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Get the foundation right the first time — a correctly configured Company and Chart of Accounts is what every invoice, stock movement and financial report in ERPNext quietly depends on.
28 checks · 7 sections
The Company master and its Chart of Accounts are the two records everything else in ERPNext hangs off — get them right and posting, valuation and reporting just work; get them wrong and you'll be unpicking it long after go-live. Work through each item below against the real fields in the Company, Account, Cost Center and Fiscal Year doctypes and confirm it reflects how your business actually runs. It's a reference, not a race — the aim is a foundation you won't need to rebuild.
Company name and Abbr + 4 more
Choose how the CoA is created + 5 more
Fiscal Year aligned to the Indian FY + 2 more
Build the Cost Center tree + 2 more
Map the core default accounts + 3 more
Decide on Perpetual Inventory + 3 more
Set the Default Company in Global Defaults + 2 more
All 28 checks across 7 sections as a clean branded Excel — each item with the guidance for why it matters, ready to share with your team. Free, no email required.
Set the Fiscal Year to 1 April to 31 March, matching the Indian financial year. The Fiscal Year doctype requires a Year Name, Year Start Date and Year End Date, and you link it to your Company through its Companies table. If your entity was incorporated mid-year, tick 'Is Short/Long Year' for the first period so opening reports reconcile correctly.
If you're starting fresh, use the standard India-appropriate template via 'Create Chart Of Accounts Based On → Standard Template' so root types and common heads are created for you, then refine. If your accountant already maintains a structured CoA, use the Chart of Accounts Importer doctype — download its template, fill it, and import rather than re-keying. Either way, get the structure right before you post transactions.
'Enable Perpetual Inventory' is on by default and is the modern approach — stock movements automatically create accounting entries, keeping inventory and the general ledger in sync. Pair it with a 'Default Stock Valuation Method' (FIFO, Moving Average or LIFO), and map the Default Inventory, Stock Adjustment and Stock Received But Not Billed accounts. Confirm both choices with your finance team before receiving any stock, as they affect how COGS and valuation report.
Very important. The Abbr is appended to the name of every account, cost center and warehouse ERPNext creates (for example 'Debtors - ACI'), so it becomes part of your ledger identity — especially in a multi-company group where each entity needs a distinct abbreviation. Changing it after transactions exist is disruptive, so choose a short, clear abbreviation at setup and leave it fixed.
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Kochi (Kadavanthra & Infopark) · Thiruvananthapuram · across India & overseas · In business since 2011