XBert Type: Standard
Accounting Software: Xero
Country Restriction: All regions
Risk Type: Other Risk
Business Function: Bookkeeping
Overview
The "Inactive account" XBert identifies general ledger accounts that have had no journal activity for at least two years. These accounts may no longer be relevant to current operations and could clutter your chart of accounts.
What it does
This XBert detects accounts with:
No journal entries created in the past 24 months (creation date, not posting date, is used)
No recent financial activity linked to the account
A prioritised focus on only the five oldest inactive accounts at a time
Once you review and resolve the current set, XBert will show the next set of oldest inactive accounts to keep the cleanup process manageable.
How it works
XBert uses journal creation dates (not transaction or posting dates) to evaluate account activity. It scans all accounts and identifies those without entries in the past two years. The alert prioritises:
The oldest accounts by creation date
Accounts with the same age are then sorted by account code
Example/Use Case
Martin created an account named "Contractor Fees" to track renovation costs for a one-time coffee shop fit-out. The renovations ended more than two years ago, but the account remains active. Later, Martin accidentally books a new plumber invoice to that account, skewing his contractor expense reporting.
Had the account been archived after the renovations, Martin would have been directed to use the correct, ongoing contractor account, ensuring cleaner and more accurate reporting.
Accounting software
Xero (primary support), with potential relevance for MYOB and QuickBooks cleanup processes.
Which countries it supports
All regions.
Processes
This XBert is part of the Bookkeeping Services category.
Maintaining a clean and streamlined chart of accounts:
Prevents misposting of transactions
Makes reporting clearer
Supports more efficient bookkeeping and compliance
Regularly reviewing and archiving unused accounts helps ensure your financial data remains clean, current, and actionable.