Consulting chart of accounts

• Code: A number that sorts the account into its group: 1 for assets, 2 for liabilities, 3 for equity, 4 for income, and 5 and 6 for expenses.
• Account name: The name that appears in your books and reports.
• Type: Asset, Liability, Equity, Income or Expense, which decides whether the account appears on the balance sheet or the profit and loss statement.
• What goes in it: The transactions to record against the account.

1. Track each client project separately in your software, so associate fees, travel and costs to recharge can be reported project by project.
2. Code a cost paid for a client to Client disbursements to be recharged with the client's name, and clear it when it goes on their invoice.
3. Agree with your accountant how unbilled work is measured, and how often it is updated, before you post anything to Unbilled work in progress.
4. Record retainer payments in Retainers received in advance, and ask your accountant when each part should move to income.
5. Professional indemnity cover goes in the general Insurance account, with the business's other insurance.
6. This chart covers the consultancy's own money. Ask your accountant which further accounts your structure calls for.

The chart is a CSV file, which opens in a spreadsheet program. It is not set up for importing directly into any particular accounting software, so check the format your software expects before you load the accounts into it.