# Accounts and currencies

An account is anywhere a team keeps money: a bank account, a card, cash in a drawer or a crypto wallet. Every transaction happens on an account, and every account holds its money in one or more currencies.

## Account types

Each account has one of three types, chosen when it is created. The type cannot be changed afterwards.

| Type | Holds |
| --- | --- |
| **Bank** | Ordinary currencies, such as US dollars or Uruguayan pesos. |
| **Cash** | Ordinary currencies. |
| **Crypto** | Cryptocurrencies only. |

## Creating an account

Open **Accounts** and choose **Create account**. Give the account a **Name**, pick its **Type**, and choose its **Currencies**. An account needs at least one currency.

For each currency you can enter an **Opening balance**, the money already in the account when you start keeping it in Contamos, and the date it was true in **Balance as of**. Each opening balance is recorded as a transaction of its own, with the exchange rate of that date. It counts in the balance but not as income.

## One account, several currencies

An account can hold as many currencies as it really does. A bank account with a peso and a dollar sub-account is one account with two currencies, not two accounts. The account keeps a separate balance for each of them.

To add or remove a currency, open the account's menu on the **Accounts** page and choose **Edit**. A currency you add can start with its own opening balance.

## Balances are shown per currency

Contamos never blends currencies into one converted total. The **Dashboard** shows one balance for each currency the team holds, added up across its active accounts, and the **Monthly** page shows each currency in a section of its own. Choosing a balance on the dashboard opens the transactions in that currency.

The **Accounts** page shows each account's balance in every currency it holds, one line per currency, including a currency with nothing in it yet. Choosing an amount opens that account's transactions in that currency. Deactivated accounts still show their balances.

Each transaction still records its [exchange rate](https://contamos.xyz/en/docs/exchange-rates), so what it was worth on the day stays on record.

## Deactivating an account

Accounts are never deleted. When an account is closed or no longer used, choose **Deactivate** from its menu. A deactivated account:

- keeps every transaction it ever had, which still shows under **Transactions**;
- leaves the dashboard balances and the monthly totals;
- is no longer offered when recording a transaction or a transfer.

Choose **Activate** to bring it back. Deactivated accounts carry an **Inactive** badge and keep showing their balances on the **Accounts** page, and the **Status** filter on the **Accounts** page shows or hides them.

## Limits

On the Free plan a team can have up to 3 active accounts. Deactivated accounts do not count, so deactivating one frees a place. Pro has no limit. See [Plans and limits](https://contamos.xyz/en/docs/plans-and-limits).