Laundry chart of accounts
A laundromat or dry cleaner takes many small payments through coin and card machines, goes through detergents and solvents quickly, and may hire out linen or send garments to another plant. These accounts add those parts of the business to the general chart of accounts.
- By Book Keeping Pros
- Sources checked 15 Oct 2026
What this industry adds
- Coins sit in the washers and dryers until they are collected and counted. Coin takings not yet banked holds what has been collected but not yet deposited, and Change machine float holds the cash kept loaded in the change machine for customers.
- Payments through the card readers on the machines are settled by the payment provider, so Machine card payments in transit holds those payments until they reach the bank. Value customers load onto the laundromat's own top-up cards sits in Top-up card balances until it is spent.
- Detergents, solvents, garment covers and hangers are used up with the work, so Detergents and dry cleaning solvents and Garment covers, hangers and tickets give them accounts of their own.
- Work sent to another plant, payments for garments lost or damaged, and linen bought to top up a hire pool are costs particular to laundries: Outsourced dry cleaning, Customer garment claims and Replacement hire linen and uniforms.
Download the chart
The general accounts and this industry's accounts in one CSV file, in code order, which opens in any spreadsheet program.
Download the CSV fileThe accounts this chart adds
| Code | Account name | Type | What goes in it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-1500 | Coin takings not yet banked | Asset | Coins collected from the washers and dryers and counted, but not yet deposited in the bank |
| 1-1510 | Machine card payments in transit | Asset | Card and phone payments made at the washers and dryers, waiting for the payment provider's settlement |
| 1-1520 | Change machine float | Asset | Cash kept in the change machine at its set float, as coins and the notes customers swap for them |
| 2-1300 | Top-up card balances | Liability | Value customers have loaded onto the laundromat's own top-up cards and not yet spent |
| 5-1100 | Outsourced dry cleaning | Expense | Charges from another dry cleaning plant for customers' garments sent out to be cleaned |
| 6-2100 | Detergents and dry cleaning solvents | Expense | Detergents, softeners, stain removers and solvents used in the machines, rather than sold as stock |
| 6-2110 | Garment covers, hangers and tickets | Expense | Plastic covers, wire hangers, tags and tickets used on finished orders |
| 6-2120 | Replacement hire linen and uniforms | Expense | Sheets, towels, tablecloths and uniforms bought to replace hire items that are lost, worn out or damaged |
| 6-2130 | Customer garment claims | Expense | Amounts paid to customers for garments lost or damaged in the laundry's care, apart from refunds of the cleaning charge |
Illustrative example only: these rows show the method and are not sourced data.
What goes in each column
- 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.
How to use it
- Keep the accounts that match your mix of work: a self-service laundromat may not need Outsourced dry cleaning, and a dry cleaner without a hire service can drop Replacement hire linen and uniforms.
- Count the coins from each collection and record the total in Coin takings not yet banked, then clear it when the deposit shows on the bank statement. Look into any gap between the count and the deposit.
- Match each settlement from the machines' payment provider to the card payments it covers, take those payments off Machine card payments in transit, and post the provider's deductions to Bank fees.
- Compare the unspent balance report from the top-up card system with Top-up card balances when you reconcile, and look into any difference.
- The chart keeps to the laundry's own money. How the hire linen pool itself is recorded, and how top-up balances are handled, are questions for your accountant.
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.
Related pages
Related terms
Sources
- Key financial terms
business.gov.au, Australian Government. Current at 15 October 2026, released 9 July 2024. Checked 15 October 2026.
© Commonwealth of Australia 2020, licensed under CC BY 3.0 AU. Licence: CC BY 3.0 AU.
- Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging, Conclusions Paper: Glossary of Key Terms
Reserve Bank of Australia. Conclusions Paper, March 2026, released 31 March 2026. Checked 16 October 2026.
Source: Reserve Bank of Australia 2026 Licence: CC BY 4.0.
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