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About Selecting a Chart of Accounts

When going through the Standard Setup process, you can specify a Chart of Accounts that is different than Bookkeeper's standard Chart of Accounts used with the Express Setup. 

If you do not specify a Chart of Accounts, Brass Jacks Bookkeeper automatically uses the Brass Jacks Bookkeeper Standard chart of Accounts, which is a generic Chart of Accounts. To select a different Chart of Accounts, you can specify one of many types of businesses so the Chart of Accounts is 'tailored' for that type of business..

In addition, with the Standard Setup, you can add other accounts to the new company's Chart of Accounts during the setup process.

To select a pre-defined Chart of Accounts:
  1. In the New Company Assistant wizard, in Step 2, click the Select/View Chart of Accounts button.
  2. In the Chart of Accounts Selection dialog box, select the most closely-related business to yours in the Type of Business list on the left.
  3. Review the accounts for that business type on the right.
  4. If the accounts match what you accountant suggests, continue; otherwise, repeat steps 2-3 until you find the best match.
  5. Once you decide on the best Chart of Accounts for this company, add beginning balances to the various accounts. Enter all amounts with a positive value. The total for each group of accounts and the net amount will be displayed at the bottom of the list. The net amount for each account group must be $0
    To reset the balances to zero, click Clear Opening Balances above the Opening Balance column.
  6. You can add up to 25 bank accounts in the Chart of Accounts list. The first bank account will be the primary account. Any amount entered here, will prevent any amount being set in the next step of the wizard.
  7. To add accounts for sales tax, click Sales Tax Accounts. In the list, select the correct state from the list and click Select. (You can select more than one account by pressing Ctrl as you select the tax accounts.)
  8. To add accounts for payroll withholding, click Payroll Withholding Accounts. Select a type of withholding or the state from the list and click Select. (You can select more than one type of withholding or state by pressing Ctrl as you select the items.)  
  9. To add an account to this Chart of Accounts list, click Select Other Account. In the list, select an account and click Select. (You can select more than one type of account by pressing Ctrl as you select the accounts.) To add a new account, see the following procedure. 
  10. Click OK to return to the New Company Assistant wizard.
  11. Balances for different types of accounts will be subtotalled and must net to $0 See the new features in Brass Jacks Bookkeeper 24.0.0.0 for more details. 

While the Chart of Account Selection dialog box is open, you can create a new account that you can add to the currently selected Chart of Accounts.

To create a new account:
  1. Click Select Other Account.
  2. In the Asset Accounts list, click New.
  3. In the Add Chart of Account dialog box, type an Account Name.
  4. Then specify the Group and the Type.
  5. If this is a sub-account, select an account from the Sub Account For list.
  6. Click OK.
  7. Review the currently selected Chart of Account to see the new account listed.