QuickBooks Tips #101: Accounts Created Automatically

The following is a list of the accounts that QuickBooks creates automatically.
Accounts Receivable. QuickBooks creates this account during the EasyStep
Interview, or the first time you create an invoice.
Inventory Asset. When the first inventory item is created in a company data file,
QuickBooks creates the Inventory Asset account.
Undeposited Funds. QuickBooks adds this account to the chart of accounts the
first time you record a payment from an invoice or a sales receipt. QuickBooks uses
this account to hold money you’ve collected until you deposit it in a bank account.
Accounts Payable. QuickBooks creates this account during the EasyStep Interview,
or the first time you enter a bill.
Payroll Liabilities. QuickBooks adds this account to the chart of accounts
automatically when you turn on the payroll feature in a company file. QuickBooks
initially maps all payroll items that create liabilities to this account.
Sales Tax Payable. QuickBooks creates this account when you turn on the sales tax
feature.
Opening Bal Equity. This account is created the first time you enter the opening
balance for a balance sheet account. Every time you add a new account with an
opening balance, QuickBooks records the second half of the entry in the Opening
Bal Equity account. This means that total equity is the net balance of the assets
minus the liabilities entered into QuickBooks. Once you’ve entered all of the
accounts and balances, you may use a journal entry to allocate Opening Balance
Equity to the proper equity accounts.
Retained Earnings. This account is unique because there is no register associated
with it. Each time you run a balance sheet, you assign the date of the report.
QuickBooks then calculates the net income from all transactions from the earliest
date in the company file to the end of the fiscal year prior to the current year.
QuickBooks displays the results as retained earnings. Because of this feature, you
don’t need to make the traditional closing entries at the end of the year.
Uncategorized Income. QuickBooks creates this account the first time you enter
an opening balance for a customer.
COGS. When the inventory feature is turned on and the first inventory item is
created in a company file, QuickBooks creates a Cost of Good Sold (COGS) account.
Payroll Expenses. This account is created when you turn on payroll in a company
data file. All payroll expense items are initially mapped to this account.
Uncategorized Expenses. QuickBooks creates this account the first time you enter
an opening balance for a vendor.
Reconciliation Discrepancies. QuickBooks creates this expense account when you
enter an adjustment to reconcile small accounting discrepancies. QuickBooks uses
this account to track all reconciliation differences.
Purchase Orders. QuickBooks creates this account the first time you create a
purchase order. This is a non-posting account that does not affect your balance
sheet or income statement.