One of the most important factors for obtaining optimum performance from your accounting system is the design and structure of your chart of accounts. The first step in designing a chart of accounts is determining the structure of the account number. The General Ledger module allows you to use up to 32 alphanumeric characters for an account number. The account number structure can be a minimum of one segment or a maximum of ten segments.

The following rules apply to the creation and maintenance of account segments:

• Each segment can be either numeric or alphanumeric.

• The first segment must be the main account and the main account size can be a minimum of 3 characters and a maximum of 15 characters.

• The description for the first segment is "Main" and cannot be changed.

• The remaining segments 2 through 10 are optional subaccounts and can have a size between 1 and 15 characters.

• Segments 2 through 10 can have up to a 15 character description. This description is used throughout the system to refer to that particular segment.

It is important to plan how you want to set up your account structure. After you set up the account structure in the General Ledger Setup Wizard, these additional rules govern the maintenance and creation of account segments:

• A segment can be made larger but cannot be made smaller.

• Segments can be added but cannot be removed.

• A segment type can be changed from numeric to alphanumeric

• A segment type cannot be changed from alphanumeric to numeric.