Set the Accounting tab: income, expense and asset accounts
What this does
The Accounting tab decides which accounts a sale or a purchase of the product posts to. It is short on purpose: the normal answer is to leave both accounts empty and let the product category supply them, and to override here only for the product that genuinely books differently, such as a service billed to a separate revenue account.
Before you start
- The product category should already carry an income and an expense account; the article on product categories covers that.
- Only accounting users see the Asset Type field.
- Both accounts are stored per company; in a multi-company database set them in each.
Steps

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01
Open the Accounting tab.
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02
Leave Income Account empty to use the category's income account, or pick an account to override it for this product.
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03
Leave Expense Account empty likewise, or override it.
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04
If the product is bought as a fixed asset, pick the Asset Type so bills for it create the asset record.
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05
Save. Nothing is reposted; the accounts apply to invoices and bills created from now on.
Cost and Revenue
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Income Account | The account credited when the product is invoiced to a customer. Keep this field empty to use the default value from the product category. Per company. |
| Expense Account | The account debited when a vendor bill for the product is booked. Keep this field empty to use the default value from the product category. If anglo-saxon accounting with automated valuation is configured, the expense account on the product category is used instead. Per company. |
| Asset Type | A purchase-type asset category. When set, a vendor bill for the product creates the corresponding asset for depreciation. Visible to accounting users only. |
The order of precedence is simple: the product's own account if set, otherwise the category's, otherwise the journal's default. Stock accounts and the stock journal are never on the product; they belong to the category, together with the costing method and the valuation mode, and every category on this installation runs periodic valuation, so day-to-day stock moves post no entries at all.
Troubleshooting
The invoice line posted to the wrong account: check the product's Income Account first, then the category's, then the sales journal's default.
The Asset Type field is not shown: your user is not in the accounting group.
Changing the account did not move existing entries: it never does. Correct posted entries with a journal entry.
The account you chose is refused on save: it is restricted to another company, or it is not of a type the field accepts.
Common mistakes
- Setting the same income and expense account on every product instead of on the category once.
- Choosing a stock valuation account as the expense account. Valuation accounts live on the category.
- Overriding accounts on materials for reporting reasons that a tag or an analytic plan would serve better.
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