# Accounts

Here you can view and edit your chart of accounts. For each account you need to specify:

- A number. The account number format can be changed in the global Preferences… menu. The number must be unique.
- A description.
- A type. The type is one of 'Asset','Debts & equity', 'Income', and 'Expense'. The type determines whether the account is shown in the balance sheet or the profit/loss report, and where it appears in those reports.
- A VAT level. For income and expense accounts, this connects the account to a VAT level and a set of VAT accounts. This is used for the entry 'wizards' under Entries/New in the sidebar.
- A VAT code. This is used to group accounts into different fields on the VAT report. Please refer to the help for the VAT report for more information.
- A tax code. If there is a specialised tax report available for your country, this code connects accounts to different fields in that report. If you're not using any country-specific tax reports you can leave this field blank.

Economacs automatically generates an account hierarchy based on all the account numbers in the chart of accounts. This is used to provide a grouping scheme in the balance and profit/loss reports, and also for the circular diagram in the 'Overview' report. The way account numbers are sorted can be changed in the global Preferences… menu.

Note that you cannot remove accounts that are in use (either in an entry, or a starting balance, or as one of the 'special' accounts for VAT or for invoicing).