This chart of accounts is suitable for use with IFRS.
The IASB (link) does not discuss the COA. To fill the void, we have been publishing an IFRS COA since 2010.
However, while commonly known as "principles based," IFRS guidance can, in reality, be surprisingly rigid, categorical, prescriptive and detailed.
For example, while they have more in common with a banknote than a patent, IFRS requires cryptocurrencies to be recognized as intangible assets not cash or financial instruments. The accounts must reflect this regardless of an accountant's judgment or opinion. In addition, they must also reflect that, under IAS 38, the measurement basis could cost, or fair value or (theoretically) cost less amortization.
If the accounts are vague and cryptocurrencies are inadvertently recognized as something other than intangible assets, it would be a misclassification error. An insufficiently detailed COA would not only facilitate such errors but, combined with common sense, may actually encourage them.
Or, as outlined in IFRS 9.6.5.15 (B6.5.29 to 33), when the intrinsic and time values of an option are separated and intrinsic value is designated as a cash flow hedge, that time value is eventually added to the cost of the hedged item. The COA should capture even such minute, mind-numbing detail.
A detailed COA that clearly spells out what is required is not overly detailed. It simply reflects the requirements of guidance that is detailed.
Fortunately, not all guidance applies to all entities. When a COA is designed to be flexible and adaptable, the unnecessary items can simply be edited out. After all, culling a comprehensive COA is much easier than fleshing out an incomplete COA.
In 2009, a client requested an IFRS COA so his company could implement it alongside the national GAAP COA in the new ERP system they had acquired for dual, IFRS | national GAAP reporting. The client was very dissatisfied with our answer "the IASB does not publish an IFRS COA, nor does it even discuss a COA" so replied "we need an IFRS COA for our new ERP system. We expect you to deliver it in 30 days so we can finish implementing the ERP by year end."
Many European Union member states, for example this member state and this member state, have legislated national accounting standards (a.k.a. national GAAP) that, unlike IFRS, take a procedural approach to accounting strictly mandating, for example, charts of accounts.
Practitioners accustomed to these standards often look for a similar, standard structure applicable to IFRS. However, the IASB focus means an official IFRS COA does not exist, nor will ever exist.
Required by French law
Required by German law
The difficulty, practitioners having to cope with guidance the IASB presents as "judgmental and principles based" but which, in practice, appears to be rigid, categorical, prescriptive and detailed (above) find this lack of structure disconcerting.
Because the client is always right, we said "OK, but it will take us at least two months, perhaps three." The client was dissatisfied with the timeframe but, after failing to find another vendor, agreed.
Using our customary under promise / over deliver approach to client relations, we delivered the IFRS COA in just over three and a half weeks.
Actually, the real reason the client got to jump the queue, unlike most entities facing a dual IFRS | national GAAP reporting obligation, this particular entity had decided to eschew adjustments aimed at turning a sow’s ear into a silk purse (or vice versa). Instead of a few surface mathematical changes combined with some creative mapping, it decided to apply each accounting guidance correctly, exactly the way it was written and intended.
However, the condition was we would retain copyright to the core structure. Thus, at the beginning of 2010, we published our first IFRS COA. Soon it became the single most visited page so we followed up with a US GAAP COA and eventually a standardized COA.
The Pro COAs are for complex entities particularly if they publish consolidated financial reports.
The Advanced COA is suitable for a single entity or group utilizing a single-dimensional account structure. It provides the core account framework, allowing users to append their own account attributes or dimensions as metadata. Sub-ledgers are incorporated using the same mechanics. This page illustrates the procedure. This structure may be used with basic accounting systems such as QuickBooks, FreshBooks, Wave, Zoho, Patriot or NetSuite.
