How to get the Chart of Accounts in French?

Business Central/NAV
1

Hello,

is it possible to get the chart of accounts in other languages? Specifically French?

Thank you

1 Like
2

Yes. Definitely you can get this.

3

Hi Hardik,

Thanks for the response. How so?

1 Like
4

The “how” is straightforward, relying entirely on the system’s built-in Translations function. You don’t need code or a new COA.

  1. Maintain the Master: Your main General Ledger (G/L) Account number (e.g., 4000-01) and the primary description stay the same. This is your master data.

  2. Use the Translation Table: Within the G/L setup, there is a dedicated Account Translations area. Here, you simply map the account number to its French description.

  3. User Preference: The magic is automatic: Any user who sets their personal Dynamics 365 language preference to French will automatically see the French description on all reports, journals, and screens.

The system is just changing the label on the screen, the balances and account numbers remain exactly the same. It’s the standard, clean way we handle multi-lingual requirements for customers.

5

Hi Hardik,

Thanks for the response. So before posting my question I had tried option 3 but the chart of accounts remained the in English. For option 2 I’m looking at all the fields in the G/L setup and don’t see that option. What fast tab is it located under?

6

I completely understand the frustration, you know the capability exists, but finding the exact menu button can be tough! You are absolutely in the right area, but that Translations function often hides under a different action menu than the main fields.

The General Location

You’re correct that it’s not on the main G/L Setup fast tab. You need to open the G/L Account Card for the specific account you want to translate. Look for a menu button named “Translations” or “Account Translations”, it’s usually located under the Navigate or Related tabs on the action ribbon/toolbar at the top of the screen.

The Generous Offer

Rather than having you spend more time searching through menus, we can easily solve this for you in minutes. We’ve done this localization setup numerous times for our customers.

If you have a moment, I would be happy to jump on a quick, 15-minute screen-share call to point you to the exact button and confirm that your reporting language settings are correctly configured to make the French text appear.

It’s a quick fix we’d be happy to provide to save you the hassle! Let me know if that’s something you’d be open to.

7

Welcome @Bcme to the Community.

Which localization are you in currently, I am anticipating you must be in the FR?

Are you in BC or NAV?

8

If you were in Quebec (for example) and the DESCRIPTIONS of the accounts were entered in English, but you wanted to see them in French, changing your language will change the title of the column but not the descriptions that people entered into the field. Option 2 would be required.

So to satisfy the “language police” in Quebec you’d need that option.

9

Hi @Bcme,

In Business Central (or NAV) there is no standard translation feature for chart of accounts. I think @Hardik_Gupta talked about other Microsoft Dynamics product, or some 3rd party App.

You can replace the current G/L account names, but everybody will see new translated name for each G/L account. To do this, you can use the feature “Edit in Excel” from “Chart of Account” page (in Excel you can use some translation plugin to help you with translations) or using the configuration packages (Set Up Company Configuration Packages - Business Central | Microsoft Learn or Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central: How to Export and Import Data (Using Configuration Packages) | Dynamics 365 Lab).

If you are using BC SaaS, you can try some 3rd party App from AppSource that will add the transalation feature for Chart of Accounts. Search if you find some App that will solve your problem: Microsoft AppSource – destination for business apps.