# Wave: Chart of Accounts, Transactions and Reports

> A beginner Wave accounting walkthrough on real screens: find the chart of accounts, record and categorize a transaction, then run a Profit & Loss and a…

Source: https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/wave-first-steps · Updated 2026-10-23 · Free from Stepthrough (https://learn.ynteractive.com)

## Practice it step by step

[Start the free practice](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/wave-first-steps)

[Take the free module: why it matters, practice and a quick check →](https://learn.ynteractive.com/courses/wave-accounting-for-beginners/1)

You do every step yourself in a practice copy of Wave. It checks your work as you go, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on. Free, about 10 minutes, and nothing touches your real accounts. [Open full screen](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/wave-first-steps)

Free · Live now · [Accounting](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/course/accounting) · [Wave](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/tool/wave) · ~10 min · 13 steps · Beginner

Updated October 23, 2026. Built against the tool’s current screens and checked step by step. [How we check this lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/about#how-we-check)

A beginner Wave accounting walkthrough on real screens: find the [chart of accounts](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/chart-of-accounts), record and categorize a transaction, then run a [Profit & Loss](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/profit-and-loss-statement) and a Balance Sheet. Free Starter plan.

## At a glance

| Question | Answer |
| --- | --- |
| What you build | A beginner Wave accounting walkthrough on real screens: find the chart of accounts, record and categorize a transaction, then run a Profit & Loss and a Balance Sheet. Free Starter plan. |
| Tools | Wave |
| Time | About 10 minutes, 13 steps in 3 parts |
| Level | Beginner, no coding needed |
| Cost | Free |
| Ways to learn it | [Practice it step by step](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/wave-first-steps) |

### The 3 parts, in short

1. Find the chart of accounts: Open Accounting, Chart of Accounts, Five tabs.
2. Record a transaction: Go to Transactions, Add manual transactions, Describe it, Pick the category, and 1 more step.
3. Run the reports: Open Reports, Profit & Loss, Read it, Balance Sheet, and 1 more step.

## What you'll build

Maya (made up) has outgrown her spreadsheet, and her accountant wants every transaction categorized so reports can be pulled any time. In this lesson you find the chart of accounts in [Wave](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/tool/wave), record a $64.20 office-supplies purchase with the right category, and see it land in the Profit & Loss and the Balance Sheet. Every screen is a real Wave screen.

You found the chart of accounts and its five tabs, recorded a $64.20 withdrawal as Office Supplies, and saw it as an operating expense in the Profit & Loss and as less cash on the Balance Sheet. Now try it in your own Wave account: the lesson page has the checklist.

- Tools: Wave
- Time: about 10 minutes, 13 steps in 3 chapters
- Level: beginner, no coding needed
- Price: free

## Practice first, then build it for real

Practice copy built from real Wave screens (free Starter plan, captured 22 October 2026). Nothing here touches your Wave account. The customer, vendor and amounts are practice data. To build it for real you need your own Wave account, and some services charge once you use them for real work, so check each tool's current pricing.

## Try it yourself, free

Reading the steps is a start. Doing them is how it sticks. The interactive module walks you through every click in a practice copy of Wave, checks each step, and never touches your real accounts.

[Start “Wave: Chart of Accounts, Transactions and Reports”](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/wave-first-steps)

## Step by step: Wave: Chart of Accounts, Transactions and Reports

All 13 steps of the interactive module, in order. In the module you watch each one, then do it yourself in a practice copy that checks your work.

### 1. Find the chart of accounts

1. **Open Accounting.** Wave’s free **Starter** plan opens on the Dashboard. In the left menu, click **Accounting**.
   In the left menu, click Accounting.
2. **Chart of Accounts.** Click **Chart of Accounts**.
3. **Five tabs.** Accounts sit on five tabs: **Assets**, **Liabilities & Credit Cards**, **Income**, **Expenses** and **Equity**, the groups of the accounting equation. Click **Expenses**.
   Five tabs, the groups of the accounting equation.

### 2. Record a transaction

4. **Go to Transactions.** Wave starts you with about 30 expense accounts, each with a plain-English description. Now click **Transactions**.
   About thirty expense accounts to start.
5. **Add manual transactions.** On the free plan you add transactions by hand or upload a bank CSV; automatic import is **Pro**. Click **Add manual transactions**.
   Automatic bank import is a Pro feature.
6. **Describe it.** Type a description such as **Staples, printer paper**, set **Type** to **Withdrawal** (money out) and **Amount** to **64.20**. Then open **Category**.
7. **Pick the category.** Search "office" and click **Office Supplies**.
   Search office, and pick Office Supplies.
8. **Save.** Date, description, Withdrawal, $64.20, Office Supplies. Click **Save**.

### 3. Run the reports

9. **Open Reports.** The transaction is in the list with its category. Click **Reports**.
   It is in the list, with its category.
10. **Profit & Loss.** Under **Financial statements**, click **Profit & Loss (Income Statement)**.
11. **Read it.** Income $0.00, Operating Expenses **$64.20**, Net Profit **−$64.20**. **Report Type** switches between Accrual and Cash. Go back to **Reports**.
    Operating expenses, sixty-four twenty. Report Type switches between accrual and cash. Go back to Reports.
12. **Balance Sheet.** Click **Balance Sheet**.
13. **Check the balance.** Cash and Bank is **−$64.20**: the same purchase, seen as less cash. Click **Total Assets**.
    The same purchase, seen as less cash.

## Screenshots

[Start this module free](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/wave-first-steps)

- Next in Accounting: [Wave: Create an Invoice and Record the Payment](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/wave-invoice-and-payment)

## More in Accounting

- [Wave: Enter a Bill, Pay It and Reconcile](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/wave-enter-and-pay-bills): A beginner Wave accounting walkthrough on real screens: enter a supplier bill, record the payment so it no longer shows as owed, and open bank reconciliation for month…

[All 3 modules in Accounting](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/course/accounting)

## Free cheat sheet

Print it or save the PDF: the key steps and checks from this lesson on one page, free.

- [Wave Accounting Cheat Sheet: Invoices, Bills, Reports](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/cheat-sheets/wave-accounting-basics): A free one-page Wave accounting cheat sheet: chart of accounts, categorized transactions, invoice to payment, bills, reconciling and the two reports.

[All free printable cheat sheets](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/cheat-sheets)

## Terms in this lesson

Plain-English definitions, each with an example from a free lesson.

[Chart of accounts](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/chart-of-accounts) · [Profit and loss statement (P&L)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/profit-and-loss-statement) · Balance sheet · [Dashboard](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/dashboard) · [CSV](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/csv)

[The full AI glossary](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary)

## Browse related tutorials

[Accounting (3)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/course/accounting) · [Wave tutorials (3)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/tool/wave)

Want AI working like this in your business? Robert Breen, the instructor behind this lesson, helps small and mid-sized teams put AI assistants, agents and automations to work. [Work with Robert on AI consulting](https://ynteractive.com/)