Source truth: - Vision - Accounts - Account Contract - Account Role Contract - Account Code Resolution Contract - Chart Import Contract - Company Contract - ADR 0017: Chart Maintenance Surrounds the Accounting Kernel - ADR 0020: Initial Release Scope and Financial Workflow Taxonomy - ADR 0023: BooksPlus Starter Chart and Dolibarr Account Crosswalk Related planning: - BP3 Initial Release Plan

BP3 Starter Chart Templates

Goal

Starter chart templates should help setup create a useful first chart of accounts without making account numbers, imported example rows, or operational system defaults into accounting rules.

ADR 0023 now defines the reviewed booksplus.standard version 4 chart and its canonical role assignments. This page retains the planning rationale and deferred extensions; it is not an alternate chart definition.

Source Inputs

This planning note uses three reference inputs:

• export_accounting_1-2.csv as an example of account labels, account types, and hierarchy only;
• dolibarr-defaults.csv as a reference for future default-account mapping between Dolibarr concepts and BooksPlus account roles;
• invacct-defaults.png as a reference for inventory-accounting mappings required by the current Dolibarr inventory accounting module.

The reference inputs are not canonical BooksPlus charts. They do not define account identity, account codes, posting behavior, chart completeness, or financial statement presentation.

Template Principles

Starter chart templates should follow existing account truth:

• account identity is the immutable BooksPlus account id, not the visible code or name;
• account codes are strings and must preserve leading zeros;
• account behavior depends on explicit account properties and account-role assignments, not account-number patterns;
• account types use asset, liability, equity, income, and expense;
• normal balances use debit and credit;
• posting accounts are distinct from report headings and presentation groups;
• used accounts may be retired but not deleted;
• starter chart installation is company-scoped, idempotent, reviewable, and handled by chart-of-accounts application services around the accounting kernel.

Starter templates should prefer semantic account roles over hard-coded account codes. Required-singleton roles indicate what a complete starter chart or setup checklist should include; they do not make every incomplete company invalid.

Core Account Families

The core starter chart should include account families for ordinary setup, income accounting, expense accounting, and inventory accounting:

Family	Purpose
Cash and bank	Cash, checking, savings, receipt clearing, and payment clearing.
Receivables	Customer balances, unapplied customer cash, and allowance needs.
Inventory	Inventory, prepaid inventory, input inventory, output inventory, and inventory review.
Payables	Vendor balances, accrued expenses, and supplier deposits.
Credit cards	Reviewed card liabilities and ordinary card charges.
Taxes and deposits	Sales tax payable and customer deposits / unearned revenue.
Equity	Minimal owner/equity placeholders for setup; ownership-specific detail is deferred.
Income	Product sales and service sales where relevant.
Finance income and expense	Interest income and reviewed bank or card finance charges.
Cost of goods sold	Cost of goods sold for goods sold or inventory relief.
Inventory variances	Inventory adjustments, purchase price variance, and fallback clearing.
Operating expenses	Ordinary non-payroll operating expenses.

These are planning families, not report headings that must be implemented as accounts.

Planning Role Summary

The accepted starter-chart rows, codes, properties, role cardinalities, and six mandatory InvAcct mappings are canonical in ADR 0023. Implementations must use that accepted table rather than treating the older illustrative table below as seed data.

Label	Type	Normal balance	Posting status	Semantic role intent
Cash on Hand	asset	debit	posting	cash.on_hand
Bank Account	asset	debit	posting	bank.operating
Cash for Deposit	asset	debit	posting	clearing.receipts_for_deposit
Accounts Receivable	asset	debit	posting	receivable.trade
Unapplied Customer Cash	liability	credit	posting	liability.unapplied_customer_cash
Inventory	asset	debit	posting	inventory.general
Prepaid Inventory	asset	debit	posting	asset.prepaid_inventory
Prepaid Expenses	asset	debit	posting	asset.prepaid_expenses
Accounts Payable	liability	credit	posting	payable.trade
Payment Disbursements Clearing	liability	credit	posting	clearing.payment_disbursements
Goods Received Not Invoiced	liability	credit	posting	liability.goods_received_not_invoiced
Credit Card Payable	liability	credit	posting	liability.credit_card
Accrued Expenses	liability	credit	posting	liability.accrued_expenses
Sales Tax Payable	liability	credit	posting	tax.sales_tax_payable
Customer Deposits	liability	credit	posting	liability.customer_deposits
Owner Equity	equity	credit	posting	equity.default
Retained Earnings	equity	credit	posting	equity.retained_earnings
Product Sales	income	credit	posting	revenue.product
Service Sales	income	credit	posting	revenue.service
Interest Income	income	credit	posting	revenue.interest
Cost of Goods Sold	expense	debit	posting	expense.cost_of_goods_sold
Inventory Adjustment	expense	debit	posting	expense.inventory_adjustment
Purchase Price Variance	expense	debit	posting	expense.purchase_price_variance
Inventory Fallback Clearing	expense	debit	posting	clearing.inventory_fallback
Operating Expenses	expense	debit	posting	expense.operating
Finance Charges	expense	debit	posting	expense.finance_charges

The table summarizes role intent only. Where its labels or coverage differ from ADR 0023, ADR 0023 governs.

For simple businesses, raw materials / input inventory and finished goods / output inventory may both resolve to the general Inventory account after setup review. Businesses that need separation should assign those roles to distinct accounts.

