Set up chart of accounts

1. Overview & Business Value#

This comprehensive operational guide details the architecture, business workflows, configuration parameters, and execution steps for Set up chart of accounts within SmartERP.

This page is for Financial Controllers, Senior Accountants, and Administrators setting up or maintaining the Chart of Accounts.

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2. Prerequisites & Security Access Groups#

• Required Modules: account, smarterp_finance, smarterp_ethiopian_payroll
• Security Groups:
  • Show Full Accounting Features (Technical ID: account.group_account_user)
  • Billing Administrator / Financial Controller (Technical ID: account.group_account_manager)
  • Chief Financial Officer / Auditor (Technical ID: account.group_account_readonly)
• Master Data Dependencies: Chart of accounts, statutory tax definitions (VAT 15%, WHT 2%/30%), payment terms, and open fiscal periods for Company 1 (Ashewa Technology Solutions S.C.).

3. Step-by-Step Configuration & Execution#

Step 1: Navigating to the Module Interface#

1. Log into your SmartERP instance at https://smarterp.et/odoo.
2. Open the main App Switcher (grid icon in the top-left corner).
3. Select the Accounting app icon.
4. From the top navigation bar, open Accounting → Customers / Vendors / Accounting / Configuration.

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Step 2: Creating and Parameterizing Records#

1. Click the New button in the top-left control panel.
2. Complete the mandatory fields in the record form:
   • Name / Reference (Mandatory): Unique identifier or auto-generated voucher sequence number
   • Accounting Date (Mandatory): Effective posting date falling within an open fiscal period
   • Journal (Mandatory): Designated financial journal (Cash, Bank, Customer Invoices, Vendor Bills, Miscellaneous)
   • Partner / Entity (Mandatory): Registered customer, vendor, or employee partner record (res.partner)
3. Configure optional operational parameters and localized tags as required:
   • Analytic Distribution (Optional): Cost center or project allocation percentage
   • Tax Treatment (Optional): Statutory withholding tax or VAT exemption certificate
   • Payment Reference (Optional): Commercial bank transaction reference or cheque number
4. Click the Save icon in the control bar to commit the record.

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Step 3: Validating and Processing Transactions#

• State Transitions: Execute operational state progression (Draft → In Payment / Confirmed → Posted / Reconciled).
• Ledger & System Impact: Generates immutable double-entry journal items (account.move.line) updating general ledger balances, trial balance, and statutory tax registers.
• Audit Verification: Automated recording of author ID, timestamp, and immutable revision history.

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Open the Chart of Accounts#

Open Accounting → Configuration → Accounting → Chart of Accounts.

The list displays account codes, account names, types, current balances, and currency configurations.

Create a new account#

1. Press New.
2. In Code, enter the numerical account identifier adhering to company numbering conventions (e.g. 610500 for Staff Training Expense).
3. In Account Name, enter a clear descriptive title in English and Amharic (e.g. Staff Training & Development Expense (የሰራተኞች ስልጠና ወጪ)).
4. In Type, choose the regulatory financial category:
   • Bank and Cash: for liquid operational funds subject to reconciliation.
   • Current Assets / Non-current Assets: for receivables, inventory, and equipment.
   • Current Liabilities / Non-current Liabilities: for payables and tax provisions.
   • Equity: for share capital, reserves, and retained earnings.
   • Income: for sales and commercial revenue.
   • Cost of Revenue: for direct production and inventory acquisition costs.
   • Expenses: for general, administrative, and selling expenditures.
5. In Default Taxes, optionally attach statutory taxes (e.g. VAT 15%) to auto-populate invoices and bills.
6. Check Allow Reconciliation for balance sheet clearing accounts (e.g. Accounts Payable, Uncleared Cheques).
7. Press the save icon.

4. Advanced Configuration Points#

• Automated Actions & Scheduled Tasks (Crons):
  • Account: Automatic reconciliation (account.ir_cron_auto_reconcile): Runs nightly to match open ledger transactions
  • Asset: Compute depreciation lines (account_asset.ir_cron_compute_depreciation): Runs monthly on the 30th to compute fixed asset depreciation schedules
  • Tax: Generate VAT and WHT schedules (smarterp_finance.ir_cron_tax_schedules): Runs monthly to prepare MOR tax return summaries
• Custom Print Templates & Reports:
  • Official Cash Receipt Voucher (CRV)
  • Bank Payment Voucher (BPV) & Cheque Payment Voucher (CPV)
  • Withholding Tax Certificate (Form 3.4)
  • General Ledger & Trial Balance Audit Schedules
• Multi-Company Rules: Record-level security isolation under Company 1 (Ashewa Technology Solutions S.C.), preventing cross-company ledger leakage across parent and subsidiary legal entities.

5. Comprehensive Troubleshooting Matrix#

Next#

• Configure journals: Configure fiscal periods and journals.
• Issue a payment: Issue bank payment voucher.