Setting up a client's Chart of Accounts mask

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Before you can add accounts to a client's chart of accounts in the Setup > Chart of Accounts screen, you must first set up the mask (between 3 and 60 characters) to define the account format. Accounting CS enables you to color code the mask to help identify each segment of the mask.

Use the following steps to set up a chart of accounts mask in Accounting CS.

  1. Choose Setup > Clients, select the client whose mask you want to set up, and then click the Edit button.
  2. Click the Account Mask tab.
  3. In the Chart of Accounts Mask grid, define the following for up to 20 mask segments.
    • Core

      Mark the checkbox in the Core column for the segment that represents the core account. The application uses the core account to accumulate and report on consolidated totals.

      • You can position the core account anywhere in the mask.
      • You can flag only one row as the core account. If only one account exists in the grid, the application marks the Core checkbox by default.
      • You can include a single decimal separator in the core.
    • Segment

      Enter the segment name.

    • Mask

      Enter the segment mask using only the symbols listed below. The default mask for a new client is XXXXXXXXXX. Each segment pattern can consist of only one type of character.

      Symbol Character
      A Alpha characters only
      # Numeric characters only
      X Any character or separator
    • Color

      (Optional) Select a color for the segment from the drop-down list. Accounting CS displays these color codes in the Mask and Account number fields in the Setup > Chart of Accounts screen.

      • The default color is black. If you use the default black color for all segments of the mask, the application will not display any colors for the mask in the Setup > Chart of Accounts screen.
      • You can select the same color for more than one segment in the same mask.
    • Separator

      (Optional) Select a separator from the drop-down list.

      • You can use only the predefined separators in the drop-down list for the chart of accounts mask.
      • An account number cannot end with a separator; therefore, the Separator field is grayed out for the last row in the Chart of Accounts Mask grid.
    • Primary

      The application uses the primary segment for reporting and rounding balances.

  4. To have the application display leading zeros in account segment codes when the account number has more than one segment, mark the Allow leading zeros checkbox. This does not affect how the actual account numbers are created or displayed - only how the code is displayed.
  5. Click Enter to save the client's chart of accounts mask.

account mask tab

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