How Do You Clean Up a Chart of Accounts? A Small Business Guide
Your chart of accounts (COA) is the backbone of your entire bookkeeping system. But over time-especially if multiple people have worked on your books-it can get messy.
If you’ve got duplicate accounts, vague names, or inconsistent categories, your reports become confusing, your taxes get harder, and your business decisions suffer.
Here’s how to clean up your chart of accounts and why it’s often easier (and safer) to let a team like RemoteBooksOnline handle the fix.
What Is the Chart of Accounts?
The chart of accounts is a structured list of all the categories you use to record transactions-things like:
- Revenue (e.g., sales income, rental income)
- Expenses (e.g., advertising, payroll, utilities)
- Assets (e.g., bank accounts, inventory)
- Liabilities (e.g., loans, taxes payable)
- Equity (e.g., owner’s capital, retained earnings)
Think of it as your financial filing cabinet. If it’s disorganized, everything downstream-like your profit & loss and balance sheet-will be wrong or misleading.
Common Signs Your Chart of Accounts Needs Cleanup
- You have multiple versions of the same expense (e.g., “Office Supplies” and “Office supply”)
- There are unused accounts cluttering your reports
- Income is getting recorded to “Miscellaneous” regularly
- You can’t match transactions in QuickBooks to proper categories
- Your CPA complains at tax time every year
These are all red flags-and they’re common among businesses that need catch-up bookkeeping too.
Use Case: Marketing Agency with a Messy COA
Jake runs a digital agency in Atlanta and uses QuickBooks. Over the past 3 years, he had 2 different freelancers, a short-lived in-house bookkeeper, and even tried doing it himself.
The result?
- Over 180 accounts in the COA
- Duplicate accounts for “Software Subscriptions” and “Apps”
- Loan repayments posted under “Owner Draws”
- Vendor refunds buried in “Other Income”
He signed up with RemoteBooksOnline and we:
- Cleaned up and merged duplicate accounts
- Re-mapped transactions to proper categories
- Archived inactive and unused accounts
- Delivered a clean chart and CPA-ready books in under 30 days
Now Jake gets reports he actually understands-and so does his accountant.
How to Clean Up a Chart of Accounts (Without Wrecking Your Reports)
If you’re brave enough to try it solo, here’s the safe approach:
- Backup your books first
- Print out your current chart
- Identify duplicates and unused accounts
- Merge or rename accounts only if no critical history is tied
- Re-map past transactions carefully
- Test financial reports after each change
Or you can skip the risk and use our QuickBooks bookkeeping service to fix it for you-accurately and quickly.
When to Call for Help
You need help cleaning up your chart of accounts if:
- You’re more than 3 months behind
- You’re not sure what half the accounts are for
- You can’t trust your profit & loss report
- You’re switching accountants or payroll platforms
- Your CPA told you your books are a mess
We include COA cleanup as part of our catch-up bookkeeping and monthly bookkeeping packages.
FAQs
Will cleaning up the chart of accounts mess up my reports?
Not if it’s done properly. We re-map everything behind the scenes so your reports stay consistent.
Can I clean my chart in QuickBooks myself?
Yes-but it’s easy to make irreversible mistakes. Our QuickBooks bookkeeping team can handle it safely.
Do I have to be caught up before cleanup?
No. If you’re behind, our catch-up service includes chart of accounts cleanup.
Will you coordinate with my CPA?
Yes. We’ll make sure the COA format matches what your tax preparer needs.
Final Thought
Your chart of accounts is where your financial clarity begins-or ends. Don’t let outdated, overcomplicated categories sabotage your reports, your taxes, or your time.
Need help getting your COA (and books) in order? Request a quote and let us clean things up for good.
If you’re seeing strange account names in QuickBooks, or your financial reports just don’t make sense, our QuickBooks bookkeeping specialists can help restructure your chart of accounts the right way. Behind on your books too? Our catch-up bookkeeping includes COA cleanup so you’re not dragging baggage into the new year.
We also include chart setup and maintenance in all our monthly bookkeeping services – so you’ll never have to deal with this again.
