> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.kick.co/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.kick.co/accountants/firm-templates/chart-of-accounts-templates.md). # Chart of Accounts Templates Build your firm's standard chart of accounts once and use it to set up new clients and bring existing clients onto the same structure. A Chart of Accounts template is your firm's own version of the chart of accounts. It lives at the firm level, outside any client, so you can reuse it across every client you work with. Instead of rebuilding the same accounts and groups for each new client, you start them from a chart you have already reviewed, and every client's reports and closes follow the same structure. Templates also keep that structure current over time. When your standard changes, you update the template and apply it to your clients again, rather than editing each client's chart by hand. Each template is tied to one entity type, because the equity and owner accounts a chart needs depend on it. {% hint style="info" %} When you add a new client, choose **Use template CoA** to set up their chart from one of your templates. Kick sets the entity type from the template, and you can preview the chart before you continue. {% endhint %} *** ### Create a template From your organization, go to **Templates → Chart of Accounts** and click **New template**. Give the template a **Template name** and choose its **Entity type**, which are the two required fields. You can also add a **Description**, one or more **Industry** values, and a **Basis**, which starts as both **Cash** and **Accrual**. **Industry** and **Basis** are optional labels that help you find the right template, and they don't limit where you can apply it. **Why entity type is required.** The entity type decides which equity and owner accounts the template includes. See [Accounts by entity type](/accountants/setting-up/chart-of-accounts/kick-standard-accounts.md#accounts-by-entity-type). You can apply a template only to entities with exactly the same entity type, so a template for an LLC (single owner) doesn't apply to a Sole Proprietorship even though their accounts match. If you change a template's entity type later, Kick swaps these accounts for the new type's and keeps your custom accounts. Next, choose a **Starting point**: | Starting point | You start with | Use it when | What Kick fills in | | ------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | | **Default Kick template** | Kick's standard accounts for the entity type | You're building a standard for a new vertical | Nothing beyond the fields you enter | | **Copy from template** | An existing template's accounts and groups | You want a variation on a standard you already have | Nothing beyond the fields you enter | | **Copy from entity** | Any business entity's current chart | One client's chart is already the standard you want | Entity type, Industry, and Basis, taken from the entity | | **Import your own** | Your firm's chart from QuickBooks, Xero, or a spreadsheet | Your standard lives outside Kick | Kick types, which you confirm during the import | **Copy from template** is available once your firm has at least one template. After you click **Create**, Kick opens the template so you can review and edit its accounts. If you chose **Import your own**, the button reads **Continue** and takes you through the import first. {% embed url="" %} #### Import your own chart Start by choosing where your current chart lives: * **If you use QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, or Xero**, connect QuickBooks Online in one click, or upload the chart of accounts file exactly as you exported it from your tool. * **For any other system**, click **Download Kick template**, fill it in, and upload it. Enable macros when you open the file so Excel checks your rows as you type. Kick then asks you to confirm the Kick type for each imported account and to choose the accounts its automation uses, such as Accounts Receivable and Uncategorized Expenses. Continue until the last step to save as a template. *** ### Edit the chart Templates use the [CoA Editor](/accountants/setting-up/chart-of-accounts/coa-editor.md). Kick opens it when you create a template. To return to it, hover the template and select **Edit template**. It works as in a client's chart, with these differences: * **Changes are saved as a draft.** Nothing is saved until you click **Save** or **Save and close**, and clients don't change until you apply the template. * **No Merge or Remove opening balance.** Both act on posted activity, and a template has none. * **Integration placeholders.** Seven fixed rows stand in for the accounts a client connects, such as bank accounts and credit cards. Drag them into your groups so connected accounts land there. See [Integration placeholders](/accountants/setting-up/chart-of-accounts/coa-editor.md#integration-placeholders). *** ### Apply a template to existing clients Applying a template adds to a client's chart and never removes accounts, transactions, or history. In your firm template list, hover the template and click **Apply**. Nothing changes in a client's chart until you confirm. {% embed url="" %} 1. **Select entities.** Kick lists every business entity that matches the template's entity type, grouped by client. Search by name or filter by **Services**, **Team**, **Industry**, or **Basis**, and select a client to pick all of its matching entities at once. Click **Preview** to continue with up to 50 entities. Managers see only the clients they're assigned to. 2. **Review changes.