Semantic Account Roles

Minimum role coverage for the core starter chart should include:

Role intent	Cardinality guidance	Notes
cash.on_hand	repeatable	Cash drawers or petty cash may be multiple accounts.
bank.operating	repeatable	Checking, savings, or payment accounts may be multiple accounts.
clearing.receipts_for_deposit	repeatable	Holds Sales-source receipts until a later Finance settlement.
receivable.trade	required_singleton	Summary receivable account for income accounting.
payable.trade	required_singleton	Summary payable account for expense accounting.
tax.sales_tax_payable	required_singleton	Tax regime configuration remains deferred.
liability.customer_deposits	singleton	Used when customer deposits are tracked.
liability.unapplied_customer_cash	singleton	Used for unapplied received funds.
inventory.general	singleton	General inventory role for simple buy-sell setup.
inventory.input	singleton	May point to Inventory unless separated.
inventory.output	singleton	May point to Inventory unless separated.
asset.prepaid_inventory	singleton	Used for supplier deposits or prepaid inventory.
asset.prepaid_expenses	singleton	Used for reviewed prepaid-expense acquisitions.
clearing.payment_disbursements	repeatable	Holds Purchasing-source payments until a later Finance settlement.
liability.goods_received_not_invoiced	singleton	Supports accepted Inventory-to-Purchasing GRNI settlement.
liability.credit_card	repeatable	Supports separately reviewed card liabilities.
revenue.product	required_singleton	Default product-sales role.
revenue.service	singleton	Present for mixed goods/services businesses.
revenue.interest	singleton	Initial reviewed interest-income destination.
expense.cost_of_goods_sold	required_singleton	Required for inventory accounting readiness.
expense.inventory_adjustment	required_singleton	Required for inventory adjustment mappings.
expense.purchase_price_variance	required_singleton	Required for purchase-price variance mappings.
clearing.inventory_fallback	required_singleton	Review clearing role for unknown inventory movements.
expense.operating	repeatable	Reviewed ordinary operating expense destinations.
expense.finance_charges	repeatable	Reviewed bank and card finance-charge destinations.
equity.default	singleton	Ownership-specific equity detail is deferred.
equity.retained_earnings	required_singleton	Used for ordinary equity continuity.

Role keys use the stable dotted launch convention from the Account Role Contract.

Dolibarr Interoperability Notes

Dolibarr default-account concepts should map to BooksPlus semantic roles in a future interoperability layer. They should not force BooksPlus account codes, labels, UI structure, or accounting behavior.

Useful default-account mappings to preserve in planning include:

Dolibarr concept	BooksPlus role intent
Customer third-party account	receivable.trade
Vendor third-party account	payable.trade
Sold products default account	revenue.product
Purchased products default account	inventory.general or inventory.input
Sold services default account	revenue.service
Purchased services default account	expense.operating
VAT / sales tax on sales	tax.sales_tax_payable
VAT / tax on purchases	inventory.general, asset.prepaid_inventory, or expense role after setup review
Bank account for tax payment	bank.operating
Transitional bank transfers	cash.on_hand or bank clearing role in future extension
Unallocated received or paid funds	liability.unapplied_customer_cash or clearing role
Customer deposits	liability.customer_deposits
Supplier deposits	asset.prepaid_inventory

Future Dolibarr work should be an adapter or mapping layer that consumes account roles. It should not be implemented as starter-chart truth.

Inventory Mapping Notes

The current inventory accounting Dolibarr module expects these account mapping needs:

Mapping key	BooksPlus role intent	Core handling
INVACCT_ACCOUNT_INVENTORY_RM	inventory.input	May map to Inventory for simple businesses.
INVACCT_ACCOUNT_INVENTORY_FG	inventory.output	May map to Inventory for simple businesses.
INVACCT_ACCOUNT_COGS	expense.cost_of_goods_sold	Included in buy-sell core.
INVACCT_ACCOUNT_ADJUSTMENT	expense.inventory_adjustment	Included in buy-sell core.
INVACCT_ACCOUNT_PPV	expense.purchase_price_variance	Included in buy-sell core.
INVACCT_ACCOUNT_FALLBACK	clearing.inventory_fallback	Included as review clearing for unknown movements.

Setup should make these mappings visible for review before inventory accounting is treated as ready. The fallback role should support review and correction; it should not hide unresolved movement meaning.

Setup Review Behavior

Starter chart setup should:

• install only into the selected company context;
• avoid duplicate meaning on repeated install attempts;
• preserve account codes as strings;
• create or resolve account roles explicitly;
• leave account-role readiness visible to setup;
• require review when a semantic role is missing, inactive, retired, non-posting, wrong-company, or ambiguous;
• keep opening balances outside account master data;
• use account maintenance behavior for later corrections, retirement, and replacement.

Imported charts and starter charts should converge through reviewable account and account-role behavior. Example chart rows should not become canonical merely because they were imported or came from a reference system.

Deferred Extensions

Future template work should handle:

• ownership-specific equity templates;
• tax-regime and jurisdiction-specific tax accounts;
• payroll;
• fixed assets and accumulated depreciation detail;
• manufacturing depth, work in process, and production variances;
• job costing;
• nonprofit and fund accounting;
• multi-entity and intercompany accounting;
• multi-location inventory;
• industry-specific charts;
• provider-specific adapters, including Dolibarr mapping workflows.

Implementation Prompt Notes

A later implementation prompt should consume ADR 0023, the canonical account contracts, and this planning rationale. It must treat the accepted ADR—not this derived page—as the source of starter-chart rows and assignments.

That implementation should avoid account-number-based behavior, should keep template install idempotent and company-scoped, and should include tests for role assignment, duplicate install attempts, missing-role readiness, and rejection of inactive, retired, non-posting, wrong-company, or ambiguous role targets.