Corporate nominal ledger

Limited Company

Introduction

If you are trading as a company then you may find the list of trial balance analysis codes (accounts) below very useful.

The list is intended to help you choose the account coding you should use to analyse the various transactions you will have to deal with in your business over the course of a year.

It is a long list, and it may appear at first to be overly complicated. Be assured, however, that you will probably end up using less than 100 separate codes, most of which will be in the expenditure sections.

In the detailed sections we have highlighted those codes we think you are most likely to use in red.

The rest of the accounts just covers all of the possibilities we may need to use in producing your annual financial statements at a later stage.

The format of the balance sheet and profit and loss account adheres to the structure given in the Companies Act 1985 (as amended by the Companies Act 1989).

How to use the Listing

We have provided a section by section summary of the balance sheet and the profit and loss account in the two tables below.

Take your time and just skip through the listing to familiarise yourself with the general layout, and what codes are actually contained therein.

We have started with the breakdown of the balance sheet into the sections required to be disclosed by the Companies Act 1985. The second table deals with the profit and loss account.

Click on any title, and you will gain access to the detailed listing of the individual accounts that make up that section.

In this section you will see we have started with the account name, followed by a suggested code number. Then specified a range you may use for future expansion. It is sensible to keep accounts of a similar nature together.

We have also added a double entry column. This indicates whether the account's carried forward balance is normally expected to be either a debit or credit.

Balance Sheet

Balance Sheet	Type	From	-	To	Double entry
Fixed Assets	Asset	1000	-	1599	Dr
Current assets	Asset	1000	-	1599	Dr
Liabilities: Amounts due within one year	Liability	1600	-	1629	Cr
Liabilities: Amounts due after more than one year	Liability	1630	-	1689	Cr
Provisions	Liability	1750	-	1849	Cr

Share capital	Capital	2510	-	2699	Cr
Profit and Loss Account	Reserves	2700	-	2879	Cr
Other reserves	Reserves	2880	-	2999	Cr

Profit and Loss Account

Profit and Loss Account	Type	From	-	To	Double entry
Turnover	Income	3000	-	3999	Cr
Cost of sales	Expense	4000	-	4849	Dr
Distribution costs	Expense	4850	-	4999	Dr
Administrative costs: Employee costs	Expense	5000	-	5099	Dr
Administrative costs: Premises costs	Expense	5100	-	5399	Dr
Administrative costs: Repairs	Expense	5400	-	5499	Dr
Administrative costs: General administrative costs	Expense	5500	-	6599	Dr
Administrative costs: Motor cost	Expense	6600	-	6699	Dr
Administrative costs: Travel and subsistence	Expense	6700	-	6799	Dr
Administrative costs: Advertising, promotion and entertainment	Expense	6800	-	6919	Dr
Administrative costs: Legal and professional	Expense	6920	-	6979	Dr
Administrative costs: Bad debt	Expense	6980	-	6999	Dr
Administrative costs: Depreciation	Expense	7000	-	7049	Dr
Other operating income	Income	7050	-	7099	Cr
Profit/loss on disposal/restructuring	Inc/Exp	7100	-	7199	Cr/Dr
Income from group companies	Income	7200	-	7249	Cr
Other interest receivable and similar income	Income	7250	-	7339	Cr
Amount written off and other provisions	Expense	7340	-	7359	Cr
Interest payable and similar charges	Expense	7360	-	7449	Dr
Taxation	Expense	7500	-	7599	Dr
Extraordinary items	Expense	7600	-	7649	Dr
Other taxes	Expense	7650	-	7699	Dr
Minority interests	Expense	7700	-	7749	Dr
Dividends	Expense	7750	-	7799	Dr
Transfers to other reserves	Expense	7800	-	7889	Dr

Please note that certain ranges have been reserved for future expansion.

It is also common to find some duplication in where you might wish to post some costs and income transactions. So long as you are consistent in your choice of coding, we can sort out any adjustments later.