Various additional versions of the basic, standardized chart of accounts are available for download in digital format on in .
A COA may be incorporated into reporting structure in many ways. Nevertheless, Excel remains the lingua franca of accounting.
On the other hand, some ERP implementation professionals require data structured as CSV or TSV. To accommodate this requirement, read this.
First, ensure you have a functioning version of Python with the Pandas and Openpyxl libraries installed. Next, download the zip file that contains the script Excel-to-CSV.zip. Place both the COA and the script into the same folder. Rename the COA exactly Excel-TSV-Input.xlsx and run the script.
To convert the TSV back, simply copy Excel-TSV-Output.csv to Excel and use the Text to Columns function. Leave the delimiter set to the default Tab. Please be aware, this will strip all formatting, so the Depth column is critical for retaining COA's hierarchy.
The plug-and-play version assumes an implementation where posting and summation accounts are hard coded so is suitable for direct import to a very basic ERP system.
Using a recursive aggregation engine as outlined on the implementation guidance page, the account structure would adapt dynamically to the data. As such, it would not be necessary to explicitly denote posting versus summation accounts.
Note: it would not even be necessary to define a chart of accounts with account numbers. However, this approach does assume the ERP system being employed is both dimensional and sufficiently flexible to facilitate this approach.
For the sake of tradition, this version uses a traditional block numbering scheme rather than a delimited scheme.
Somewhat surprisingly, many COAs continue to stick to traditional, block numbering and a flat design even though it makes them cumbersome and inflexible (click to expand):
This version employs a block numbering scheme and flat structure. Consequently, adjustments such as accumulated depreciation are recognized as standalone accounts rather than as account attributes. As such, it may be used with the most budget-friendly, single-dimensional accounting systems to supplement the free, even more basic COAs usually included with such systems.