The Expanded COA is suitable for a single entity or group utilizing a multi-dimensional account structure. This version includes pre-defined dimensions for accounting data such as a remeasurement attribute (e.g., FVPL|FVNI or FVOCI), adjustment attribute (e.g., accumulated depreciation or accumulated impairment), currency of denomination attribute, current / non-current attribute, etc. Additional, entity-specific attributes, dimensions or sub-ledgers may be added as illustrated on this page. This structure assumes a system built on a relational database such as S/4HANA, E-Business Suite, Infor CloudSuite, IFS Cloud or Sage X3.
The XBRL COA includes cross-references to the IASB approved taxonomy for XBRL-tagged financial reports, intended for digital regulatory filings. While optimized to work with the multi-dimensional setup, it may also be used with the single-dimensional structure.
A more detailed discussion of XBRL including a list of the various taxonomies is provided in the parallel section of the standardized COA page.
These COAs as well as illustrative implementation scripts are available for download in Pro View.
Activate Pro View above.
Note: Pro View activation provides full access to all site content for one year. It is not a subscription and will not auto-renew.
If used as intended, the standardized COA above is more suitable for dual filers. This COA is most appropriate for a single entity or group of entities where the group published only consolidated IFRS financial reports and no intra-group entity publishes, for example US GAAP report, presented to, for example, non-controlling investors or other stakeholders.
Download the Pro COAs in machine readable format on their download pages in Pro view.
Data can be handled in many ways, but Excel remains the lingua franca of accounting.
Nevertheless, some experts insist on data structured as CSV (or, better yet, TSV). To accommodate this request, 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.
Pro view includes additional scripts illustrating how to generate a dynamic hierarchical COA from an Excel source file. It also includes scripts to map the output to balance sheet and P&L in IFRS or US GAAP format (also in Excel).
The basic version below is a good start for a small business and may be used for free.
By small, we do not mean a business that has no need for a formalized accounting system.
For some businesses, fulfilling their only real accounting obligation, supporting a tax return, does not require any accounting software. Often, all that is needed is a bank statement and journal listing (taxable) cash receipts and (tax deductible) cash disbursements.
We are referring to businesses for which the generic, built-in functionality of QuickBooks, FreshBooks, Wave, Zoho, Patriot, etc. is no longer sufficient.
Businesses that have grown, prospered and now comprise multiple locations, or divisions, or international branches. Businesses that have outgrown starter-kit, off-the-shelf solutions but have yet to face the unfiltered rigor of IFRS or US GAAP that comes with a stock market listing.
While the COAs on this page assume the latter, being flexible and adjustable, they can easily accommodate the former.
The point is, trimming a clearly defined structure, that may be excessive, is far easier than researching the complete structure one may actually need.
As anyone who has ever started a business knows, starting a business is the easy part. Keeping it running smoothly and profitably is where the real challenge lies. To help those just starting out, this site publishes workable, basic COAs, that can be expanded as needed, free of charge. After all, every business that survives the startup phase makes the business community richer and more diverse so is in everyone's best interest.
While copyright protected, the COA below may be used free of charge. If you find it useful, simply copy paste.
To use this basic COA, simply copy / paste.
| Account Title | Account # | Depth | Balance | 1 |
| Assets | 1 | 0 | Dr | 2 |
| Property, plant and equipment | 1.1 | 1 | Dr | 3 |
| Land and land improvements | 1.1.1 | 2 | Dr | 4 |
| Buildings, structures and improvements | 1.1.2 | 2 | Dr | 5 |
| Machinery and equipment | 1.1.3 | 2 | Dr | 6 |
| Fixtures and fittings | 1.1.4 | 2 | Dr | 7 |
| Right of use assets (Classified as PP&E) | 1.1.5 | 2 | Dr | 8 |
As outlined in IFRS 16.47.a.i, an ROU should be classified like the underlying asset if that asset were owned (unless the ROU is presented separately). Thus, the right to use, for example, a building, would be presented in PP&E while the right to use a patent would be intangible (below).
Thus an ROU associated with an underlying asset that is an item of PP&E, it should be recognized as PP&E.
