In Morocco, company accounting is governed by Law No. 9-88 on traders’ accounting obligations and by the General Accounting Standards Code (Code général de normalisation comptable, CGNC). The CGNC includes a general chart of accounts for businesses, often called the PCGE: the standardised list of accounts every company uses to record its transactions.
Understanding its logic helps you read a trial balance, talk to your accountant and see how the balance sheet and income statement are built.
A structure in classes
The chart is organised in classes, each identified by the first digit of the account number. They follow the structure of the financial statements directly.
| Class | Content | Statement |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Permanent financing: share capital, reserves, profit, financing debt, long-term provisions | Balance sheet (liabilities) |
| 2 | Fixed assets: intangible, tangible and financial assets, depreciation | Balance sheet (assets) |
| 3 | Current assets excluding cash: inventories, trade receivables and other receivables | Balance sheet (assets) |
| 4 | Current liabilities excluding cash: suppliers, social security and tax liabilities | Balance sheet (liabilities) |
| 5 | Cash: banks, cash in hand, short-term credit | Balance sheet (assets and liabilities) |
| 6 | Expenses | Income statement |
| 7 | Income | Income statement |
| 8 | Results | Determination of results |
Classes 1 to 5 are the balance sheet accounts; classes 6 and 7 the income statement accounts. One class is reserved for cost accounting, and another for off-balance-sheet special accounts.
How to read an account number
Each additional digit refines the previous one:
- the 1st digit gives the class;
- the 2nd digit, the heading;
- the 3rd digit, the item;
- the following digits, increasingly detailed accounts.
For example, in class 6, heading 61 groups operating expenses, and the accounts below it separate purchases, external services, taxes and duties, personnel costs and operating provisions. A company may create sub-accounts suited to its business, within this structure.
A particular feature: operating, financial and non-recurring
Expenses and income are classified by nature:
- operating: the company’s ordinary activity;
- financial: interest, foreign exchange gains and losses, investment income;
- non-recurring: exceptional transactions, such as disposals of fixed assets or certain penalties.
This distinction appears in the income statement and in the statement of management balances, which shows the margin, value added, gross operating profit and self-financing capacity.
From the chart of accounts to the financial statements
At year end, account balances feed the financial statements: balance sheet, income statement, statement of management balances, funding table and notes. We describe these steps in our article on annual accounts approval.
A well-configured chart of accounts, with sub-accounts suited to the business, makes accounting directly useful for management: margins by activity, cost tracking, cash analysis.
What about electronic accounting?
The 2026 Finance Act makes electronic bookkeeping mandatory, with an accounting entries file for each financial year. The standardised chart of accounts is its backbone: consistent configuration makes producing this file easier.
Ascensu keeps its clients’ accounts under the CGNC, with a chart of accounts suited to their business and management needs.
Official sources
This article is provided for general information, as at its publication date. It is not personalised advice: the rules change and every situation must be reviewed on its own facts.