** Kick shows each entity's chart as it will look after the apply, with tags on every account and group that will be added, moved, reordered, or archived. Filter by origin, type of update, or Kick versus custom accounts to narrow the list. 3. **Apply.** Click **Apply** to update the entity you're viewing, or **Apply to N entities** to update all remaining ones at once, then click **Finish**. The client's team sees the updated chart right away. {% hint style="info" %} Missing an entity? Check that its entity type matches the template. Templates created with **Import your own** don't include Kick's standard accounts, so they apply only to entities that also use their own imported chart. {% endhint %} #### Apply to an entity with an existing chart Kick merges the template into the entity's chart instead of replacing it. It matches each template account to an account the entity already has, updates the matches, adds what's missing, and leaves everything else alone. Transactions and journal entries stay on the accounts they're posted to, including accounts that end up archived. Because applying only changes the chart's structure, locked periods and reconciliations aren't affected. | On the entity | What Kick does | | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | A Kick account with the template's name, number, and type | Moves it to the template's group and position, and archives or enables it to match. | | A Kick account the client renamed, renumbered, or retyped | Leaves it alone and doesn't add a duplicate. | | A custom account with the template's name and type, in the same group | Moves it and archives or enables it to match. It keeps its own number. | | An account that holds a required system role and has no activity | Renames it to the template's account. | | No matching account | Adds the template's account, using the next free number for that type if the template's number is taken. | | No matching group | Adds the group. | | An account that isn't in the template | Leaves it alone. | Editing a template doesn't touch any client until you apply it again. Reapplying updates the accounts matched last time instead of duplicating them, unless the client renamed or renumbered a custom account since then, in which case the template's account is added next to it. #### Undo an apply Hover the template and select **Activity** from the row menu to see every time it was applied. From there you can undo an apply for one or more entities, which reverses the accounts and groups it added or changed. You can undo an apply that was run from the apply wizard, as long as you have Chart of Accounts edit access in that client. Kick blocks the undo when the entity's chart has changed since the apply, when new activity was posted after it, or when an affected account is in use, and it shows the reason on the control. *** ### Manage your templates Hover a template and open its settings to: * **Edit details** to change the name, description, entity type, industry, or basis. Changing the entity type swaps the template's equity and owner accounts for the new type's, and Kick asks you to confirm first. Custom accounts don't change. * **Duplicate** to start a new template from this one, named "Copy of" the original. * **Export as CSV** to download the template's accounts. * **Delete** to remove the template permanently. Clients it was already applied to keep their charts. Which of these actions you can use depends on your organization role. See [Roles & Permissions](/accountants/managing-clients/roles-and-permissions.md). *** ### FAQs
Does editing a template update my clients? No. Changes to a template reach a client only when you apply it to that client again.
Why isn't my client's entity in the list when I apply? The entity's type has to match the template's entity type. A template created with **Import your own** doesn't include Kick's standard accounts, so it applies only to entities that also use their own imported chart. Personal entities are never listed.
What happens to accounts my client renamed? A Kick account the client renamed or renumbered is left as it is, and Kick doesn't add a duplicate. A renamed custom account no longer matches the template, so the template's account is added next to it.
*** ### Related articles * [Chart of Accounts](/accountants/setting-up/chart-of-accounts.md) * [CoA Editor](/accountants/setting-up/chart-of-accounts/coa-editor.md) * [Kick Standard Accounts](/accountants/setting-up/chart-of-accounts/kick-standard-accounts.md) * [Roles & Permissions](/accountants/managing-clients/roles-and-permissions.md) --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the following URL with the `ask` and `goal` query parameters: ``` GET https://docs.kick.co/accountants/firm-templates/chart-of-accounts-templates.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is what the user is ultimately trying to achieve, the reason they need the answer. Sharing it helps GitBook give you a better, more relevant answer. A goal is most helpful when it describes the outcome the user wants rather than restating the question. For example, with `ask=how do I create an API token`, a goal like `automate deployments from our CI pipeline` lets GitBook tailor the answer to that use case. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.