Note: provided the right‑of‑use asset is recognised on the balance sheet, the guidance is flexible about how it is presented. For example, a leased building may be presented within the “Buildings” line item rather than on a separate “right‑of‑use asset” line, as long as the notes explain that the amount relates to a leased (right‑of‑use) building rather than an owned building. From an internal accounting perspective, the building could thus be posted either to the Buildings account with a metadata flag indicating that it is an ROU or to the ROU account with metadata describing the underlying asset as a building.
| Additional property, plant and equipment | 1.1.6 | 2 | Dr | 9 | Construction in progress | 1.1.7 | 2 | Dr | 10 |
| Investment property | 1.2 | 1 | Dr | 11 |
| Completed | 1.2.1 | 2 | Dr | 12 |
| Under construction or development | 1.2.2 | 2 | Dr | 13 |
| Goodwill | 1.3 | 1 | Dr | 14 |
| Intangible assets excluding goodwill | 1.4 | 1 | Dr | 15 |
| Intellectual property | 1.4.1 | 2 | Dr | 16 |
| Computer software | 1.4.2 | 2 | Dr | 17 |
| Trade and distribution assets | 1.4.3 | 2 | Dr | 18 |
| Contracts and rights | 1.4.4 | 2 | Dr | 19 |
| Right of use assets | 1.4.5 | 2 | Dr | 20 |
A right to use an asset is a contractual right. Thus, the right-to-use asset (ROU) is, strictly speaking, always intangible. Nevertheless, as outlined in IFRS 16.47.a.i, an ROU should be classified (unless it is presented separately) in the same way as the underlying asset if it were owned. Thus, an ROU of a building would be presented in PP&E (above) while an ROU of a patent would be presented here.
Note: provided the right‑of‑use asset is recognised on the balance sheet, the guidance is flexible about how it is presented. For example, a leased patent may be presented within the “Patents” group or as a standalone "Patent" rather than as a separate “right‑to‑use patent” item, as long as the notes explain that the amount relates to a leased (right‑of‑use) asset rather than an owned asset. From an internal accounting perspective, a patent could thus be posted either to the Patents account, with a metadata flag indicating that it is an ROU, or to an ROU account, with metadata describing the underlying asset as a patent.
| Crypto assets | 1.4.6 | 2 | Dr | 21 |
While crypto assets have more in common with financial assets than intangible assets, the IFRIC (June 2019 agenda decision) concluded that typical cryptocurrencies meet the definition of an intangible asset under IAS 38, unless they are held for sale in the ordinary course of business, in which case IAS 2 (inventories) applies.
| Additional intangible assets | 1.4.7 | 2 | Dr | 22 |
| Acquisition in progress | 1.4.8 | 2 | Dr | 23 |
| Financial assets and investments | 1.5 | 1 | Dr | 24 |
| Non-derivative financial assets | 1.5.1 | 2 | Dr | 25 |
| Derivative financial assets | 1.5.2 | 2 | Dr | 26 |
| Additional financial assets | 1.5.3 | 2 | Dr | 27 |
