Chart of Accounts

Chart of Accounts

All accounts—including bank accounts—are brought into Xero during conversion, regardless of whether they are marked active or inactive in the source. This ensures historical transactions remain intact. If you no longer need certain accounts, you can delete/archive them in Xero post-conversion.

Account Numbers

Account numbers will transfer as per the source data, except:

1. Where over 990 accounts in the Chart of Accounts, hyphens will be removed as the Xero API does not allow non-alphanumeric characters,
   
2. Where account numbers are more than 10 characters, in this case, we will truncate.
   
3. Where account numbers don’t exist in the source, these will be system generated (e.g., “NoCode001”). Account codes/numbers are a required field in Xero. Instructions provided here to turn on Chart of account numbers prior to conversion or update the numbering system post conversion.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1. If your Chart of Accounts contains over 990 accounts the Credit Cards and Paypal accounts will convert as bank accounts. If you need to change the account type in Xero please refer to these instructions.
   

Account Name

1. The Xero account description is limited to a field length of 150 characters. Where the description exceeds Xero limits, it will be truncated with a number suffix.  
   
2. Each account name must be unique. Please ensure that there are no duplicate names in the Chart of Accounts.

Bank Accounts

1. Account numbers (e.g., BSBs) do not convert and must be added in Xero manually after conversion.
   
2. Customise how your bank accounts are converted by using the Bank Account Mapping feature, available with our Accelerate, Custom, and the optional packages. 
   

Header Accounts

Xero does not support header or sub-accounts like some other platforms. Header accounts will convert as standalone General Ledger accounts. If you wish to maintain the original layout, you may need to customise Xero reports. Learn more about Xero custom reports.

Duplicate Names & Hierarchies

Xero requires unique account names. If your file has multiple sub-accounts with identical names under different headers (e.g., “Repairs and Maintenance” under both “Truck 1” and “Truck 2”), we prefix sub-account names with the header to retain context.

To resolve this:

• Option 1: Before conversion – remove header accounts and ensure unique account names.

• Option 2: After conversion – export the Chart of Accounts from Xero, edit it, and re-import in bulk.

Reconciliation Accounts

Sometimes, during conversion, a bank account from the source file is missing. When this happens, we create a “Reconciliation Account” to bring the data into Xero. Our team checks these during quality assurance and ensures the right account is added if needed.

Default Tax Codes

Default tax codes are reproduced as closely as possible. If no default tax codes are found, “BAS Excluded” will display in Xero. You can update these to speed up invoice/bill creation and reconciliation.

For more information, click on this link to Xero Help for changing default tax codes.

Report Codes

Report Codes are not matched into Xero. The report codes in other accounting systems do not match those available in Xero. A great method to standardise accounts and report codes is to use the premium option with the Custom Chart of Account service. 

Options to update report codes post-conversion:

• Review & Map accounts

• Export/import report codes from another Xero org

Custom Change Your Chart of Accounts

Using a standard Chart of Accounts across all your Xero organisations helps streamline reports and makes comparisons easier. However, tailoring it after conversion can be time-consuming. Our Custom Chart of Accounts premium service lets you define how the Chart of Accounts should appear in Xero before the conversion, so the history from the source file presents as though it had always followed your preferred structure. 

Other

1. Update the Chart of Accounts Post Conversion
   
2. Delete/Archive Accounts in Xero

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