Here's a list of the linked accounts that are used for purchase transactions, along with information about where the linked accounts are used:
Liability Account for Tracking Payables
This is also known as your linked payables account. The amounts your company owes its vendors for purchases you've made on account are considered liabilities. This account summarizes all the money owed to your vendors; it appears on your balance sheet and other financial reports. This account is credited (increased) whenever you enter purchases on account using the Purchases window. This account is debited (decreased) whenever you enter a payment for a vendor using the Pay Bills window.
Note that you can use the Company Data Auditor to compare the total of your purchases with the linked payables account balance.
Bank Account for Paying Bills
Used to track the amounts you pay to your vendors. This account appears as a default entry for the transactions you enter in the Pay Bills window, but you can choose another checking account. When you enter a bill payment, this account (or the bank account you select instead of it) is credited by the amount of the transaction, and your linked Liability Account for Tracking Payables is debited. In effect, both the bank account and the accounts payable account are decreased.
The account you select here must be a Bank account type.
Expense or Cost of Sales Account for Freight
Used to track the freight amounts you enter for the purchases made using the Purchases window. This account enables you to see how much of your gross purchases amount is actually goods or services, and how much is payment for shipping. This account appears on the Trial Balance, the Profit and Loss Statement and other reports.
This account is used only if you marked "I pay freight on purchases" in the Easy Setup Assistant or the Purchases Linked Accounts window. If your vendors don't ship goods to your company, you can skip this account.
Asset Account for Vendor Deposits
Used to track the amounts you pay in advance for orders entered in the Purchases window. The amount is considered an asset for your company until the purchase actually is made, because all or a portion of the deposit will have to be returned to you if the purchase isn't made. This account appears on the Trial Balance, the Profit and Loss Statement and other reports.
This account is used only if you marked "I track deposits paid to vendors" in the Easy Setup Assistant or the Purchases Linked Accounts window. If you never make deposits on purchase orders, you can skip this account.
Expense (or Contra) Account for Discounts
Used to track the discounts you take for early payment, based on the credit terms your vendors have extended to you. When you enter payments using the Pay Bills window, the discount amount you're eligible for appears as a default entry, but you can enter a larger or smaller amount, if necessary. The actual discount amount you enter is tracked using the linked Expense (or Contra) Account for Discounts.
This account is used only if you marked "I take discounts for early payments" in the Easy Setup Assistant or the Purchases Linked Accounts window. If you don't take early-payment discounts to your customers, you can skip this account.
Expense Account for Late Charges
Used to track the fees you pay when a bill payment is past due, or if you are charged a finance fee on unpaid balances. This account is updated when you enter an amount in the Finance Charge field in the Pay Bills window.
This account is used only if you marked "I pay charges for late payment" in the Easy Setup Assistant or the Purchases Linked Accounts window. If you aren't required to pay late charges, you can skip this account.
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