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Modifying the chart of accounts

When you created your company data file, Sage 50 automatically created a chart of accounts based on the business type selected in the Create a New Company wizard. While many of these accounts will exactly match your business needs, others may not. You may find that you need to do one or more of the following:

• add a new general ledger account missing from the default chart of accounts
• modify an existing account to match your exact needs
• delete an account that you do not need to use in your business.

While you almost certainly will need to tailor the chart of accounts to your business after you set up your company in Sage 50, you may also need to alter the chart of accounts as your business needs change. For example, your business may take out a long-term loan and needs to create a new account to record the details of the loan. This topic shows you how to add, modify and delete a general ledger account from the chart of accounts.

Add a new general ledger account

To add a new general ledger account into Sage 50, in the menu bar simply click Maintain and then select Chart of Accounts from the drop down list provided.

This displays the Maintain Chart of Accounts window where you can enter the details of the new account into Sage 50. The following screenshot and reference table show step-by-step instructions on how to enter a new account into the Maintain Chart of Accounts window in Sage 50. Note that each step is assigned a reference number to help you identify the appropriate field or icon in the screenshot.

The Maintain Chart of Accounts window with reference numbers

Step	Sage 50 field or icon	Action
	Account ID	Carefully type the unique account number of the new account you are creating. You should verify that the account number does not already exist in the chart of accounts in Sage 50 otherwise you may accidentally alter another account. Sage 50 helps you check this by displaying a drop down list of existing accounts and highlights the first account starting with the numbers you enter as you type. Once you enter a new unique account number no existing account should be highlighted in this list. Once you have checked your account number is correct, move to the next step by clicking the OK icon at the bottom of the drop down list or pressing <Tab> or <Enter> on your keyboard.
	Description	Enter the name of the new account you are creating.
	Account Type	Select the class of the account from the drop down list provided. It is important that you select the correct classification so that the balance of the account is reported in the correct line in the financial statements.
	Once you have entered the information in the Maintain Chart of Accounts window, remember to review your entries and save the new account by clicking the Save icon. Alternatively, click on the Save & New icon if you have another new account to add into the chart of accounts. OR

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Modifying or deleting an account

When setting up your chart of accounts, sometimes there might be a default account that would be perfect for your business if only the description of the account was slightly different. Instead of deleting the account and adding a new one, you are able to modify the existing account to suit your business needs.

You may also find that the chart of accounts contains default accounts that you do not plan to use in your business. To minimize the number of accounts that you have to manage you can delete these accounts that are not used in your business.

To modify or delete an account you need to open that account in the Maintain Chart of Accounts window. In the menu bar in Sage 50, simply click Maintain and then select Chart of Accounts from the drop down list provided. These steps are already illustrated in the first screen shot on this page. This displays the Maintain Chart of Accounts window where you can enter the Account ID of the account you wish to modify or delete.

Alternatively in the Business Status Navigation Center select View Account List.

This displays the Account List window below.

You can then scroll down the list until you find the account you are looking for. However, if there are a large number of accounts in the list, you may wish to use the the Search function to filter the accounts displayed. Once you have found the account, double click it to open that account in the Maintain Chart of Accounts Window. You are then able to modify or delete the account as described below.

Modify an existing account

To modify an existing account you need to open that account in the Maintain Chart of Accounts window. There you can change the Account ID by clicking the Change ID icon, entering the new Account ID number and clicking OK. You can also alter the name of the account by amending the Description field, or you can change the account classification using the drop down menu of the Account Type field.

Once you have made your changes to modify the account, remember to click Save to save your changes.

Delete an account

To delete an account from the chart of accounts you need to open that account in the Maintain Chart of Accounts window. Once open, click the Delete icon. You will be asked 'Are you sure you want to delete this record?' Clicking Yes will delete that account from the chart of accounts. Notice that once you close the Maintain Chart of Accounts window, if you also have the Account List window open, Sage 50 will automatically update the account list to remove the deleted account.

Having trouble deleting an account?

If you are having trouble deleting an account, it may be that you are trying to delete an account that has been assigned to the default settings of your inventory items. In order to delete such an account you need to first remove that account as a default account assigned to your inventory items.

To remove the account from the default settings of your inventory items, open the Inventory & Services Navigation Center. Click the Inventory Items icon and select Set Up Inventory Defaults from the drop down list provided. In the Inventory Item Defaults window that opens, select the GL Accts/Costing tab. The window appears as follows:

In this window you need to delete all instances of the account number of the account you wish to delete. For example, if you wish to delete the 'Cost of Sales-Salary & Wage' account (account number 5400) you need to find and delete all instances of this account number in the table. Once the appropriate account numbers have been deleted from the table, click OK. You should then be able to follow the procedures outlined above to delete the account using the Maintain Chart of Accounts window.

Note that you are not able to delete an account if any transactions have been recorded in that account. However, if you have transactions recorded for an account that you want to delete, you really should be questioning whether you should be deleting that account in the first place!

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