NetSuite Chart of Accounts Template

NetSuite Chart of Accounts Template
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Your chart of accounts will naturally reflect the nuances and important financial questions of your specific company context.

That being said, there’s no need to start from scratch.

We’ve compiled an example NetSuite chart of accounts template built to give your accounting team a jumping off point for building out a strong COA.

With account numbering, account types, and structured with parent accounts and child accounts in mind, download the template and then modify to fit your business before uploading into NetSuite.

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Who This Template Is For
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The NetSuite Chart of Accounts Template is designed for:

• Financial Controllers: Tasked with being the first to create a chart of accounts in NetSuite? Use the template to kick start the project.
• Accounting Teams Transitioning to NetSuite: Moving off an ERP like Quickbooks or Xero requires some changes to your chart of accounts before your NetSuite implementation. Leverage the template to quickly gauge what changes you may need to make before completing the transition.
• Accounting Firms / Consultants: Working on a chart of accounts for a potential client? Our template should start you off in the right direction before you nuance the financial accounts listed and order before uploading into NetSuite.

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How to Use This Template

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To get started with our NetSuite Chart of Accounts Template, follow these steps:

1. Download the template & make a copy of this Google Sheet (if preferable, then download as a csv and upload into Excel).
2. Scan through the accounts, structure, and account numbering. We've built this template to be fairly granular to give you an idea of possible specific accounts that may be material to your business. That being said, your chart of accounts should only be as complicated as it needs to be — delete accounts that aren't critical, add new accounts that are material, and reference the "Notes" column on the side for context into how you should be thinking about each category.
   
   Your Northstar when building out a COA is thinking through what questions your accounting data will be used for — what type of reporting is impactful? What level of aggregation is useful? How can you structure accounts to help your team find answers near instantly to questions asked by a CFO or department leader?
   
   
3. After modifying the template to fit your business, it should then be ready for download as a CSV file, which can then be uploaded into NetSuite via csv import.

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Key Things to Keep in Mind When Building Out a Chart of Accounts in NetSuite

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• Detailed, but not too granular: Your chart of accounts should be as detailed as is helpful for financial reporting and providing stakeholders with responses to their questions about the business — but no more detailed. Every additional category adds complexity and possible room for error so think through the categories that you’ve included thoughtfully.
  • NetSuite has standard account types built into the accounting system (ex. for expense accounts there’s a category of “Expense”), you can’t create net new account types but instead you’ll nest all accounts within the standard types.
• Consider reporting asks: A strong chart of accounts makes it easy to group via account parent and child relationships to determine totals on the fly. You should be easily able to manipulate your financial data for quick questions, like asks related to cash flow or revenue by product.
  • Pro Tip: NetSuite has “summary accounts” functionality fully for the purpose of rolling up totals for reporting, consider creating account records that are summary accounts if helpful. ‍
• ‍Future-proofing: Design your chart with scalability in mind, allowing for easy account additions as your business evolves and diversifies. Account numbering is one area where this comes into play, you’ll want to ensure that numbers are spaced such that you can add new account types over time. Think through potential subsidiaries or added complexity in product lines in the future— you’ll save future time and headaches.
  • Also consider balance sheet reconciliations, it’s often easiest to have a single reconciliation source per account. If multiple sources need to be combined to reconcile, consider instead splitting into multiple accounts.‍
• Consider on-boarding:  One way to gut check the intuitive-ness of your chart of accounts? Think through the process of onboarding a new team members. Will they intuitively grasp the account names and understand how the COA relates to financial statements?

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NetSuite Chart of Accounts Example Accounts

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A typical chart of accounts will contain the following high level categories and then cascade into sub accounts for areas where more detail is useful (as shown in the template). Typically high level accounts include:

• Cash / All Bank Accounts
• Accounts Receivable
• Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
• Prepaid Assets
• Inventory
• Fixed Assets
• Accumulated Depreciation
• Other Current Assets
• Accounts Payable / Credit Cards
• Accrued Expenses
• Deferred Revenue
• Loans Payable - current portion
• Other Current Liabilities
• Loans Payable - noncurrent portion
• Other Liabilities Common Stock
• Additional Paid-In Capital
• Retained Earnings
• Product Revenue
• Other Income Revenue
• Cost of Goods
• Sales and Marketing
• General and Administrative
• Depreciation and Amortization
• Income Tax Expense
• Gain/Loss on Sale of Assets
• Interest Expense
• Interest Income
• Miscellaneous Income
• Miscellaneous Expense

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How Building a Chart of Accounts is Different in NetSuite Versus QuickBooks or Xero

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Every general ledger requires a slightly different format with COA uploads. Some key differences between NetSuite’s COA uploads and Quickbook’s or Xero’s are:

• Customization and Flexibility: NetSuite offers additional customization capabilities and custom segments, enabling a more tailored account structure.
• Six Digit Account Strings: Instead of 4 digit account strings, NetSuite requires 6-digit strings for all account types. Account lists can also contain sub-categories natively to better group account types.

• Advanced Reporting: NetSuite’s reporting features allow for more dynamic and detailed financial analysis and automations, giving businesses a clearer understanding of their financial health beyond simple income statements for each accounting period.

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By downloading our NetSuite Chart of Accounts Template, you're not just organizing your financials—you're setting a foundation for informed decision-making and strategic financial management.