Before you review the account list
A new company file can already contain many accounts. Before entering daily transactions, check which ones your business will actually use and what each one means. The result should be a dated account mapping that the person responsible for your bookkeeping has approved.
This guide covers US QuickBooks Desktop and Enterprise for Windows. It completes an account-list review, including small approved additions or name corrections. It does not complete opening balances, reclassify historical transactions or merge accounts. QuickBooks Online and Mac use different screens.
Have access to the correct company file, permission to review and edit its accounts, and an approved list of the categories your business needs. Use your accounting owner's existing chart or reporting requirements as the reference. If a type or classification has not been approved, mark it for review rather than guessing from the account name.
Agree a quiet period before changes. Save a backup: choose File > Switch to Single-user Mode if needed, then File > Back Up Company > Create Local Backup. Choose Local Backup, select the folder through Browse, confirm the options and choose Save it now, then Next. Wait for the completion message. See Intuit's backup instructions for the installed version.
1. Save the starting account list
Open Lists > Chart of Accounts. Check that you are in the intended company before editing. Turn on Include inactive so an existing unused account does not get overlooked and recreated.
Open Reports > List > Account Listing. Keep a dated copy with the review records. To export from Desktop, use the report's Excel > Create New Worksheet route and save the resulting export. Intuit documents this under the QuickBooks Desktop section of its list-export guidance; you do not need to migrate to Online.
Use the report as your starting snapshot and the Chart of Accounts for checking individual records. If your report omits inactive entries, record them separately from the list. Keep the company name, review date and backup location in your private review notes, not on a public website.
2. Match each category to an account
Work through the approved category list one line at a time. For each category, record the intended use, existing QuickBooks account name, account type, any parent account and the decision. Compare purpose as well as spelling: two different names can describe the same spending, while similar names can be intentionally separate.
- Use existing: the account's purpose, type and hierarchy match the approved plan.
- Clarify: two accounts appear to serve the same purpose, or the intended classification is uncertain. Identify who will decide.
- Review inactive: a suitable account exists but is inactive. Ask whether it should be reused before creating another.
- Add approved account: no suitable account exists and the owner has approved its name, type and parent relationship.
| Business need | What the review finds | Decision to record |
|---|---|---|
| Office supplies | Both Office Supplies and Stationery exist | Ask whether they have distinct purposes; choose the approved destination before posting |
| Courier costs | Courier Expense sits under Delivery Expense | Confirm the parent and child have the same type and the hierarchy matches the reporting plan |
| Travel costs | Travel Expense exists but is inactive | Review reuse of the existing account before adding a second one |
| Equipment purchase | The name is known, but its classification is unapproved | Hold the mapping for the accounting owner; do not choose a type from the name alone |
Add columns for the approved QuickBooks account, reviewer and completion date in your working copy. Each category needs a clear destination or an explicit hold. Avoid a vague instruction such as “use whichever looks closest.”
3. Check account types and subaccounts
Open the relevant account's edit window to inspect its type and parent relationship. Compare these with the approved mapping. An attractive account name does not establish that its type is correct.
A subaccount must have the same account type as its parent in Desktop. Use the hierarchy only when it matches the reporting plan. If an existing parent, type or account purpose appears wrong, record the affected account and obtain an approved correction before proceeding, especially when it already has activity.
QuickBooks creates some accounts for its own workflows, including receivables, payables and other special accounts. Do not remove an unfamiliar account merely to shorten the list. Intuit's chart-of-accounts explanation describes those functions. Opening Balance Equity also needs review as part of the conversion plan; its presence alone is not a reason to post an adjustment during this list check.
4. Make only the approved corrections
For a missing account, choose Account > New in the Chart of Accounts. Select the approved type and Continue, enter its details, then Save & Close. For an approved child account, select Subaccount of and its same-type parent before saving.
For a name correction, right-click the account, choose Edit Account, change the approved details and save. To reuse an approved inactive account, show inactive entries, edit the account, clear Account is inactive and save. These controls follow Intuit's Desktop account-management instructions.
If a name change asks to merge with an existing account, cancel the prompt and stop that correction. Intuit's merge guidance confirms that identical names can trigger this operation. A spelling correction is not permission to combine records. Keep both names in the review notes for a separate approved decision.
Do not enter an opening amount, create a balancing journal or import historical transactions during this account-list review. Keep those actions in the approved opening-balance plan so an amount is not loaded twice. Do not delete accounts or change a used account's type simply to make this checklist look complete.
5. Verify the saved account mapping
- Return to the Chart of Accounts with inactive entries visible. Reopen every account you changed and compare its saved name, type, parent and active status with the approved decision.
- Check that every newly added account appears once. Search the list again for alternative names with the same purpose.
- Run Account Listing again and save an after-review copy. Compare it with the starting snapshot and explain each addition or change in your notes.
- For every intended daily-bookkeeping category, record its exact destination account or mark it held. Ask the accounting owner to approve the mapping and resolve exceptions before affected transactions are entered.
- Save a fresh backup after the checked changes. Retain both snapshots, the decision log and the approved mapping together.
The review is complete when the saved records match the approved plan and all exceptions have an owner and a clear status. The company is ready to use the approved categories once its other setup checks are complete. A category still marked held is not ready for posting.
If the saved result differs from the plan, stop and compare the before-and-after records. Avoid repeated edits while other users continue posting. Give the reviewer the affected account names and the change log. If recovery from backup is considered, first account for work entered since that backup so restoring it does not discard later transactions.
What this review does and does not establish
You now have a checked account list and a usable mapping for the categories that were approved. This does not prove that historical balances are correct or that every transaction has been classified correctly. Complete the opening-balance and reconciliation work separately, using the approved records.
The official US Intuit pages linked here were reviewed on 13 October 2026. Controls can vary by version and region. The worksheet is an original example, not a customer record or evidence of a native QuickBooks test. Accounting classifications and corrections require the accounting owner's approval.
Related setup guides
Once account mapping is approved, set up and check a service item before staff use it for billing.
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