Managing Accounts

Once your Chart of Accounts is set up, you may need to modify accounts as your business evolves. This guide covers editing, deactivating, and deleting accounts.

Note

Only owners and admins can manage accounts. Team members with the member role can view accounts and their line items but cannot make changes.

Editing an Account

1. Open the Action Menu

   Find the account in your Chart of Accounts list and click the ⋮ (three dots) menu.

2. Select “Edit”

   The edit form will open with the account’s current details.

3. Make Your Changes

   You can update:

   • Account Name — rename to something more descriptive
   • GL Code — change the numeric code (must remain unique and within the correct range for the account type)
   • Account Type — change the category (Asset, Liability, Equity, Revenue, Expense)
   • Description — add or update notes
   • Sub-category — refine the classification
   • Account Flags — toggle flags like Payment Account or Non-Cash Expense in the Advanced section. See Account Flags for details.

4. Save Changes

   Click “Confirm” to apply your edits.

What Can’t Be Changed?

Caution

Account type is locked once you post a journal entry to the account. Changing an asset to an expense, for example, would misreport historical debits on your financial statements.

If you need a different account type after posting entries, create a new account of the desired type and use journal entries to transfer the balance.

System accounts (like Retained Earnings) and required accounts cannot be edited at all — they are essential to the accounting system’s integrity.

GL Code Validation

When changing a GL code, LedgerBuk enforces:

Rule	Example
Must be exactly 4 digits	1050 ✅, 12 ❌, ABCD ❌
Must be unique within your organization	Two accounts can’t share the same GL code
Must match the account type range	Asset accounts must use 1000–1999, Liabilities 2000–2999, etc.

The form shows the valid range as a hint below the GL code field.

Deactivating an Account

If an account is no longer needed but has historical transactions, deactivate it instead of deleting it.

1. Open the Action Menu for the account
2. Select “Deactivate”
3. The account status changes to Inactive

Inactive accounts:

• Cannot be used in new journal entries
• Are preserved for historical reporting
• Can be reactivated at any time by selecting “Activate” from the action menu
• Appear in the “Inactive” filter on the Chart of Accounts page

Deleting an Account

Accounts that were created by mistake or are no longer relevant can be deleted — but only if they meet certain conditions.

1. Open the Action Menu for the account
2. Select “Delete”
3. Confirm the deletion in the confirmation dialog

Deletion Requirements

An account can only be deleted if all of the following are true:

Requirement	Why
No journal entries	Transactions must be preserved for audit compliance
Zero balance	Must settle the balance first before removing
Not a system account	System accounts (e.g., Retained Earnings) are protected
Not a required account	Required template accounts are protected

Tip

If you can’t delete an account because it has entries, consider deactivating it instead. Deactivated accounts are hidden from daily use but remain in reports.

Permissions Summary

Action	Owner	Admin	Member
View accounts	✅	✅	✅
View line items	✅	✅	✅
Add account	✅	✅	❌
Edit account	✅	✅	❌
Deactivate / Activate	✅	✅	❌
Delete account	✅	✅	❌

Members will not see the “Add Account” button or action menus for editing and deleting. They can still click on an account row to view its journal entry line items.

Viewing Line Items

To see which journal entries affect an account:

1. Click the account row or select “View Line Items” from the action menu
2. A modal shows all postings for that account — date, description, debit/credit amounts, and entry number
3. Line items are sorted by date, newest first
4. If there are more than 10 items, use the pagination controls at the bottom to navigate between pages

Tip

Line items display up to 1,000 entries per account. For accounts with very high activity, consider reviewing specific periods via financial reports instead.