How To Create A New Account In Sage

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Create, edit and delete Accounts

Accounts are created so that you can record information about expenses, income, liabilities or assets that you may have. You use accounts to analyse transactions entered in the Bank and Credit Cards function, as well as journal entries captured in the Accountant's Area.

You can access accounts by selecting the Accounts…List of Accounts menu.

Accounting includes, by default, a list of the most commonly used accounts in a business environment. These accounts can be edited to suit your business's needs, or, in the event of an account not being applicable to your business, you can delete them.

Accounting will also create the Sales account, the Cost of Sales account, the Trade Receivables and Payables accounts and your tax accounts.

These system accounts cannot be edited or deleted, you can, however, follow the link to view the transaction history for the account.

To edit an account, you will click on the edit link for the account. To create a new account, you will click on the Add Account button.

To skip between the master files, click on the next or previous buttons.

At the top of the screen, you will enter a name and description for the account. You can also enter an opening balance for the account and a date for the opening balance.

Users can also set a default VAT type which will apply when transacting. The account Entertainment should be set to "Exempt" for all new companies by default.

In the category menu, you must select the correct category for the account.

It is important that you select the correct category since Accounting uses the categories to calculate the values on the Profit and Loss report and the Statement of Assets and Liabilities report.

Account categories cannot be created or edited. All of the categories that you will need for your business have been created for you. When you create accounts, you must select the correct category from the categories that are available.

The account categories available are explained in the table below.

Account	Description
Sales	This category is also called income, and includes the value of all of your sales. All sales, whether item sales or service sales, are included.
Other Income	You will use this category for any other income that you receive, such as interest received and rental income if you rent out space.
Cost of Sales	This category will include all accounts for costs that are incurred directly from selling your products. For example, if you have a mail order business and use post to deliver all of your orders, you would include postage in your cost of sales and not as an expense. This category is also used for accounts for your purchases.
Expenses	Expenses are the running costs of your business, such as rent, water and electricity and salaries.
Non-Current Assets	Non-current assets are assets that have a life span of more than one financial year. For example, office premises and vehicles are non-current assets.
Current Assets	Current assets are assets that can quickly be exchanged for money and are likely to change within one financial year. For example, the value of the money that your customers owe you and the value of your stock on hand are regarded as current assets. Money in your bank account is seen to be a current asset.
Non-Current Liabilities	These liabilities are debts that you have that are going to take more than one financial year to settle, such as a mortgage or vehicle financing.
Current Liabilities	Current Liabilities are short-term liabilities, such as the value of the money that you owe to your suppliers or your local tax authority. If you are in an overdraft situation, your bank account is regarded as a current liability.
Owner's Equity	Owner's Equity refers to money invested in a business by its owner. This can also be defined as the amount that the business owes to the owner.
Income Tax	Income Tax is tax paid to tax authorities on income. If you are uncertain about the correct way to set up and record your Income Tax, we recommend speaking to your accountant or local tax authority for clarification.