The Chart of Accounts lists the ledger accounts your organization uses to track financial transactions in SmartRec — both your custom ledger accounts and SmartRec’s system-generated ones.
Everything you sell requires a custom revenue ledger account. Once your ledger accounts are created, for each item in your store, you'll associate a revenue account in the Ledger code field on the item's configuration page.
Before you start
Admins need the Billing and sales permission to view, create, and edit in the Chart of accounts. Click here to read more about permissions.
Is this the first time setting up your chart of accounts? Make sure the right accounting type (accrual or cash) is selected in the Settings subtab.
Only custom revenue ledger accounts can be assigned to items sold in SmartRec. Only ledger codes from these ledger accounts appear in financial reports.
System-generated ledger accounts appear in journal entries only.
Admins with permission can refer to the Ledger account configurations by item report (in the Reports tab) to see which revenue ledger codes are assigned to store items.
1. How to create a ledger account
Organizations can create custom ledger accounts. Typically, these will be revenue-revenue type ledger accounts, for the purpose of assigning them to your store items and showing in your financial reports to track revenue from each item sold.
Each ledger account has its own code, name, type, sub-type, and description.
💡 Do you know about ledger account assignments?
SmartRec can enable extra ledger account types—by request—to create, assign, and track deferred revenue, discounts, deferred discounts, and accounts receivable in accrual journal entries. Click here to learn more!
Follow these steps to create a ledger account
Go to the Accounting and finance > General ledger setup tab.
Click the Chart of accounts subtab.
Click New ledger account.
Complete the ledger account configuration form. If you're unsure, speak with the person(s) responsible for your accounting.
Code: The GL code tied to the ledger account (100-120 character limit).
Name: To identify the ledger account (100-120 character limit).
Type and sub-type: In most cases, you can only create revenue-type accounts. The revenue-revenue type and sub-type is the type of ledger account that can be linked to your store items. More on ledger account types and sub-types in SmartRec.
When you have access to Ledger Assignments, you can create additional ledger account types. Click here for more info.
Description (optional): Provide info to further identify the ledger account. These details only appear when you edit the ledger account.
5. Save when finished.
6. After you create a revenue-type ledger account, you can associate its ledger code to your offer(s) in the SmartRec store.
To do this, select the ledger code in the Ledger code field on the item’s configuration form (for activities, memberships, merchandise, etc.).
Example of the ledger code field on an item's config form
If you don’t see the ledger code you need in an item’s configuration form, you can create a new one directly from the Ledger code field.
A new tab will open where you can enter the details. Once you save it, the new ledger code will automatically appear for selection in the Ledger code field on the item’s configuration form.
2. How to filter, edit, and archive ledger accounts
The Chart of accounts lists ledger accounts in alphanumerical order, then alphabetical order. Active accounts appear, but you can filter to show inactive ones.
2.1 How to search and filter for a ledger account
The search bar pulls results when one or more characters match the code or name.
Use single characters to pull ledger accounts with the same letter or number in it.
Use a sequence of characters to pull ledger accounts that are an exact match.
For example, typing “sit” returns results with “sit,” but “tis” won’t return anything unless the ledger code or name exactly matches that sequence.
You can filter by type, sub-type, status, and include system-generated accounts.
Click the Filters button to expand the filter options.
2.2 How to edit a ledger account
To edit a ledger account, click Edit in the Actions column.
You may edit the code and name on system-generated ledger accounts.
You may edit the code, name, and description on your custom ledger accounts.
Fields you can edit | Code | Name | Type | Description |
Custom ledger accounts | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✖️ | ✔️ |
System-generated accounts | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✖️ | ✖️ |
❗ Important info on editing ledger accounts
When you edit the code or name of a ledger account, the change is applied throughout SmartRec, including all past and current financial reports.
It updates all past and new journal entries to reflect the new changes.
When you change the ledger code assigned to an item (for another ledger code), the change is applied to sales moving forward.
The item’s updated ledger code will appear in reports from the date the change is made onward. Report data from earlier dates remains unchanged (they’ll still show the previous ledger code). You can trust your reports to reflect accurate historical data.
The item's updated ledger code will appear on new invoices from the date the change is made onward. In the client's billing, older invoices remain unchanged (i.e., the item's previous ledger code still appears).
The item's updated ledger code will appear in journal entries from the date the change is made onward. Older journal entries remain unchanged.
2.3 How to archive a ledger account
To archive a ledger account, click Archive in the Actions column.
To unarchive a ledger account, click Unarchive in the Actions column.
❗ Important info on archiving ledger accounts
If you archive a ledger account that’s associated to an item, its ledger code still remains attached to the item(s). You will need to change it manually.
See FAQ #8 to see the quickest way to audit
which archived ledger code is assigned to store items.
Once a ledger account is used in a sale, it can only be archived, not deleted.
You may delete a ledger account if it isn't linked to any sale.
