To start using Patriot’s Accounting Software, you need to set up your Chart of Accounts. We have added some commonly-used accounts to help you create your chart of accounts. Note that the accounts available will depend on whether you select Cash, Modified cash or Accounting.
Video Walkthrough
Number Your Chart of Accounts
You have the option to use account numbers in addition to naming each account. If you use account numbers, these will appear throughout the software when choosing or displaying the account.
Go to Settings > Accounting Settings > General Settings > Chart of Accounts >
Toggle Show Advanced Options to use account numbers.
If you are coming from another accounting software or have used a spreadsheet for your chart of accounts, please check out our help article “How to Import Your Chart of Accounts.”
Types of Accounts in your Chart of Accounts
1) Asset Accounts
Your main accounts that track the money deposited and withdrawn from your bank or cash accounts are Asset Accounts. Checking, Savings, and Petty Cash accounts have already been added for you. You can change the account names to something more meaningful by clicking inside each box. You can add as many asset accounts as you need, and remove any that you do not use.
2) Liability Accounts
Liability Accounts are used to keep track of the debts and obligations that your business owes to other businesses or individuals. These should be reported on your balance sheet if you are using modified cash basis or accrual basis. A Sales Tax Collected account has already been added, and you can add more as needed. Note: If your account is set to Cash Basis, Liability account subtypes are restricted — only Sales Tax Payable will appear in the subtype dropdown. To access the full range of subtypes (such as Accounts Payable, Credit Card, Current Liabilities, and Long Term Liabilities), your account must be set to Modified Cash Basis or Accrual Basis.
If you use Patriot to run payroll, you must use Modified Cash basis and create a liability account with the Subtype of “Current Liabilities” to track your payroll taxes that you will be paying to tax agencies (if you are a Basic Payroll customer), and deductions/contributions that you will be paying to benefit providers.
A Refund Liability account is included for customers who use modified cash or accrual basis accounting. It holds the amount of a customer refund between the time the refund is initiated and the time it settles. No setup is required.
3) Equity Accounts
Equity Accounts are created to track owner investment in the business, owner withdrawals, and any net income or loss incurred. Equity can also be calculated by subtracting assets from liabilities. We have added a default account, “Owners Equity,” for you to use in equity transactions, but you can rename or create additional accounts as needed.
4) Income accounts
To keep track of incoming money, such as product sales you'll use Income Accounts. Commonly used income accounts have already been added. You can rename an income account, add a new one, or remove these accounts as needed.
5) Expense accounts
To keep track of the types of outgoing money, such as payroll expenses, use Expense Accounts. A list of commonly used expense accounts has already been added. You can rename an expense account, add a new one, or remove any you do not use.
Subaccounts
Subaccounts are an Accounting Premium feature. To upgrade, go to Settings > Add or Cancel Software, select Accounting Premium, and click Save.
If you are an Accounting Premium customer, you can add subaccounts under your main chart of accounts for a more detailed view of your chart of accounts. Although you can add up to 8 levels of sub-accounts under one main account, you’ll want to be aware of some limitations:
Some system accounts are restricted and cannot have subaccounts added, nor can they be made into subaccounts:
Accounts Receivable
Accounts Payable
Sales Tax Collected
Credit Memo Liability
Refund Liability
Cost of Goods Sold – subtypes cannot nest with Expense subtypes or vice versa.
When you are finished setting up your chart of accounts, click “Continue” at the bottom of the page.
How to Add a New Account to Your COA
Go to Settings > Accounting Settings > Chart of Accounts
Click the “Add New Account” link next to the account type you want to add (Asset, Liability, Equity, Income, or Expense). A set of blank fields will appear.
Enter a unique description for the new account, up to 40 characters.
Select the Subtype. The Subtype will group similar accounts together and determine how transactions are recorded to the general ledger. These Subtypes are not editable. Note these are different than subaccounts. See below for subaccounts.
Check the box “Is this a subaccount?’ if applicable. (Subaccounts are only available for Accounting Premium customers.)
Keep the “Active” selection. You can inactivate the account later if you no longer use it.
Click Save.
Troubleshooting: Why Do I Only See "Sales Tax Payable" as a Liability Subtype?
If you add a Liability account and the only subtype available in the dropdown is Sales Tax Payable, your account is set to Cash Basis. Cash Basis restricts Liability account subtypes to Sales Tax Payable only.
To access the full list of subtypes — including Accounts Payable, Credit Card, Current Liabilities, and Long Term Liabilities — you need to switch to Modified Cash Basis or Accrual Basis.
Go to Settings > General Setup > Transaction Settings.
Under Accounting Basis, select Modified Cash Basis or Accrual Basis.
Click Save.
Return to Settings > Accounting Settings > Chart of Accounts and add your Liability account — the full subtype list will now be available.
Not sure which basis to use? See Which Accounting Basis Should I Use? for a full comparison.
How to Add a New Account to the Chart of Accounts On-the-fly
For your convenience, you can also add a new account “on the fly” when recording a journal entry.
Go to Accounting > Financial Tasks> Journal Entry
, Click the +Add New link beside the Account Drop down
A modal will appear for you to fill in the following fields:
Account Number (if used)
Account Name
Account Type
Subtype (if applicable)
Check the box “Is this a subaccount?” if applicable.
Click Save.
How to Edit an Account in the COA
Under the “Action” column, click the settings ‘cog’ icon. Then, click the “Edit.”
Make changes.
Click Save.
How to Inactivate an Account in the COA
Under the Active column, uncheck the “Active” box.
Click the “Show Inactives” toggle at the top of the Chart of Accounts to see inactive accounts in your COA.
If you do not see a “Delete” icon in that row, it has been used in a transaction or is a system account in the software, and cannot be deleted. Instead, you can inactivate an account with history.
Cleaning Up Imported Charts of Accounts
Once a Chart of Accounts import is saved, it cannot be undone or reverted. If the import contains unwanted accounts, you will need to delete them individually.
Steps to Clean Up an Imported Chart of Accounts
Navigate to Settings > Accounting General Setup > Chart of Accounts.
Identify the accounts you want to remove.
Click the gear icon or settings option next to each account.
Select Delete for unused accounts or Inactive for accounts with transaction history. This process ensures that only the accounts you want remain in your Chart of Accounts.
Once you delete an account, it’s gone for good.
Under the Action column, click the gear icon.
Click the delete link.
Click Yes to confirm your deletion.
If you do not see a “Delete” icon in that row, it has been used in a transaction or is a set account in the software, and cannot be deleted. Instead, you can inactivate an account with history.
