Customize the chart of accounts

What is it for?

The general journal relies on a simplified CGNC chart of accounts provided by default. In the « Plan de comptes » tab, you (or your accountant) can replace any account: for example attach the category « Honoraires professionnels » to account 6136, or give a customer a code of its own. This setting changes neither your documents, nor your balances, nor VAT, nor numbering: it only changes how the entries are presented, and they are recalculated with your accounts.

Example. The accountant of Atlas Conseil asks that hosting costs go to 6148. The owner opens « Plan de comptes », type 6148 next to the category « Serveurs & hébergement » and click « Enregistrer » (save). Expenses of that category immediately appear in 6148 in the journal.

Codes to be validated

The default accounts are a working basis: Billora is not accounting software. Have the chart reviewed by your accountant or chartered accountant before any use.

1. Who can edit the chart?

The owner and the administrators can edit the chart (right « Modifier le plan de comptes »). The accountant, the collaborator and the viewer can only view it: the banner « Plan de comptes en lecture seule : seuls le propriétaire et les administrateurs peuvent le modifier. » (chart read-only: only the owner and administrators can edit it) reminds them and the fields are greyed out. An account scheduled for deletion is read-only. See also Roles and permissions and Permission groups.

2. How Billora chooses an account

For each expense or product category, the order is: your account (badge « Personnalisé »), otherwise a keyword suggestion drawn from the category name (badge « Suggéré »), otherwise the role's default account (badge « Par défaut »). For other lines, it is your account or the default account. The suggestion remains indicative and is never saved on your behalf.

3. Accounts by role

The sections « Comptes de tiers », « TVA », « Ventes », « Achats », « Trésorerie » and « Comptes d'attente » list the roles and their default account:

Role	Default account
Customers / Suppliers	3421 / 4411
VAT invoiced	4455 (one account per rate is possible, see below)
Recoverable VAT on expenses / on fixed assets	34552 / 34551
Sales of goods / of services / line without product	7111 / 7124 / 7124
Discounts, rebates and refunds granted (discount credit notes)	7129
Expenses of a category with no match	6148
Banks / Cash / Cheques to be collected	5141 / 5161 / 5111
Differences to be regularised debit / credit	34971 / 44971 (to be validated)
Unallocated payments / unallocated receipts	34972 / 44973 (to be validated)
Opening balances and carried-forward items (counterpart)	44972 (to be validated)

Enter a number of 4 to 10 digits (classes 1 to 8) of the right nature: customers 342…, suppliers 441…, VAT invoiced 4455…, recoverable VAT 3455…, sales and discounts 71…, expenses 6… (or 2…), bank 514…, cash 516…, cheques 511…, suspense accounts 34… (debit) or 44… (credit; counterpart of carried-forward items: 44… or 11…). The account label is taken from the usual chart when it is known. The section « TVA facturée par taux (facultatif) » (VAT invoiced by rate, optional) lets you give an account to a rate (20%, 14%, 10% or 7%); left empty, the VAT invoiced account is used for all rates. When an expense account is class 2 (fixed asset), VAT is posted to 34551 instead of 34552.

4. Expense and product categories

In « Catégories de dépenses », enter an expense account (class 6) or fixed-asset account (class 2) next to each category.
In « Catégories de produits », enter a revenue account (class 7). Without a category, the product's type (goods or service) determines the account.
Click « Enregistrer » at the bottom of the page. The counter shows the number of unsaved changes; « Annuler » discards them.

Categories are managed in Categories and units.

5. Bank accounts

The section « Comptes bancaires » links each bank account to a cash sub-account (class 5), for example 51411 for the main bank. Without a setting, the default « Banques » account (5141) is used. Cheque deposits follow the deposit's account; transfers and cards follow the default bank account. See Bank accounts.

6. Customers and suppliers (auxiliary accounts)

Each customer and supplier has an auxiliary code: by default their ICE, otherwise a generated code (« C-… » for a customer, « F-… » for a supplier; « F-DIVERS » for an expense without a supplier). In « Comptes de tiers (auxiliaires) », switch between « Clients » and « Fournisseurs », search by name or ICE (50 results at most) and enter the code you want: 1 to 17 letters, digits, dot, hyphen or underscore. Two third parties cannot share the same code.

7. Journals and opening balance

The section « Journaux » lets you change the code of each journal (2 to 6 capital letters or digits; two journals cannot have the same code). The box « Reprendre l'encours initial des clients dans le journal » (carry the customers' opening balance into the journal) in the section « Encours initial des clients » controls whether the opening balance entered on the customer record is carried (opening-balances journal); unticked, neither the opening balance nor its settlements appear in the journal.

8. Return to the default account

The button « Revenir au compte par défaut » (return to the default account) appears next to a customised (or modified) line: it removes your setting and restores the suggestion or the default account after « Enregistrer ». Emptying the field gives the same result. The confirmation « Plan de comptes enregistré. Les écritures sont recalculées avec ces comptes. » is shown on saving, and the action is recorded in the activity log (« Plan de comptes modifié »).

Resetting the account

When you switch to live mode and choose not to keep the configuration, the chart of accounts is reset. It is also included in the full export of your data (file « plan-de-comptes »).

9. Common error messages

« Numéro de compte invalide : 4 à 10 chiffres, classe 1 à 8. »
« Le rôle … doit utiliser un compte commençant par … (plan CGNC). » (and its equivalent for each role) — the chosen account is not of the right nature.
« Une catégorie de dépense se rattache à un compte de charge (classe 6) ou d'immobilisation (classe 2). »
« Une catégorie de produit se rattache à un compte de produit (classe 7). »
« Un compte bancaire se rattache à un compte de trésorerie (classe 5). »
« Code auxiliaire invalide : 1 à 17 lettres, chiffres, point, tiret ou tiret bas. »
« Code de journal invalide : 2 à 6 lettres ou chiffres en majuscules. »
« Deux journaux ne peuvent pas porter le même code. » and « Deux tiers ne peuvent pas porter le même code auxiliaire. »
« Un élément du plan de comptes n'appartient pas à votre entreprise. » — reload the page.

Frequently asked questions

Does changing an account modify my invoices or my VAT?

No. Only the displayed and exported entries use your accounts. Documents, balances, the VAT report and numbering do not change.

Can my accountant do it themselves?

No: the accountant is read-only. They tell you the accounts to use and the owner or an administrator enters them.

What happens if I delete a category?

Its setting no longer has any effect, since no expense is attached to it any more. Entries already calculated for other categories do not change.

Why is the chart of accounts greyed out?

Your role does not allow editing it (only the owner and administrators can), or the account is scheduled for deletion. Ask the owner.