Your Chart of Accounts (COA) is the foundational map of your financial system. It defines the categories used for every transaction, which then flow directly into your General Ledger to build your Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss (P&L) statements.
🧩 How the COA Works in Puzzle
Puzzle provides a robust default COA designed for startups, but it is fully flexible to meet your specific business model.
Categorization: Every account in the COA acts as a "category." When you apply a category to a transaction, Puzzle records it in the corresponding General Ledger account.
Automation: Using rules, you can automate this mapping so recurring transactions flow to the correct account without manual intervention.
Parent & Sub-accounts: Puzzle uses a hierarchical structure to keep your data organized.
💡 Can I book a transaction to a Parent Account?
Whether you can "book" (categorize) a transaction directly to a Parent account depends on its type:
System-Generated Parents with Sub-accounts: If a default Puzzle account has sub-accounts living under it (e.g., a "Bank" parent with specific "Mercury" and "Chase" sub-accounts), you cannot book directly to the Parent. You must choose a specific sub-account.
System-Generated Parents WITHOUT Sub-accounts: If a default account has no sub-accounts, you can book to it directly.
Custom Accounts: Any accounts or sub-accounts you create manually are always open for direct categorization.
🏗️ Account Numbering Strategy
Puzzle uses a standardized 5-digit numbering system to keep your financials logical and scalable.
10000-Series: Asset accounts
10000-14999 >>> Current
Order of liquidity**
10000-10999 >>> Cash and Cash Equivalents
11000-11999 >>> Marketable Securities and Investments, Reserves of Cash
12000-12999 >>> Accounts receivable
13000-13999 >>> Prepaid Assets & Other Current Assets
13000-13499 >>> Prepaid Assets
13500-13999 >>> Other Current Assets
13600-13699 >>> Current tax assets
14000-14999 >>> Inventory
15000-19999 >>> Noncurrent
Order of liquidity**
15000-16999 Fixed Assets
Buildings
Machines
Land
16000-16999 Investments
17000-17999 Intangible Assets
18000-18999 Goodwill
19000-19999 Other Noncurrent Assets
19600-19699 >>> Noncurrent tax liabilities
20000-Series: Liability accounts
20000-25999 >>> Current
20000-20999 >>> AP to Vendors
21000-21999 >>> AP Payables to Other Parties
21100 >>> payables to CC companies
21200 >>> payables to Benefits Provider
21900 >>> Interco payables
22000-22999 >>> Short-term notes payable and Debt due in <12 months
23000-23999 >>> Accrued Payroll
24000-24999 >>> Deferred Revenue <12 months
25000-25999 >>> Accrued Taxes, Leases, Interest, Other
26000-29999 >>> Noncurrent
26000-26999 >>> Debt due in >12 months
27000-27999 >>> Deferred Revenue >12 months
29000-29999 >>> Other Noncurrent Liabilities
30000-series: Equity accounts
30000-30999 >>> Common stock and related accounts
31000-31999 >>> Preferred stock and related accounts
32000-32999 >>> SAFEs, hybrid equity instruments, and related accounts
33000-33999 >>> APIC.
34000-34999 >>> Retained earnings and related accounts
35000-35999 >>> Other equity
39000-39999 >>> Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income and related accounts
40000-series: Revenue accounts (operating revenue only)
40000-40999 >>> Subscription Revenue
41000-41999 >>> Services Revenue
42000-42999 >>> Transaction Revenue
43000-43999 >>> Usage Revenue
48000-48999 >>> Partnership Revenue
49000-49999 >>> Miscellaneous Revenue
50000-series: Cost of revenue accounts
50000-50999 >>> Cost of Materials
51000-51999 >>> Hosting Fees
52000-52999 >>> CoR Software used directly in delivery of product or services
53000-53999 >>> Payment Processor Fees
54000-54999 >>> Shipping Costs
55000-55999 >>> Allocated salaries and labor
56000-58999 >>> [UNDEFINED - possibly: overhead allocations, packaging, etc. - depends on industry]
59000-59999 >>> Other
60000-series: Standard operating expense accounts (standard purchases and disbursement categories)
60000-60999 >>> Payroll
61000-61999 >>> Other Employee Costs
62000-62999 >>> Travel
63000-63999 >>> Meals & Entertainment
64000-64999 >>> Professional Services
65000-65999 >>> Sales & Marketing
66000-66999 >>> Technology & Software
67000-67999 >>> Facilities
68000-68999 >>> General Operations
69000-69990 >>> [UNDEFINED - can be used by users for additional exp categories]
70000-series: Other operating expense accounts (non-cash expenses and miscellaneous operating expenses not directly related to expected ongoing operations)
70000-70999 >>> Depreciation
71000-71999 >>> Amortization of intangibles
72000-72999 >>> Amortization of goodwill
73000-75999 >>> [UNDEFINED]
76000-76999 >>> Bad debt expense (write offs and reserve)
77000-78999 >>> [UNDEFINED]
79000-79000 >>> Other & misc operating expense
8 = Non-Operating income accounts
80000-80999 >>> Non-Operating Income & Expenses
81000-82999 >>> [UNDEFINED - users can use for their specific income and expense types if desired]
83000-83999 >>> Credit Card Rewards
84000-85999 >>> [UNDEFINED]
86000-86999 >>> Taxes
87000-87999 >>> Interest Expense
88000-88999 >>> Interest and Dividend Income
89000-89999 >>> Other (misc)
9 = Uncategorized and P&L clearing (requires attention to resolve)
91000-91999 >>> Uncategorized Revenue
92000-92999 >>> Uncategorized Expense
93000-93999 >>> [UNDEFINED]
Ending conventions
005, 050, and 500 >>> Contra-account
For an account with multiple contra-accounts (e.g. refunds and discounts for revenue), add intervals of 10
9, 99, and 999 >>> Adjustment account
98 and 998, then 97, 997 should be used if there are multiple types of adjustment accounts
Note 1: The “5” ending conventions are appended starting with the first zero of the related account but not before the 2nd digit, and the “9” ending can start after the 1st digit (e.g. 42000 becomes 42500 or 42999, while 40000 becomes 40500 or 49999)
However, the number should not be greater than then next-highest account number to which the manual adjustment does not apply (e.g. if 40000 is subscription revenue and 41000 is services revenue, 40999 should be the manual adjustment account rather than 49999, even though the 2nd digit slot is available.)
💡 Best Practices for Customization
While you can add both Parent and Sub-accounts, follow these guidelines to keep your reporting clean:
Avoid "Vendor Fatigue": Don't create a new account for every individual vendor (e.g., "Slack Account," "Zoom Account"). Instead, use a broader "Software & Subscriptions" account and use Puzzle's vendor filters to see specific spend.
Summary Level Detail: Your COA should provide a high-level summary of your business health. If an account becomes too specific, it can make your financial statements harder to read.
Use "Contra-Accounts": Use these for items that offset a category, such as Revenue Reductions (Discounts) or Accumulated Depreciation. These typically end in
005,050, or500.
Logical Sequencing: When creating a new account, choose a number that fits logically within its group. For example, if 41000 is Services Revenue, a related adjustment account should be 41999.