Create, edit or disable a custom account in SamBooks

When the standard chart of accounts doesn't cover a specific need, add your own account: here's what to fill in, what you can change later, and what never changes.

What this is for

SamBooks' chart of accounts starts from the v2026.1 template, which covers a full Italian SME's accounting with more than five hundred standard accounts. Most companies never need more than that. When you do need something very specific — a particular cost centre, a revenue you want to track separately, an account dedicated to one project — you create a custom account: an account that belongs only to your company, works exactly like a standard one in journal entries and financial statements, but can be renamed, reclassified or disabled later. To browse the full chart of accounts and understand how class, group, account and sub-account are organised, see the chart of accounts guide.

Before you start

• You need the Manager or Administrative role: a Viewer or Logistics user can see the chart of accounts but cannot create or edit accounts.
• Knowing the CEE balance-sheet voice and the economic kind (asset, liability, cost, revenue…) of the account you want makes the form faster to fill in; if you're unsure, you can still search the CEE voice combobox by name.

Step by step

1. Open Chart of accounts and press "New custom account"

Go to Chart of accounts from the left menu, then press "New custom account" at the top. The "Create new custom account" dialog opens, with a note right away: "The action is recorded in the audit log."

2. Choose between an ordinary account and a cash/bank account

At the top of the form there's a toggle, "This is a cash/bank account (bank/cash/card/PSP)". Leave it off for an ordinary accounting account — the case this guide walks through: the fields in the next steps are the standard ones. Turn it on and the form changes shape entirely, asking for bank-account details instead (description, IBAN, account holder…): in that case SamBooks creates the matching 1.35.* sub-account by itself, without asking you to pick a code or a CEE voice. The two modes are alternatives, not additions.

3. Fill in the account fields

With the toggle off, fill in:

• Numeric code (required) — in SamBooks' C.MM.CC.SSS format, e.g. 6.10.05.999. A wrong format shows "Invalid format: use C.MM.CC.SSS (e.g. 6.10.05.999)"; an empty field shows "Code required."
• Name (required) — the readable name of the account. Empty or too short → "Name required."
• CEE voice (required) — the Italian CEE balance-sheet voice (artt. 2424/2425 c.c.) that determines where the account lands in the financials; search it by name or code in the combobox. Empty → "CEE voice required."
• Kind (required) — the economic kind: Asset, Liability, Equity, Cost, Revenue, Memorandum or Subtotal. Not chosen → "Kind required."
• Notes (optional) — free notes, useful for audit trails or to explain to whoever comes after you why the account exists.

The form reminds you at the bottom that fields marked with an asterisk are required.

4. Press "Create account"

The button shows "Creating…" while saving. On success you see "Custom account created successfully." and the account is immediately available everywhere an account can be chosen: journal entries, fixed assets, accounting price lists. If the code you picked already exists, SamBooks won't overwrite it: it replies "An account with this code already exists. Choose a different code." — change the last digit and try again.

What you can change later

Open the account from the Chart of accounts list (click the row): the detail card shows code, name, CEE voice, kind, class, source and status. If the account is custom (badge "Custom"), at the bottom of the card you'll find the "Edit custom account" button, which opens a lighter form where you can change:

• the Name;
• the CEE voice (to reclassify the account into a different balance-sheet voice — the form only accepts voices compatible with the account's kind);
• the Notes;
• the "Disable the account (kept in audit log)" checkbox.

The form's subtitle says it plainly: "Account kind and code stay fixed." You can't change either of them, even on a custom account: if you need a different kind or code, you create a new one. Saving shows "Custom account updated."

If the account you're looking at is a standard template account instead (badge "Standard" or "Modified"), the "Edit custom account" button doesn't show up at all: those accounts are read-only by design, as the note at the bottom of the card explains — "Template accounts are not editable. To use a different account, create a new custom account and ask Sam to migrate operations."

Marking an account as a cash/bank account

If you have a 1.35.* (liquid assets) sub-account created as an ordinary account and not yet linked to a bank account, cash register or card, the detail card also shows the "Mark as cash/bank account" button: it opens the same financial-account form, with the accounting account already locked to the one you were viewing, asking only for the operational details (type, description, IBAN…) to complete the link. This is the intended path for bank accounts imported from another system that already exist in the chart of accounts but aren't yet linked to an operational account.

What you can't do (by product design)

• There's no way to delete an account, standard or custom: no "Delete" button, no equivalent through Sam. Disabling — which is reversible — is the only path.
• The numeric code and the kind never change after creation, on any account.
• Template accounts can't be edited: you can only create a new custom account and move operations onto it with Sam's help.

What disabling actually does

A disabled account stays visible in the Chart of accounts list, for audit continuity, but disappears from the autocomplete when you record a new journal entry: it can no longer be selected for new operations, while past entries that used it remain untouched and viewable. To re-enable it, open "Edit custom account" again and clear the "Disable the account" checkbox.

Ask Sam

From any account's detail card you can press "Replace via Sam" (on template accounts) or "Ask Sam (advanced changes)" (on custom accounts): Sam's drawer opens with a message already written and ready to confirm, asking for the right kind of help — creating an alternative account and migrating the operations, or evaluating more advanced changes. You can also start from scratch and write something like "create a custom account 6.15.05.010 for foreign travel expenses, CEE voice B.7, cost kind" to Sam: the result is the same account you'd get from the form, just requested in chat instead of typed by hand.

If something goes wrong

• "Invalid format: use C.MM.CC.SSS (e.g. 6.10.05.999)" — the code doesn't match the class.group.account.sub-account pattern; allowed classes are 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9.
• "An account with this code already exists. Choose a different code." — another account, yours or a template one, already uses that code: change it.
• The "Edit custom account" button doesn't show up — the account you're viewing is a standard template account, not one of yours: it can't be edited, but you can create a new custom account with the traits you need.
• An account you disabled can no longer be found when recording an entry — that's expected: disabled accounts don't appear in the journal-entry autocomplete. Re-enable it if you still need it.

Frequently asked questions

How do I add an account to the chart of accounts? Go to Chart of accounts, press "New custom account", leave the cash/bank toggle off, and fill in code, name, CEE voice and kind.

I want to create a new sub-account for a specific cost — is that possible? Yes: pick a code in C.MM.CC.SSS format with class 6 or 7 (costs/revenues) and "Cost" kind, and assign it the most fitting CEE voice.

I can't edit an account, it says it's a "system" account — why? Because it's a standard SamBooks template account: those accounts are read-only by design. Create a custom account with the characteristics you need instead.

How do I rename an account? Only on custom accounts: open the detail card, press "Edit custom account" and change the Name.

How do I delete an account I no longer use? You don't delete it, you disable it, from the same edit dialog. It stays in the list for audit but is no longer selectable for new entries.

What code should I give the new account? An unused C.MM.CC.SSS code, with a class consistent with the kind (1/2/3 balance sheet, 5/6/7 income statement, 9 memorandum accounts) and group/account/sub-account chosen to sit near similar existing accounts, so it's easy to find later.

It tells me "An account with this code already exists" — what do I do? Pick a different number: that code is already taken by one of your accounts or a template one.

Can I disable an account without losing its history? Yes: disabling is reversible and doesn't touch entries already recorded, which stay visible in journal entries and financial statements.

Related guides

• Browsing the chart of accounts
• Recording a journal entry