Table of Contents

Who should read this?

Founders and finance leads of Irish limited companies starting or reviewing bookkeeping systems who need clean financial reporting from day one.

Readers learn how to structure a starter chart of accounts tailored to Irish tax and accounting obligations and how to maintain it across software platforms.

Key Takeaways

The chart of accounts determines how easily financial statements, CT1 and VAT3 can be produced throughout the company’s life.
Group accounts under the five core categories: Assets, Liabilities, Equity, Income and Expenses.
Number accounts in standard ranges with room to grow and use clear plain-English names.
Review the chart quarterly, archiving unused accounts and adding new ones only when necessary.

Chart of Accounts for Irish Startups: A Setup Guide

By Paul · May 2026 · 6 min read

If your bookkeeping is the engine of your business numbers, the chart of accounts is the gearbox. Build it well on day one and every report you produce for the rest of the company’s life will be easier. Build it poorly and you will be re-tagging transactions for years.

This guide explains what a chart of accounts is, how to structure one for an Irish limited company, and how to keep it clean as the business grows.

What a chart of accounts actually is

The chart of accounts (CoA) is the list of every category your bookkeeping system can use to classify a transaction. Every euro that moves in or out of the company gets posted to exactly one account on this list. The trial balance, profit and loss, and balance sheet are all summaries of those accounts.

When the CoA is well-structured:

Every transaction has an obvious home
The trial balance ties directly to the financial statements
VAT3, CT1, and management accounts can be produced in a few clicks
New staff can onboard onto the books in an afternoon

When it is poorly structured, every report becomes a treasure hunt and year-end takes weeks instead of days.

The five core categories

Every chart of accounts in the world sits under the same five top-level categories. They follow the basic accounting equation (Assets = Liabilities+ Equity) that drives double-entry bookkeeping:

Assets. What the company owns: cash, debtors, equipment, prepayments
Liabilities. What the company owes: creditors, loans, VAT payable, payroll liabilities
Equity. The owners’ stake: share capital, retained earnings, current-year profit
Income (Revenue). What the company earns: sales, service revenue, other income
Expenses. What the company spends: cost of sales, salaries, rent, software, professional fees

Assets, liabilities, and equity build the balance sheet. Income minus expenses builds the profit and loss. Everything else is a sub-category beneath these five.

Numbering and naming conventions

A consistent numbering system makes the chart navigable. The common four-digit convention for a small Irish LTD:

1000-1999: Assets
2000-2999: Liabilities
3000-3999: Equity
4000-4999: Income
5000-5999: Cost of sales
6000-7999: Operating expenses
8000-8999: Other income and expenses (FX gains, interest, exceptional items)
9000-9999: Tax accounts

Leave gaps between accounts so you can insert new ones later without renumbering. Resist the temptation to create a new account every time something feels different; ten well-used accounts produce better reports than fifty thinly used ones.

Names should describe the account’s purpose in three or four plain words. “Subscriptions and Software” is better than “SaaS”. “Professional Fees: Legal” is better than “Legal Stuff”.

Mapping the chart to Irish reporting needs

The CoA must support four downstream reports:

FRS 102 or FRS 105 financial statements. Each line on the balance sheet and P&L corresponds to one or more accounts. Group accounts by FRS line so the statutory accounts roll up automatically.
CT1 Corporation Tax return. Revenue’s CT1 wants trading income, non-trading income, capital allowances additions, and disallowable expenses split out. Tag those expense accounts with the right CT1 box from the start.
VAT3 return. Income and expense accounts need a default VAT rate. Sales accounts split between 23% standard, 13.5% reduced, 9% second reduced, 0% exports and intra-EU, and exempt. Read our VAT essentials guide before assigning rates.
Annual Return of Trading Details. Sales by VAT rate, purchases by VAT rate. If your sales accounts are split by rate, this report is automatic.

Payroll deserves its own block of liability accounts:

2100 PAYE/USC payable
2110 PRSI payable
2120 Pension payable
2130 Wages control
2140 Director’s loan account (one per director)

These zero out each month when payroll is paid and reconcile the same way a bank account does.

A starter chart for an Irish LTD

A workable starter for a small services LTD:

Code	Account	Type
1000	Business Bank Account	Asset
1100	Trade Debtors	Asset
1200	Prepayments	Asset
1500	Fixed Assets: Computers	Asset
1510	Accumulated Depreciation: Computers	Asset (contra)
2000	Trade Creditors	Liability
2100	PAYE/USC Payable	Liability
2110	PRSI Payable	Liability
2200	VAT Control	Liability
2300	Corporation Tax Payable	Liability
2400	Accruals	Liability
3000	Share Capital	Equity
3100	Retained Earnings	Equity
4000	Sales: Standard Rate	Income
4010	Sales: Zero Rate (EU/Export)	Income
5000	Direct Costs: Contractors	Cost of sales
6000	Salaries	Expense
6100	Employer PRSI	Expense
6200	Pension Contributions	Expense
6500	Rent	Expense
6600	Subscriptions and Software	Expense
6700	Professional Fees	Expense
6800	Travel and Subsistence	Expense
6900	Office and Admin	Expense
9000	Corporation Tax Charge	Expense

A SaaS company adds deferred revenue (2500) and unbilled revenue (1150). A reseller adds stock (1400), cost of goods sold split by product line, and merchant fees (6650). A consultancy can usually run on the starter exactly as shown.

The legal form you operate under will also affect what you need. The limited company vs sole trader comparison covers the differences in reporting expectations.

Setting it up in your software

Xero, QuickBooks, and Sage all come with default Irish chart templates. Each software comes with slightly differing templates. Best practice:

Pick the template that matches your business model (services, retail, SaaS)
Rename and renumber to match your own structure before posting a single transaction
Add the VAT default rate and FRS 102/105 mapping to every account
Lock accounts you do not want staff to use (Suspense, Director’s Loan Account) once setup is complete
Export the chart to a spreadsheet and share it with your accountant for review

Switching software later is painless if the chart is clean. Most accounting tools accept a CoA CSV import; an invoice template and customer list usually migrate in the same export. Archive the old chart in line with our document retention guide before switching.

Keeping the chart clean over time

Review the chart once a quarter:

Archive accounts that have not been used in twelve months
Merge accounts that always get used together
Add new accounts only when an existing one would obscure useful information
Document every change in a simple log so the accountant knows what changed

When you launch a new revenue stream, a new jurisdiction, or a new payroll arrangement, design the new accounts before the first transaction posts, not after.

What to do next

If you are setting up a new Irish LTD this month, copy the starter chart above, refine the names to your own business, and lock it in your accounting platform before you issue the first invoice. If you are already trading and the chart has grown messy, schedule a quarterly clean-up before the next annual return cycle.

Open Forest can build a tailored chart of accounts for your Irish company, map every account to FRS 102 and CT1, and set it up in your software. The first hour is the highest-leverage hour you will spend on bookkeeping this year.

About the Author:

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Paul Burke is a qualified ACA and CTA tax accountant in Ireland.He trained at Forvis Mazars in Galway, gaining experience in various tax heads including Income Tax, Corporation Tax, VAT, Payroll and Tax Advisory.He is now a Tax Consultant in a local tax firm.

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