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Your chart of accounts is where every transaction ends up. Money comes in? It goes to a revenue account. You pay rent? It goes to an expense account. Buy equipment? Asset account. Think of it as a filing system for money. The better organized it is, the easier it is to understand where your money goes — and to answer questions like “how much did I spend on software this year?”

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The five types of accounts

Every account falls into one of five categories:
TypeWhat it tracksIncreases when…
AssetsWhat you ownYou receive money or buy something valuable
LiabilitiesWhat you oweYou borrow money or receive a bill
EquityOwner’s stakeYou invest in the business or keep profits
RevenueMoney earnedYou invoice a customer or make a sale
ExpensesMoney spentYou buy something or pay for a service
That’s it. Every transaction in your business touches at least one of these.

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Setting up your chart

When you complete Pluvel setup, you choose a template:
TemplateAccountsBest for
Simple~25Freelancers, consultants, solo businesses
Standard~50Most small businesses
Advanced~100+Businesses with complex reporting needs
Don’t overthink it. Start with Standard. You can add accounts later but removing them is harder (accounts with transactions can’t be deleted, only archived).

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How accounts are organized

Accounts form a hierarchy: 
Assets
├── Cash and Bank
│   ├── Operating Checking
│   ├── Savings
│   └── Petty Cash
├── Accounts Receivable
└── Fixed Assets
    ├── Equipment
    └── Vehicles
Sub-accounts roll up to their parents. When you look at a report, you can see “Cash and Bank: $50,000” or drill down to see each individual bank account.

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Adding accounts

Go to Accounting → Chart of Accounts → Add Account. You’ll need:
  • Name — What you’ll see in reports (“Software Subscriptions”, “Travel Expenses”)
  • Type — One of the five categories
  • Parent (optional) — Where it sits in the hierarchy
  • Number (optional) — Pluvel auto-assigns if you skip this
That’s it. The account is ready to use.
Most businesses add 5-10 custom accounts over time. Common additions: specific expense categories for your industry, separate bank accounts, or sub-accounts for tracking by department.

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Account numbers

Account numbers help organize and sort. Pluvel uses a standard numbering scheme:
RangeType
1000-1999Assets
2000-2999Liabilities
3000-3999Equity
4000-4999Revenue
5000-5999Cost of Goods Sold
6000-8999Expenses
9000-9999Other Income/Expense
You don’t have to memorize these — Pluvel auto-assigns within the right range based on account type. But if you care about account numbers (accountants often do), you can set them manually.

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Common chart of accounts mistakes

Too many accounts. Having separate accounts for “Google Ads”, “Facebook Ads”, “LinkedIn Ads”, and “Twitter Ads” seems organized, but your reports become unreadable. One “Advertising” account with a memo field for the platform is usually better. Too few accounts. Everything dumped into “Miscellaneous Expense” means you can’t analyze spending. If you’re constantly using “Misc” or “Other”, you need more specific accounts. Wrong account types. Putting owner draws in “Expenses” instead of “Equity” makes your P&L misleading. If something seems off in your reports, check that accounts are the right type. Duplicate accounts. “Office Supplies” and “Office Supply” both exist because you created one and forgot. Merge them.

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Editing accounts

Click any account to edit:
  • Rename it
  • Change its parent
  • Update the description
  • Deactivate it (if you’re not using it anymore)
Be careful changing an account’s type after transactions exist. A “Software” expense becoming a “Software” asset changes your financial statements retroactively. Ask your accountant first.

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Deactivating vs. deleting

Deactivating hides an account from dropdowns but keeps it in reports. Use this for accounts you no longer need but have historical transactions. Deleting removes the account entirely. You can only delete accounts with zero transactions. Most of the time, deactivate rather than delete.

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Merging accounts

Made duplicates? Merge them:
  1. Go to Chart of Accounts
  2. Click Merge Accounts
  3. Select the accounts to combine
  4. Choose which one to keep
  5. All transactions move to the surviving account

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Importing from another system

Switching from QuickBooks, Xero, or Wave? You can import your chart of accounts:
  1. Export your chart from the old system (usually CSV)
  2. Go to Chart of Accounts → Import
  3. Map columns (account name, number, type, parent)
  4. Review the preview
  5. Import
Pluvel will match account types as best it can. Review the results — sometimes “Fixed Assets” gets imported as a generic “Asset” and needs adjustment.

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Tips from real users

Freelancers: You probably need 20-30 accounts max. Revenue for each type of service you offer, expenses broken out by category, and a few asset accounts for your bank and equipment. Don’t overcomplicate it. Agencies: Consider tracking revenue by service type (Design, Development, Strategy) and expenses by department if you have teams. E-commerce: You’ll want Cost of Goods Sold accounts for inventory tracking, plus separate expense accounts for shipping, packaging, and marketplace fees. Professional services: Keep client-related expenses (meals, travel, client gifts) separate from operating expenses for profitability analysis.

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Viewing your chart

Go to Accounting → Chart of Accounts to see everything:
  • Filter by type (just show expenses)
  • Filter by status (hide inactive accounts)
  • Search by name or number
  • See current balances
Click any account to see its transaction history.

Journal entries

Post manual entries to your accounts.

Reports

See your accounts in context on financial statements.