chart of accounts

Hello there, kimbb.

I'm here to help you with your question regarding the Chart of Accounts (COA) and its functionality in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

Are you referring to setting up three subaccounts within a main account? If so, you don't need to set up products and services to accomplish this task in QBO.

You can generate subaccounts to further categorize your expenses, income, and other types of accounts for enhanced detail. Additionally, subaccounts can be utilized to maintain an organized COA and generate reports with more comprehensive information.

To create a subaccount, here's how:

1.  In QBO, go to the Settings ⚙ and select Chart of accounts.
2. Select New. Depending on your account view, you’ll either see a panel labeled New account or New category. Select the option you see below for the next steps.

For the New account panel:

1. Select the Save account under ▼ dropdown to choose an account type. To narrow the scope of account types, you can select one of the account type buttons above the dropdown.
2. In the Tax form section ▼ dropdown, select the detail type that best fits the transactions you want to track.
3. Enter a name in the Account name field.
4. Enter an opening balance in the Account balance field.
5. When you're done, hit Save.

For the New category panel:

1. In the Category name field, enter a name for the category (subaccount).
2. Select the Select category link. This is where you will choose the parent account that this category (subaccount) belongs to. 
3. Choose the type of account that you’re creating the subaccount under.
4. Click Next, then pick the account that the new subaccount fits under.
5. Hit Save to save a bank or credit card account, or Select for all other account types.

To know more about managing and creating subaccounts in QBO, check out this article: Create subaccounts in your chart of accounts in QuickBooks Online.

I'm also adding these articles that tackle more about COA for future reference:

• Learn about the chart of accounts in QuickBooks Online.
• Add an account to your chart of accounts in QuickBooks Online.

Please let me know in the comment if you're referring to something else or if you have follow-up questions. I'll be here to answer them. Stay safe.