Organization
Set a branch's default GL accounts
Choose the accounts a branch posts to automatically for sales, returns, discounts, customers, suppliers, cheques, cost of sales, the cash box, stock variances and goods in transit.
3 min readLast updated
In this article
Sales invoices, returns, receipts and stock movements post their journal entries without asking anyone which account to use. They take the accounts from the branch's defaults. Set these once for every branch, right after you create it, and review them whenever you restructure the chart of accounts.
Before you start
Save the branch first. The GL accounts section only appears when you edit an existing branch, because the branch's chart of accounts is created when it is saved.
If you add your own accounts, add them to that branch's chart, at the lowest level of the tree.
Choose the accounts
Open Administration › Organization › Branches.
Open the branch's actions menu and select Edit.
Scroll down to GL accounts.
Choose an account in every field. Each list shows only the accounts of this branch that suit the field.
Select Save GL accounts.
What each account is used for
Field | Used for |
|---|---|
Sales invoice account | Revenue from sales invoices |
Customers account | The parent account of your customers (receivables) |
Sales return account | Goods customers return |
Allowed discount account | Discounts you give customers |
Suppliers account | The parent account of your suppliers (payables) |
Purchase return account | Goods you return to suppliers |
Earned discount account | Discounts suppliers give you |
Cheques payable account | Cheques you issue and have not yet cleared |
Cheques collection account | Cheques you receive and send for collection |
Item sales cost account | The cost of goods sold |
Cash box account | The parent account of the branch's treasuries |
Stock variance account | Differences found in stock counts and adjustments |
Items transition account | Goods in transit between warehouses or branches |
For the customers, suppliers and cash box fields, the list offers the control (parent) account itself, because each new customer, supplier or user treasury gets its own account under it. For every other field, choose a leaf account: one that sits at the lowest level and can carry postings.
What happens next
New documents of the branch post to the accounts you chose. Documents already posted keep their original accounts; changing a default does not move old entries.
Common questions
A field's list is empty. The branch's chart has no account under the expected parent. Add one in the chart of accounts for that branch, at the lowest level, then reopen the branch.
Do warehouses and taxes use these accounts? No. Each warehouse has its own stock account, chosen when you create the warehouse, and each tax has its own sales and purchase tax accounts, set on the tax.