Singapore Chart of Accounts for QuickBooks with GST Codes (Free)

This is a Singapore chart of accounts built for QuickBooks Online, using QuickBooks’ own Singapore GST code names. It comes as a readable CSV that maps every account to its GST code, plus an import CSV for the account structure. The two files do different jobs because of how QuickBooks handles its import, and knowing which is which before you start saves a re-do.

Why the structure and the GST codes are separate

QuickBooks Online’s chart-of-accounts import carries only four columns: Account Number, Account Name, Type, and Detail Type. There is no tax column in the import. QuickBooks still holds account-level GST defaults, but you set them separately from the import.

So the work is two steps:

1. Import the structure with the CSV, which creates the accounts with the right Type and Detail Type.
2. Set the GST codes from the CSV mapping, account by account in the chart of accounts.

The CSV is therefore the important file for GST: it lists every account with its default QuickBooks GST code and the other valid codes, ready to apply.

Separate codes for sales and purchases

The single biggest difference from the UK version is that QuickBooks Singapore does not use one standard code for both directions. It uses SR (9%) for standard-rated sales and TX (9%) for standard-rated purchases, so each code carries its own direction. On a sales invoice you reach for an SR-family code; on a supplier bill you reach for a TX-family code. This chart already puts the right side on each account: revenue accounts default to SR, cost and expense accounts default to TX.

The Singapore treatments worth knowing

The mapping encodes the calls Singapore bookkeepers most often get wrong, using QuickBooks’ codes:

• TX (9%) on most purchases, where input tax is claimable.
• BL (9%) on private motor cars, club subscriptions, staff medical, and family benefits, where Regulations 26 and 27 block the claim.
• TX (9%) on entertainment food and drink, which is claimable in Singapore, unlike many other countries.
• EP (0%) on bank charges and other costs tied to exempt financial supplies.
• TX-RE (9%) flagged as an alternative on overseas software and services that fall under the reverse charge.
• IM (9%) flagged on imported stock, where the GST is paid to Customs and claimed on the import permit.

The code is a default that prefills the line

A default GST code on an account prefills the transaction line; you override it per line whenever a transaction needs a different treatment. That is why the CSV lists alternatives: Cost of goods sold defaults to TX (9%) but lists IM (9%) for imported stock, and Travel defaults to TX (9%) but lists ZP (0%) for international fares.

How to use it

1. Open the CSV, which maps each account to its QuickBooks GST code, and adapt the account names to the business.
2. In QuickBooks Online, go to Settings, then Import data, then Chart of Accounts, and upload the CSV for the structure.
3. On the import wizard, confirm the Type and Detail Type for each account.
4. After import, set the default GST code on each account from the CSV mapping.

Keeping every transaction coded correctly afterwards is the recurring work:

• Dext suggests a code from the supplier on each photographed bill.
• ExpenseFlow reads each receipt and bill, applies the correct Singapore GST code for the supply including the blocked and reverse-charge cases, and posts it into QuickBooks Online against the right account, so coding stays consistent as volume grows.
• Financio and similar regional tools also pull bills in for coding.

The chart uses range-based codes (assets 1000s, liabilities 2000s, equity 3000s, income 4000s, cost of sales 5000s, expenses 6000s), and the import sets each account’s QuickBooks Type and Detail Type, shown as dropdowns on the wizard so a region-specific label can be confirmed on screen.

Using Xero instead? See the Singapore chart of accounts for Xero, where the import sets the GST codes directly. For the codes themselves, see the Singapore GST codes in QuickBooks reference.