You can't delete or archive system-generated ledger accounts.
3. FAQ
1) Which permissions are required to use the Chart of accounts?
To view the Chart of accounts, and to add or edit ledger accounts, admins require the Billing and sales permission.
To view the Ledger account configurations by item report, admins require the Accounting Reports permission.
2) What does it mean if my accounting type is cash or accrual?
The accounting type in the General ledger setup > Settings subtab informs the Amilia team of how best to guide you when you have financial reporting questions.
However, organizations have access to both accrual and cash accounting reports in the Reports tab.
💵 Cash Accounting - A focus on payments
Selecting cash accounting lets us know you recognize revenue on payment.
- Example -
An item is invoiced on May 5, and the client pays on May 8.
Once the payment is reconciled to the invoice, revenue from that sale is recognized on May 8—the date cash was received.
📃 Accrual Accounting - A focus on invoices
Selecting accrual accounting lets us know you recognize revenue when the service or product is provided, regardless of when payment is received. This method tracks both earned and deferred revenue.
-Example-
An activity is invoiced and paid for on May 5.
However, the activity occurs on May 7.
Revenue from that sale is recognized on May 7— when the service occurs.
3) What is a ledger account and a ledger code?
A ledger account tracks all financial activity for a specific category (like revenue, accounts receivable, etc.) It includes details like the ledger (GL) code tied to the account, the name, the type and sub-type of account, as well as a description.
Each ledger account has a unique ledger code, a unique numeric or alphanumeric identifier that is tied to the ledger account in the system, and helps organize transactions and reports. For example, you associate revenue ledger codes to the items sold in the SmartRec store to track its sales.
4) What is a system-generated ledger account?
SmartRec maintains a double entry journal to track how transactions (events) affect the balance of accounts in your general ledger. These are called 'journal entries'.
System-generated ledger accounts are created by SmartRec and used by default in journal entries to track the movement of revenue.
System-generated ledger accounts can't be associated to your offers in SmartRec, and don't appear in your usual financial reports.
5) What types and sub-types of ledger accounts are there?
In SmartRec, there are 3 ledger account types : revenue, asset, and liability.
Each ledger account type has sub-type accounts:
Ledger account type | Sub-types | High level purpose |
Revenue (in reports & journal entries) | Revenue, Discounts, Scholarships | To track income earned on each item sold |
Asset (in journal entries only) | Cash, Accounts receivable | To track payments received and owed |
Liability (in journal entries only) | Account deposit, Sales tax, Deferred revenue, Multipass, Gift cards |
|
📄 Only Revenue - Revenue ledger codes appear in your financial reports 📄
6) What type of ledger accounts can I assign to items in SmartRec?
Only Revenue-type ledger accounts with the Revenue sub-type (e.g., revenue-revenue) can be associated to items in SmartRec.
7) What is the 0000-Default revenue ledger account used for?
If a custom ledger code isn't associated to an item, SmartRec automatically assigns it with the system-generated 0000 - Default ledger code to track its revenue in your financial reports.
8) Can I see which items custom revenue ledger accounts are assigned to?
You can see which revenue ledger accounts are assigned to your store items by going to the Reports tab and downloading the Ledger account configurations by item report.
The Ledger account configurations by item report lists each association of a ledger account to an item's configuration, including archived ones. This report is useful to verify that all items are correctly configured with the right ledger accounts.
9) What's the character limit on the code and name fields?
The Code and Name fields can hold 100–120 characters, depending on the characters used, since some take up more space than others.
10) Do clients see ledger codes or ledger accounts?
Clients don't see any ledger information.
11) What are journal entries?
A journal entry is a record of a financial transaction in your accounting system. It shows which accounts were affected, how much was debited and credited, and the date of the transaction.
Each journal entry keeps your books balanced — every debit has an equal credit. For example, when you record a sale, you might credit a revenue account and debit a cash or receivable account.
Journal entries form the foundation of your General Ledger, which is used to produce financial reports like balance sheets and income statements.
Journal entries are visible to all organizations!
Click here to read about journal entry scenarios for cash accounting.
Click here to read about the journal entry report for accrual accounting.
Click here to read about journal entry scenarios for accrual accounting.
12) What is a custom ledger account?
A custom ledger account is any ledger account created by an admin at your organization. There are custom ledger accounts created by you and your team, and then there are system-generated default ledger accounts created by SmartRec.
13) What if I archive a ledger code that's still associated to an item?
If you archive a ledger code that's still associated to an item, the ledger code remains on the item until you manually remove it by selecting another ledger code to replace it with (on the item's configuration page).
Once you replace the archived ledger code, it's no longer available for selection. This is intended so you don't associate archived ledger codes to new offers in the store. By downloading the Ledger account configurations by item report (in the Reports tab, under 'Others'), you can easily identify if any archived ledger codes remain associated to your offers.
* Last updated in December 2025
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