---
title: "Chart of accounts"
description: "What is a chart of accounts? The list of every account a business records transactions in. See how it's structured and which accounts a trading company needs."
url: https://1flux.ai/glossary/chart-of-accounts
last_updated: 2026-10-10
---

[Accounting](https://1flux.ai/glossary#accounting)

# Chart of accounts

What is a chart of accounts, and which accounts does a trading company need?

Glossary Updated 10 October 2026

Definition

A chart of accounts is the structured list of every account a business uses to record transactions, grouped into assets, liabilities, equity, income and expenses.

## What is a chart of accounts used for?

Each account has a code and a name, and the structure decides what your reports can show. A trading company typically needs accounts for inventory, [goods received not invoiced](https://1flux.ai/glossary/goods-received-not-invoiced), receivables and payables, input and output tax, cost of goods sold, price variances and exchange gains and losses.

Example: 1200 Inventory, 2110 Goods received not invoiced, 2200 Output VAT, 4010 Sales revenue, 5100 Cost of goods sold.

Too few accounts hide detail; too many make posting error-prone. Groups of companies often share one master chart so their books can be combined in [financial consolidation](https://1flux.ai/glossary/financial-consolidation).

In 1flux

Each legal entity’s chart is a tree with balances. A one-click 25-account GCC trading template (5 headings and 20 posting accounts) includes VAT, GRNI, intercompany, price variance and FX accounts, and charts import and export as CSV. [See the general ledger and journals](https://1flux.ai/products/accounting/general-ledger)

Related

## Keep exploring

### [General ledger](https://1flux.ai/glossary/general-ledger)

The complete record of every account and its balance.

### [Journal entry](https://1flux.ai/glossary/journal-entry)

A dated record of a transaction as balancing debits and credits.

### [Double-entry bookkeeping](https://1flux.ai/glossary/double-entry-bookkeeping)

Recording every transaction with equal debits and credits.

### [General ledger and journals](https://1flux.ai/products/accounting/general-ledger)

A chart of accounts in minutes, journals that can't be rewritten and periods that stay closed.

Last updated 10 October 2026