CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY

Transcription

1 CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY Policy 7.3.1: Chart of Accounts and Maintenance CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY POLICY and PROCEDURE Subject: Financial Accounting Standard Department: Finance and Business Services Review/Revise Date: 2/23/2012 Effective Date: Issued By: Vice-President Finance & Business Services Distribution: Office of General Accounting, Office of the Controller, Managers, Deans, Directors, Department Chairs, Budget Center Managers, and Principal Investigators Required Approval: No. of Pages: 6 Signature of Approver Dr. Carlton E. Brown Date 02/06/13

2 Table of Contents 1.0 Policy Statement Procedural Narrative Entities Affected By This Policy...7 Chart of Account Maintenance Page 2

3 1.0 Policy Statement Accounting information is organized in the University s financial system by using a Chart of Accounts. Chart of accounts are listing of accounts that the University has identified and made available for recording transactions in its General Ledger. The University maintains a Chart of Accounts to systematically classify accounts using the Banner Finance accounting system in accordance with the University s organizational structure. The form and content of the Chart of Accounts are arranged to be in agreement with the financial reports and separate ranges to designate the transaction as revenue, expense, net assets, asset or liability. The fund, organization, account, and program codes are the primary chart of accounts elements. 2.0 Procedures Narrative The account types and ranges listed below are established in Banner to meet the financial reporting needs of the University. 2.1 Chart of Accounts Set Up New accounts will be set up as new activities or requirements as identified. Any requests for new accounts should be made through the General Accounting and submitted in writing. The General Accounting Manager will determine if the account is needed and will authorize its creation in the Banner Finance system. When creating transactions, users propose the account to use from the complete list of valid accounts and determine the definition that best matches the activity to be recorded. Any questions involving the appropriate Account to use should be directed to General Accounting. The General Accounting Manager will review and approve new accounts submissions F O A P A L FOAPAL is an acronym that describes the Banner Finance System that established chart of accounts which breaks down the activities of the University by six elements (Fund, Organization, Account, Program, Activity, and Location) Fund This is a six-character code that identifies a specific activity or group of activities within the University. Balance sheets and revenue/expense reports can be produced for any fund, which can be restricted (permanently or temporarily) or unrestricted. Fund codes are established in a hierarchy of up to five levels for roll-up and reporting purposes. For uniformity, the beginning characters of each fund indicate the type of activity that it represents: 1-Unrestricted Operations 2-Restricted Activities 3-Auxiliary Enterprises Operations 4-Loan Funds Chart of Account Maintenance Page 3

4 5-Quasi-Endowment 6-Endowment 7-Annuity and Life Income 8-Agency 91-Unexpended Plant Activity 95-Debt Retirement 97-Investment in Plant BK-Bank Account Activity Organization This is a five-character code that identifies a unit of budgetary responsibility and/or departments within the University. It is normally used to define who spends the money. Organization codes are established in a hierarchy of up to eight levels for roll-up and reporting purposes. The University s organizational chart provides a guideline for these codes. An example of a hierarchy of organization codes based on the organizational chart within the University is the Vice President for Academic Affairs (30000), the School of Arts and Sciences (30500), and the Biology Department (30530) Account This is a four or five character code that identifies objects, such as the general ledger accounts (assets, liabilities, control, fund balances) and the operating ledger accounts (income, expenditures, transfers). The account is a line item within the University s financial structure. