Skip to content
A QuickBooks Online workflow

How it
works.

A six-step walkthrough of what you actually do to turn a messy chart of accounts into reviewable cleanup work, without leaving the product workflow.

Workflow map

Six steps

C
01Connect QuickBooks Online
02Add business context
03Run the analysis
04Review recommendations
05Restructure the chart
06Re-run the score
Output
100
Demo books, after cleanup
The problem

Most charts of accounts grew by accident, not design.

Every new payee, every "let me just add another account," every staff handoff. Eventually the chart is too long, duplicates hide in plain sight, and reports stop telling a clean story.

Meet Chart Optimizer

An embedded QuickBooks Online app that reads your chart, finds what needs review, and helps you fix it safely.

Connect

Authorize QuickBooks Online or start with demo data. The workflow starts read-first.

Analyze

Score the chart against structure, naming, coverage, and industry context.

Review

Inspect every recommendation before it becomes approved cleanup work.

Track

Every analysis is saved per chart — re-run after each close and compare, so drift shows up early.

Part one - section

How it works,
step by step.

Six production steps, from the first connection to the score you can track after cleanup.

Step 01 of 06

Connect QuickBooks Online.

Authorize Chart Optimizer inside QuickBooks Online or begin with a demo company. The app reads chart structure and context before anything becomes an approved change.

  • Read-first connection pattern
  • Demo data available before connecting
  • Disconnect anytime while reviewing
C
qb

Connect to QuickBooks

Request read-first access to chart structure and company context. Changes stay staged until reviewed.

Connect QuickBooks Online
Start with demo data, then connect a real company when ready.
Step 02 of 06

Tell us how the business makes money.

Industry, team size, and notable practices help the AI judge what a useful chart should look like for this business, not for a generic template.

  • Industry and operating model
  • Revenue streams and team structure
  • Preferences can be edited later
chartoptimizer / setup
About your business

Tell us how you make money.

The answer changes account naming, sub-account structure, and what "good" means.

Industry
Management consulting
Team size
12 employees
Notable practices
Project billing1099-heavyPass-through travel+ add
Why we ask

A consulting firm and a contractor have nothing in common except the software.

Management consulting
4010Consulting income - fixed fee
4020Consulting income - hourly
5110Subcontractor labor
6300Pass-through travel
General contractor
4100Contract revenue - residential
4200Contract revenue - commercial
5010Direct materials
5020Direct labor

Same QuickBooks. Two different right answers. Context is how the review queue knows which chart pattern belongs to this business.

Step 03 of 06

See exactly what needs attention.

The optimizer checks your chart against structural, naming, coverage, and GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) review signals, then turns the result into a ranked queue you can work through.

  • Chart structure and hierarchy checks
  • Duplicate and near-duplicate detection
  • Health Score plus affected accounts
chartoptimizer / analyze
Analyzing demo chartReview run
Imported chart of accountsdone
Built industry contextdone
Scoring account structurerunning
Detecting duplicate accountsqueued
Computing Health Scorequeued
65
Chart health - demo books
The output

A single number tells you where to start.

The score is not the decision. It is a starting point for review: what is urgent, what is optional, and what is already working.

Duplicate accounts
12
Rows to review
142
Unused accounts
23
Strengths to keep
8
The findings list

Ranked by severity, not by alphabet.

Critical first. Then warnings, suggestions, and strengths worth keeping. Each row keeps the reasoning close to the account it affects.

Findings - demo chartSort - severity
Critical
Two accounts describe the same cost category.
5100 Subcontractors and 5110 1099 Labor are candidates for one reviewed labor account.
High confidence - affects duplicate reporting
Critical
Labor vendor appears inside materials.
Wilson Contracting is flagged for review before any reclassification is approved.
Payee pattern - requires human review
Warning
Unused accounts make the chart harder to scan.
Accounts with no recent activity can be archived or left alone after review.
Presentation issue - does not change numbers
Info
Service-line subaccounts may improve reporting.
Consulting revenue can be split by fixed-fee, hourly, and advisory work.
Optional structure suggestion
Strength
Account numbering is mostly consistent.
Keep the existing 4-digit scheme where it supports readable statements.
Good practice to preserve
Step 04 of 06

Review every recommendation, in plain English.

For each finding, you see what the AI noticed, what it recommends, and which account rows are affected. Accept, edit, or skip before moving on.

  • Plain-English rationale
  • Before and after fields
  • Scope visible before approval
Row detail - editingNeeds review

Wilson Contracting

AI flag: invoice pattern looks like labor, but current account is materials. Confirm before changing the account mapping.
Suggested account
5110 - Subcontractor labor
Apply to
Matching Wilson Contracting rows in this review batch
Pre-flight3 OK
Step 05 of 06

The chart, restructured.

Approved cleanup turns into a side-by-side plan: accounts to rename, merge, split, archive, or leave untouched, all visible before export.

  • Git-style before and after view
  • Account-level change list
  • CSV export plus a QuickBooks apply guide
Before - demo chartScore 65
4000Income
4010Consulting income
4015Consulting revenueduplicate
5000Cost of services
5100Subcontractors
51101099 Labormerge
6300Travel and mealssplit
After - demo chartScore 100
4000Revenue
4010Consulting income - fixed feenew
4020Consulting income - hourlynew
5000Cost of services
5110Subcontractor labormerged
6310Travelnew
6320Mealsnew
The safety net

Every change is reviewable.

Cleanup can touch reporting, tax prep, and owner expectations. The workflow keeps recommendations staged, records review decisions, and preserves before-state context for the approved batch.

01 - Safety

Nothing is written — ever

Recommendations are staged with the affected accounts, rationale, and scope. The app never writes to QuickBooks — you apply approved changes yourself, guided step by step.

02 - Safety

Every decision recorded

Accepted, edited, and skipped recommendations keep their reasoning so the cleanup plan stays explainable.

03 - Safety

Rollback context included

The app preserves before-state context for the reviewed batch so approved changes can be checked after the fact.

Step 06 of 06

Re-run the score after every close.

Charts drift as new payees, products, and staff habits appear. Every analysis is saved to the chart's history — re-run after each close and compare runs, so drift surfaces before month-end reporting gets messy.

  • Every analysis saved per chart
  • Findings history you can revisit
  • Re-run anytime — each run is a fresh score

Demo books - Health

Analysis history
100
+35 since the first run
Run 2After cleanup100
Run 1First scan65

Every analysis is saved to the chart’s history — re-run after each close and compare. Scores shown are real rubric output on the demo books.

Get started

Let's clean up your charts.

Try the complete workflow on demo data first. When you are ready, connect QuickBooks Online and review recommendations before approving changes.

Read-first
Connection starts as a review surface.
Review-first
AI suggestions stay staged for approval.
Traceable
Rationale stays attached to the cleanup plan.