Finance

Account Types & Hierarchy

Five elements, the statement groups beneath them, and the types and sub types an account is filed under.

Every account is filed under an element, a statement group, a type and (optionally) a sub type. The element and statement group decide where the account lands on the Balance Sheet or P&L; the type and sub type decide how it is grouped beneath that. Get the classification right at creation and every report is automatically correct.

The classification row of the New Account modal — element pills, the statement-group list, and the Type / Sub Type selects.

The Five Elements

Every account belongs to one of five elements. The element determines which financial statement the account appears on and whether its normal balance is a debit or credit.

Element	Normal Balance	Statement	What It Represents	Examples
Asset	Debit	Balance Sheet	Things the business owns or is owed	Cash, Bank, Accounts Receivable, Inventory, Equipment
Liability	Credit	Balance Sheet	Things the business owes to others	Accounts Payable, Sales Tax Payable, Net Salaries Payable, Loans
Equity	Credit	Balance Sheet	The owner's stake in the business	Owner's Equity, Retained Earnings, Owner's Drawings
Income	Credit	P&L	Money earned from business activity	Sales, Interest Income, Other Income
Expense	Debit	P&L	Costs incurred to run the business	Salaries & Wages, Rent Expense, Utilities, Cost of Sales, Depreciation Expense

✅NOTE

In the Trabalance UI, revenue accounts are labeled "Income" as the element. This is the same as "Revenue" in traditional accounting terminology.

The Hierarchy

Level	What It Is	Examples
Element	Five top-level categories — the broadest classification	Asset / Liability / Equity / Income / Expense
Statement Group	One of 41 fixed, IFRS-aligned sections — see IFRS Account Groups	Current Assets → Cash & Cash Equivalents; Operating Expenses → Administrative Expenses
Type	The account type within the element	Cash, Accounts receivable, Fixed assets, Operating Expenses
Sub Type	Optional narrower grouping within a Type	Cash in Hand, Bank Account - Current, Petty Cash
Account	The specific GL account where transactions post	Example Bank — Operating, Sales

Element (Asset)
  → Statement group (Current Assets → Cash & Cash Equivalents)
    → Type (Cash)
      → Sub Type (Bank Account - Current)
        → Account (Example Bank — Operating)

In the New Account modal you pick the element first, then a statement group from the list filtered to that element (which pre-selects a matching type), then confirm the Type and an optional Sub Type.

Type and Sub Type Reference

These are the type names as spelled in the app. They are also the exact values the Type column of a chart-of-accounts import must use.

Assets

Asset types

Type	Sub Types
Cash	Cash in Hand, Petty Cash, Bank Account - Current, Bank Account - Savings
Accounts receivable	No sub types — control account managed by the system
Inventory	Raw Materials, Work in Progress, Finished Goods, Trading Stock
Prepayments	Prepaid Insurance, Prepaid Rent, Prepaid Subscriptions
Short-term Investments	Marketable Securities, Short-term Deposits
Other Current Assets	No sub types
Fixed assets	Land, Buildings, Motor Vehicles, Computer Equipment, Office Equipment, Plant and Machinery, Furniture and Fixtures, Construction in Progress
Intangible Assets	Goodwill, Patents, Trademarks, Licenses, Software, Research and Development
Long-term investments	Investment in Subsidiaries, Investment in Associates, Investment Properties, Long-term Securities
Other Long-term Assets	No sub types

Liabilities

Liability types

Type	Sub Types
Accounts payables	No sub types — control account managed by the system
Accruals	Accrued Wages, Accrued Interest, Accrued Expenses
Tax Payable	Income Tax Payable, VAT Payable, Payroll Tax Payable
Short-term Loans	Bank Overdraft, Current Portion of Long-term Debt, Short-term Bank Loans
Other Payables	No sub types
Other Current Liabilties	No sub types (spelled as in the app)
Long term debts and leases	Long-term Loans, Mortgage Payable, Finance Lease Obligations
Deffered tax liabilities	Deferred Income Tax, Deferred Capital Gains Tax (spelled as in the app)
Provisions	Employee Benefits Provision, Warranty Provision, Legal Claims Provision
Other Non-current Liabilties	No sub types (spelled as in the app)

Equity

Equity types

Type	Sub Types
Share Capital	Ordinary Shares, Preference Shares, Treasury Shares
Retained Earnings	No sub types
Other Equity Items	Retained Earnings, Revaluation Reserve, Foreign Currency Translation Reserve

Income

Income types

Type	Sub Types
Operating Income	Sales Revenue, Service Revenue, Commission Income, Rental Income
Non-operating Income	Interest Income, Dividend Income, Gain on Sale of Assets

Expenses

Expense types

Type	Sub Types
Cost of sales	Direct Materials, Direct Labor, Manufacturing Overhead, Purchase Costs
Operating Expenses	Salaries and Wages, Rent Expense, Utilities, Office Supplies, Insurance, Depreciation, Advertising and Marketing
Non-operating expenses	Interest Expense, Bank Charges, Loss on Sale of Assets

⚠️WARNING

A custom account's element, statement group, type and sub type can be changed later from its edit modal. Nothing is re-posted, but every entry the account already carries moves with it to the new section of the Balance Sheet or P&L — so a reclassification changes historical reports. Only system accounts have their classification locked.

Chart of Accounts — the classification system every report draws from
IFRS account groups — the statement groups an account is filed under
Custom accounts — creating, editing and disabling your own accounts
System accounts — the accounts the app posts to on your behalf

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