| Inventories | 1.6 | 1 | Dr | 29 |
| Merchandise | 1.6.1 | 2 | Dr | 30 |
| Raw materials and production supplies | 1.6.2 | 2 | Dr | 31 |
| Work in progress | 1.6.3 | 2 | Dr | 32 |
| Finished goods | 1.6.4 | 2 | Dr | 33 |
| Other inventories | 1.6.5 | 2 | Dr | 34 |
| Prepayments and accrued income | 1.7 | 1 | Dr | 35 |
| Prepayments | 1.7.1 | 2 | Dr | 36 |
| Accrued income | 1.7.2 | 2 | Dr | 37 |
| Service provider work in process (not classified as inventory) | 1.7.3 | 2 | Dr | 38 |
| Additional assets | 1.7.4 | 2 | Dr | 39 |
| Receivables and contracts | 1.8 | 1 | Dr | 40 |
| Loans and receivables | 1.8.1 | 2 | Dr | 41 |
| Contracts with customers | 1.8.2 | 2 | Dr | 42 |
| Nontrade and other receivables | 1.8.3 | 2 | Dr | 43 |
| Tax assets | 1.9 | 1 | Dr | 44 |
| Tax assets | 1.9.1 | 2 | Dr | 45 |
| Deferred tax assets | 1.9.2 | 2 | Dr | 46 |
| Other tax assets | 1.9.3 | 2 | Dr | 47 |
| Agricultural biological assets | 1.10 | 1 | Dr | 48 |
| Bearer plants | 1.10.1 | 2 | Dr | 49 |
| Animals | 1.10.2 | 2 | Dr | 50 |
| Other agricultural assets | 1.10.3 | 2 | Dr | 51 |
| Cash and cash equivalents | 1.11 | 1 | Dr | 52 |
| Cash | 1.11.1 | 2 | Dr | 53 |
| Cash equivalents | 1.11.2 | 2 | Dr | 54 |
| Restricted cash and financial assets | 1.11.3 | 2 | Dr | 55 |
| Equity | 2 | 0 | (Cr) | 56 |
| Total equity attributable to owners of parent | 2.1 | 1 | (Cr) | 57 |
| Issued capital | 2.1.1 | 2 | (Cr) | 58 |
| Additional item paid-in capital | 2.1.2 | 2 | (Cr) | 59 |
| Partner's capital | 2.1.3 | 2 | (Cr) | 60 |
| Member's equity | 2.1.4 | 2 | (Cr) | 61 |
| Other equity interest | 2.1.5 | 2 | (Cr) | 62 |
| Retained earnings | 2.2 | 1 | Dr or (Cr) | 63 |
| Retained earnings profit loss for reporting period | 2.2.1 | 2 | Dr or (Cr) | 64 |
| Retained earnings excluding profit loss for reporting period | 2.2.2 | 2 | Dr or (Cr) | 65 |
| In suspense | 2.2.3 | 2 | Zero | 66 |
| Accumulated other comprehensive income | 2.3 | 1 | Dr or (Cr) | 67 |
| Accumulated OCI, reserves | 2.3.1 | 2 | Dr or (Cr) | 68 |
| Miscellaneous equity | 2.3.2 | 2 | Dr or (Cr) | 69 |
| Owners equity (non-shareholder) | 2.4 | 1 | (Cr) | 70 |
| Non-controlling interests | 2.5 | 1 | (Cr) | 71 |
| Liabilities | 3 | 0 | (Cr) | 72 |
| Trade and other payables | 3.1 | 1 | (Cr) | 73 |
| Trade payables | 3.1.1 | 2 | (Cr) | 74 |
| Dividend payables | 3.1.2 | 2 | (Cr) | 75 |
| Interest payable | 3.1.3 | 2 | (Cr) | 76 |
| Other payables | 3.1.4 | 2 | (Cr) | 77 |
| Provisions | 3.2 | 1 | (Cr) | 78 |
| Customer related provisions | 3.2.1 | 2 | (Cr) | 79 |
| Litigation and regulatory | 3.2.2 | 2 | (Cr) | 80 |
| Additional provisions | 3.2.3 | 2 | (Cr) | 81 |
| Other financial liabilities | 3.3 | 1 | (Cr) | 82 |
| Notes payable | 3.3.1 | 2 | (Cr) | 83 |
| Loans received | 3.3.2 | 2 | (Cr) | 84 |
| Bonds (debentures) | 3.3.3 | 2 | (Cr) | 85 |
| Other debts and borrowings | 3.3.4 | 2 | (Cr) | 86 |
| Lease obligations | 3.3.5 | 2 | (Cr) | 87 |
