> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.layerfi.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Required vs. Optional Template Accounts

After going through [the initial setup](/guides/initial-setup) and onboarding of your platform onto Layer,
your platform will be configured with a specific chart of account template used to initialize the general ledger for all of your business users.

Template chart of accounts are composed of both required and optional accounts. Required accounts are accounts that are created automatically for a business.

Optional accounts are created lazily- that is, an optional account in a business's chart of accounts template may be referenced via its stable name (e.g., while categorizing a bank transaction) even if the account has not yet been instantiated.
Examples of required accounts used across all
businesses are `ASSETS`, `LIABILITIES`, `ACCOUNTS_RECEIVABLE`, `OPERATING_EXPENSES`, etc.

### Required Template Accounts

When a new business is created, its chart of accounts will be created with all of the required template accounts.

<Note>You may use either `AccountId` or `StableName` to identify a required template account.</Note>

### Optional Template Accounts

Unlike required template accounts, optional template accounts do not get immediately instantiated for the new businesses. Instead,
they are accounts users can interact with (e.g. categorize a transaction) via a `StableName` identifier. Once used, the account gets
instantiated for the business and a unique `AccountId` is created for that account.

<Note>You may only use a `StableName` to reference an optional template account before creation. Once created, you may use either
`AccountId` or `StableName` to identify an optional template account.</Note>

## Use cases

* [Transaction categorization](/api-reference/v1/categorize-bank-transaction)
* [Designing your own transaction categorization user interface](/api-reference/v1/fetch-transaction-categories)

## References

* [Account Identifiers](/api-reference/ledger/account-identifier)