nominal account structure

there are various ways to design a nominal account structure. 

For example, applications like Sage recommend a number (between 1000 and 9999) for each nominal account such as 1000 or 4100. Numbers between 1000 and 1999 belong to 1 section of accounts (usually assets) whereas numbers between 4000 and 4999 belong to another (usually sales). This helps when visually looking at accounts as to where they belong. Then a separate chart of accounts is used to display summary information about those nominal accounts. Sage allows multiple charts to be used depending on what information is required.

Other applications use a simple unique auto_increment key for each new account and set where it belongs in the chart of accounts within the nominal account directly. this means only 1 chart of accounts can be used but makes the db structure far simpler.

i speak of a "chart of accounts" as if it is necessary to have but in reality it isn't. What is necessary includes a Trial Balance, a Balance Sheet and a Profit & Loss Account. Extra reports could be made available on demand but would more likely be for internal purposes. (oops! nearly forgot about VAT reporting).