| Derivative financial liabilities | 3.3.6 | 2 | (Cr) | 88 |
| Accruals, deferrals and additional liabilities | 3.4 | 1 | (Cr) | 89 |
| Accruals | 3.4.1 | 2 | (Cr) | 90 |
| Deferred income and refund liabilities | 3.4.2 | 2 | (Cr) | 91 |
| Accrued taxes other than payroll | 3.4.3 | 2 | (Cr) | 92 |
| Additional liabilities | 3.4.4 | 2 | (Cr) | 93 |
| Revenue | 4 | 0 | (Cr) | 94 |
| Recognized point of time | 4.1 | 1 | (Cr) | 95 |
| Goods | 4.1.1 | 2 | (Cr) | 96 |
| Services | 4.1.2 | 2 | (Cr) | 97 |
| Recognized over time | 4.2 | 1 | (Cr) | 98 |
| Products and projects | 4.2.1 | 2 | (Cr) | 99 |
| Services | 4.2.2 | 2 | (Cr) | 100 |
| Adjustments | 4.3 | 1 | Dr | 101 |
| Variable consideration | 4.3.1 | 2 | Dr | 102 |
| Consideration paid payable to customers | 4.3.2 | 2 | Dr | 103 |
| Other adjustments | 4.3.3 | 2 | Dr | 104 |
| Expenses | 5 | 0 | Dr | 105 |
| Expenses (classified by nature) | 5.1 | 1 | Dr | 106 |
| Material and merchandise | 5.1.1 | 2 | Dr | 107 |
| Employee benefits expense | 5.1.2 | 2 | Dr | 108 |
| Services expense | 5.1.3 | 2 | Dr | 109 |
| Rent, depreciation, amortization and depletion | 5.1.4 | 2 | Dr | 110 |
| Increase in decrease in inventories of finished goods and work in progress | 5.1.5 | 2 | Dr or (Cr) | 111 |
| Other work performed by entity and capitalized | 5.1.6 | 2 | Dr | 112 |
| Expenses (classified by function) | 5.2 | 1 | Dr | 113 |
| Cost of sales | 5.2.1 | 2 | Dr | 114 |
| Selling, general and administrative expense | 5.2.2 | 2 | Dr | 115 |
| Other non-operating income and expenses | 6 | 0 | Dr or (Cr) | 116 |
| Other revenue and expenses | 6.1 | 1 | Dr or (Cr) | 117 |
| Other revenue | 6.1.1 | 2 | (Cr) | 118 |
| Other expenses | 6.1.2 | 2 | Dr | 119 |
| Gains and losses | 6.2 | 1 | Dr or (Cr) | 120 |
| Taxes other than income and payroll and fees | 6.3 | 1 | Dr | 121 |
| Tax income (expense) | 6.4 | 1 | Dr or (Cr) | 122 |
| Intercompany and related party accounts | 7 | 0 | Dr or (Cr) | 123 |
| Intercompany and related party assets | 7.1 | 1 | Dr | 124 |
| Intercompany balances eliminated in consolidation | 7.1.1 | 2 | Dr | 125 |
| Related party balances reported or disclosed | 7.1.2 | 2 | Dr | 126 |
| Intercompany investments | 7.1.3 | 2 | Dr | 127 |
| Intercompany and related party liabilities | 7.2 | 1 | (Cr) | 128 |
| Intercompany balances eliminated in consolidation | 7.2.1 | 2 | (Cr) | 129 |
| Related party balances reported or disclosed | 7.2.2 | 2 | (Cr) | 130 |
| Intercompany and related party income and expense | 7.3 | 1 | Dr or (Cr) | 131 |
| Intercompany and related party income | 7.3.1 | 2 | (Cr) | 132 |
| Intercompany and related party expenses | 7.3.2 | 2 | Dr | 133 |
| Income loss from equity method investments | 7.3.3 | 2 | Dr or (Cr) | 134 |
Not updated: February 2026
Not updated for 2026 reflecting the IASB decision to not update the 2025 XBRL taxonomy.
The COA published on this page may be republished provided the following citation is provided: