Setting Up a Chart of Accounts for CPG Businesses

Keeping accurate financial records helps you understand what’s happening inside your business. It shows where money is coming from, where it’s going, and what that means for your next decision—whether that’s buying new equipment, hiring, or preparing for your first outside investment.

Many accounting tools make this easier. We recommend QuickBooks for managing expenses, tracking payments, and generating reports.

A Chart of Accounts (COA) is the master list of the account names and numbers your business uses to record transactions. It doesn’t store transactions itself; it classifies them so your bookkeeping and reports are consistent.

Chart of Account for CPG Businesses

A typical COA for a consumer packaged goods (CPG) company includes:

• Income: Money earned from product sales

• Cost of Goods Sold (COGS): Direct costs to make your product

• Variable Costs: Costs that change with production and sales volume

  • Cost of Goods Sold (COGS): Direct costs to make your product
  • Cost of Fulfillment: Direct costs to ship your product (to customers or distributors)  
  • Cost of Sales: Direct costs to sell your product (promotions, discounts, free-fills)

• Expenses: Fixed costs that stay the same each month

• Other Income and Expenses: Items not tied to your core operations (ie grants or one off projects)

If you're part of the Union Kitchen Accelerator, we will help you set this up in your Quickbooks Account.