Chart of Accounts Setup

Go to Accounting → Configuration → Chart of Accounts.

The list shows every account with:

• Code — the account number (e.g., 1000 for cash, 4000 for revenue)
• Account Name — descriptive label
• Type — the account type (Asset, Liability, Equity, Income, Expense)
• Internal Type — sub-type (Receivable, Payable, Bank, etc.)
• Deprecated — archived accounts no longer used

The structure typically follows:

• 1xxx — Assets (cash, receivables, inventory)
• 2xxx — Liabilities (payables, loans)
• 3xxx — Equity
• 4xxx — Revenue
• 5xxx-6xxx — Expenses

Click New (or open an existing account to edit).

Key fields:

• Account Code — unique number following your numbering scheme
• Account Name — clear, descriptive label
• Type — critical: drives P&L vs balance sheet placement
  • Income Accounts → appear on Profit & Loss
  • Expense Accounts → appear on Profit & Loss
  • Receivable / Payable → appear on Balance Sheet, enable partner tracking
  • Bank → linked to a bank journal
• Default Taxes — taxes that auto-apply when this account is selected on a bill or invoice
• Currency — leave blank for company currency, or set for foreign currency accounts
• Deprecated — check to hide the account from new entries (use instead of deleting)

Rather than manually selecting accounts on every invoice line, set defaults on products.

Open a product. Click the Accounting tab:

• Income Account — the revenue account for customer invoices
• Expense Account — the cost account for vendor bills
• COGS Account — cost of goods sold for storable products

When the product is added to an invoice or bill, the correct account is selected automatically.

For categories: Go to Inventory → Configuration → Product Categories and set income/expense/COGS accounts at the category level — all products in that category inherit the setting unless overridden on the product itself.

Go to Accounting → Configuration → Taxes.

Odoo installs default taxes for your country (e.g., 20% VAT, 10% GST). Review and adjust:

• Tax Name — e.g., “Tax 20%”, “EU VAT 21%”
• Tax Type — Sales (on invoices) or Purchase (on vendor bills)
• Computation — Percentage of price, Fixed amount, or Group of taxes
• Tax Accounts — which GL accounts the tax amount posts to

For complex scenarios (multiple tax rates, compound taxes), use Tax Groups to combine taxes. For example, a 5% federal tax + 8% state tax can be combined into a single “13% Sales Tax” group.

Fiscal positions automatically remap taxes and accounts based on the customer’s location or tax status.

Go to Accounting → Configuration → Fiscal Positions. Click New:

• Name — e.g., “EU B2B (Intra-Community)”, “US Customer”, “Tax Exempt”
• Auto-detect — automatically applies when creating invoices for matching customers
  • By country, country group, or VAT number
• Tax Mapping — “When tax X is used, replace it with tax Y”
• Account Mapping — “When account A is used, replace it with account B”

Example: For EU business customers with a VAT number (intra-community supply), a fiscal position maps 20% VAT → 0% VAT and posts to the intra-community revenue account.

Go to Accounting → Configuration → Settings → Fiscal Year.

Set:

• Start Date — the beginning of your financial year (e.g., January 1 or April 1)
• Last Day — the last day of your fiscal year

Odoo uses this for:

• Period locking (closing old periods to prevent edits)
• Annual financial reports
• Tax return periods (quarterly/monthly VAT filing)

After your first fiscal year ends, go to Accounting → Configuration → Lock Dates to lock the closed period, preventing accidental edits to historical data.