Manufacturing chart of accounts
A manufacturer pays for materials, machine time and freight well before finished goods reach a customer. This chart adds the accounts that sit around production, from outsourced machining and factory consumables to dispatch freight and customer deposits, to the general chart of accounts.
- By Book Keeping Pros
- Sources checked 15 Oct 2026
What this industry adds
- Jobs sent out to other workshops, such as machining, powder coating, plating or heat treatment, go to Outsourced machining and finishing, so the cost of work done outside shows apart from what the factory makes itself.
- A factory uses up consumables such as gloves, abrasives, welding gas and cutting fluids, and may hire forklifts or machines when orders pile up. Factory consumables and Forklift and machinery hire keep those costs together.
- Product testing and certification holds fees for testing products and materials and for certifying them against a standard, and Factory waste and recycling holds the cost of clearing offcuts, scrap and packaging from the factory.
- Finished orders leave on pallets with a carrier, so Pallets and dispatch packaging and Dispatch freight track the cost of getting goods to trade customers. Deposits on made-to-order goods tracks what customers have paid ahead for custom work.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-1300 | Deposits on made-to-order goods | Liability | Deposits trade customers have paid on custom or made-to-order goods that have not yet been delivered |
| 5-1100 | Outsourced machining and finishing | Expense | Invoices from other workshops for machining, powder coating, plating, heat treatment and similar work on the business's products |
| 6-2100 | Factory consumables | Expense | Welding gas and wire, abrasives, cutting fluids, gloves and other items used up on the factory floor |
| 6-2110 | Forklift and machinery hire | Expense | Short-term hire of forklifts, cranes, compressors and production machines for the factory |
| 6-2120 | Product testing and certification | Expense | Laboratory tests on products or materials, and fees for certifying products or quality systems against a standard |
| 6-2130 | Factory waste and recycling | Expense | Skip bins, waste collection and the removal of offcuts, scrap metal and used packaging from the factory |
| 6-2140 | Pallets and dispatch packaging | Expense | Pallets, pallet hire, cartons, stretch wrap and strapping used to pack and ship orders |
| 6-2150 | Dispatch freight | Expense | Carrier and courier charges for delivering finished goods to trade customers |
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
- Leave stock, from materials through to finished goods, in the general Inventory account, and ask your accountant whether to track raw materials, work in progress and finished goods apart.
- Match each outside workshop's invoice to the purchase order or job it was for before coding it to Outsourced machining and finishing.
- Code welding supplies, abrasives and other floor consumables to Factory consumables, and keep spare parts and servicing for the business's own machines in Repairs and maintenance.
- Record each deposit on a custom order in Deposits on made-to-order goods with the customer's order number, and ask your accountant how it is applied once the goods are delivered and invoiced.
- Code carrier and courier bills for outgoing orders to Dispatch freight, and ask your accountant where freight on incoming materials belongs.
- The chart holds the manufacturing business's own money. Talk to your accountant before adding accounts for its structure or for splitting stock.
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.
Related guides
How to set up a chart of accounts
How to set up a chart of accounts for a small business: the five account types, choosing accounts and codes, and keeping the list useful as you grow.
How to manage inventory
How to manage stock from day to day: recording what comes in and goes out, setting reorder points, spotting slow-moving stock and counting between stocktakes.
How to reconcile accounts payable
How to reconcile accounts payable: agree the payables list with the ledger, check each supplier statement line by line and explain every difference.