays an invoice) | Money earned. If you invoice in the software, the payment clears the invoice instead. |
| Gusto payroll | 6900 Wages and salaries | Payroll software usually splits pay, withholding and employer taxes for you. |
| ADP payroll taxes | 2300 Payroll liabilities | Paying over taxes withheld from pay and owed; the employer's share is 6910 Payroll taxes. |
| Lakeview Properties, September rent | 6450 Rent | |
| Austin Energy | 6800 Utilities | |
| AT&T Business | 6700 Telephone and internet | |
| QuickBooks, Google Workspace, Adobe Creative Cloud | 6550 Software and subscriptions | |
| Office Depot paper, H-E-B office kitchen | 6400 Office supplies | |
| Costco supplies | 6600 Supplies | |
| Brightline Cleaning Services | 6150 Contract labor | General contractors; contractors on billable work go to 5100. |
| Pecan Street Contractors | 5100 Subcontractors or 6500 Repairs and maintenance | Depends on whether the work was for a customer or the premises. |
| Shell fuel | 6100 Car and truck expenses | |
| Blue Cross health premium | 6920 Employee benefits | If it covers only the owner, ask your accountant; it may be a draw. |
| Transfer to savings ··9921 | 1010 Business savings | Not an expense: money moving between your own accounts. |
| Amex card payment | 2100 Business credit card | Not an expense: it pays the card, whose purchases are the expenses. |
| Texas Comptroller, sales tax | 2200 Sales tax payable | Not an expense: you're handing over tax you collected. |
| Monthly service fee | 6050 Bank fees | |
| Interest | 7000 Interest income |
Every line found a home without an "Other" account, which is the sign of a chart that fits. Three of the lines (the transfer, the card payment and the sales tax) go to balance sheet accounts, and they're the ones most often miscoded as expenses. The cash book template shows the same month with categories and totals, the bookkeeping template adds the card account and a monthly profit summary, and the general ledger template posts it in double entry to these accounts, with a trial balance. The trial balance template uses the same accounts and categories for adjusting entries and an income statement and balance sheet.
7. Mistakes to avoid
- An account for every vendor. "Staples" and "Office Depot" are vendors, not accounts. Use one Office supplies account and let the vendor field do the rest.
- Personal spending in expenses. The owner's personal costs paid from the business account go to Owner's draws, not to an expense.
- Transfers and card payments as expenses. They move money between balance sheet accounts; coding them as expenses counts the spending twice.
- Changing accounts mid-year. Renaming is fine, but moving transactions between accounts after a year is closed makes reports disagree with filed returns. Add new accounts at the start of a year where you can.
- Leaving Ask my accountant full. It's a holding account. Clear it before every month-end and before year end.
Have the bank statements as PDFs? Get the lines into your new chart
Utilly's converter reads a bank statement PDF, downloaded or scanned, into Excel, CSV, QuickBooks or Xero files and checks the rows against the statement's beginning and ending balance, so you can code a month against the chart in minutes. The preview is free with no sign-up. Try it on the sample bank statement first: it's the month in the table above, and every download of the sample is free because the data is fictional.
Setting up books from scratch for a past year? Catch-up bookkeeping from bank statements covers the order of work, and the QuickBooks Online CSV template and Xero CSV template show how to get the bank lines in once the chart is set up.
Method: account types and import columns checked against Intuit's QuickBooks Online help and Xero Central on November 1, 2026. QuickBooks type and detail type labels can differ slightly between regions and versions; the import review screen lets you pick the right one. The starter accounts are a general example for a small US business, not legal or tax advice. The sample statement's business, payees and amounts are fictional.
FAQ
What is a chart of accounts?
The list of every account a business records transactions in: assets, liabilities, equity, income, cost of sales and expenses, each with a number and a name. Every bank line, bill and invoice is coded to one of them, and the financial statements are built from their totals.
Is the chart of accounts template free?
Yes. Download the .xlsx and the two CSVs with no sign-up or email address. The workbook has 50 starter accounts with room for 200, QuickBooks and Xero import sheets and instructions, and it works in Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
How should I number my chart of accounts?
The common US convention is four digits by category: 1000s assets, 2000s liabilities, 3000s equity, 4000s income, 5000s cost of sales, 6000s expenses and 7000s other income and expense. Leave gaps between numbers so new accounts fit in order.
How many accounts should a small business have?
Usually 30 to 60. Enough that the profit and loss shows the expense lines you and your tax preparer need, few enough that the same kind of cost always lands in the same account. Use the vendor field, not new accounts, to track who you paid.
Can I import this chart of accounts into QuickBooks Online?
Yes. Use the QuickBooks CSV (Account Number, Account Name, Type, Detail Type) under Settings, Import data, Chart of Accounts. Turn on account numbers first or they're ignored. The import adds accounts and doesn't remove QuickBooks' defaults, so make unwanted defaults inactive afterwards.
Can I import it into Xero?
Yes. Use the Xero CSV under Accounting, Chart of accounts, Import. Xero matches the chart to the file exactly and archives existing accounts that aren't in it, so import into a new organisation or merge your current accounts into the file first. Fill Tax Code with your organisation's tax rate names if you charge sales tax.
Related guides
- Free small business bookkeeping template for Excel (income, expenses and a bank check)
- Free cash book template for Excel (with categories and a balance check)
- Free QuickBooks Online CSV import template for bank transactions (3- and 4-column)
- Free Xero CSV import template for bank statements (filled and blank)
- Catch-up bookkeeping: getting 12 months of bank statements into QuickBooks or Xero and reconciled
- Free sample bank statement PDF (fictional, with known totals)
Related tools
- Bank reconciliation checker: compare a bank statement to your books and list missing, duplicate and mismatched transactions.
- Receipt to CSV: turn PDF or photo receipts and invoices into CSV, Excel, or QuickBooks and Xero bill imports.
