What a chart of accounts is
Your chart of accounts (COA) is the list of all the categories money flows in and out of. Every transaction is assigned to one or more accounts.
A typical COA has:
- Assets — what you own (cash, receivables, equipment).
- Liabilities — what you owe (payables, loans, accrued expenses).
- Equity — what the business is worth to owners.
- Revenue — income from sales.
- Expenses — costs (salaries, rent, software, marketing).
The default COA
When you set up a company, Dotio provisions a standard IFRS-aligned chart of accounts covering the categories most businesses need. You can use it as-is. Most don’t need to customize.
Customizing
Go to Bookkeeping → Chart of Accounts to:
- Add new accounts.
- Rename accounts to match your preferred terminology.
- Deactivate accounts you don’t use.
- Reorganize the structure.
You can also ask Dotio: “Add a new expense account for contractor payments.” Done.
System accounts
A few accounts are protected — things like “FX Rounding” or “Retained Earnings.” You can rename them but you can’t delete them. Dotio uses them automatically for system operations.
Multi-currency accounts
If you work in multiple currencies, each account can hold balances in multiple currencies. Dotio tracks each separately and rolls them up to your base currency for reporting.