uk-chart-of-accounts

Machine-readable UK Chart of Accounts for Python. 166 standard nominal codes with account types, VAT treatments, and HMRC box mappings.

Why this exists

There is no well-maintained, machine-readable UK Chart of Accounts on PyPI. US-centric libraries exist, but UK accounting has different nominal code ranges, VAT treatments (standard, reduced, zero-rated, exempt, outside scope), and HMRC-specific box mappings (CT600, VAT Return, FPS/RTI, CIS). This library fills that gap — designed for developers building UK accounting tools, bookkeeping automation, and AI-powered transaction categorisation.

Install

pip install uk-chart-of-accounts

Quick start

from uk_coa import ChartOfAccounts, AccountType, VatRate

coa = ChartOfAccounts()

# Look up by code
account = coa.get(7602)
account.name          # "Accountancy Fees"
account.type          # AccountType.OVERHEAD
account.vat           # VatRate.STANDARD
account.vat_rate_pct  # 0.20
account.debit_increase  # True (expenses increase on debit side)

# Search
coa.search("insurance")           # All accounts with "insurance" in the name
coa.by_type(AccountType.INCOME)   # All income accounts
coa.by_vat(VatRate.EXEMPT)        # All VAT-exempt accounts
coa.by_tag("motor")               # All motor-related accounts
coa.code_range(7000, 7012)        # Payroll overheads

# Convenience
coa.expenses()                    # Direct expenses + overheads
coa.income_accounts()             # All income codes
coa.balance_sheet_accounts()      # Assets, liabilities, equity
coa.profit_and_loss_accounts()    # Income, expenses

# Export for LLM prompts
context = coa.to_prompt_context()
# or filter: coa.to_prompt_context(types=[AccountType.OVERHEAD])

# Export as dict (JSON-serialisable)
data = coa.to_dict()

What's included

• 166 nominal codes - the standard UK chart (Fixed Assets through Control accounts)
• 10 account types - with double-entry rules (debit/credit increase direction)
• VAT treatments - Standard (20%), Reduced (5%), Zero-rated, Exempt, Outside Scope
• HMRC box mappings - CT600, VAT Return, FPS/RTI references where applicable
• Tags - searchable labels (motor, payroll, premises, insurance, etc.)
• LLM export - to_prompt_context() formats the chart for AI/LLM prompts
• Zero dependencies - pure Python, stdlib only

Account types

VAT treatments

Contributing

PRs welcome — particularly for:

• Additional HMRC box mappings
• VAT treatment corrections
• Descriptions for accounts that lack them
• Industry-specific code extensions

See CONTRIBUTING.md for setup instructions and guidelines.

Licence

MIT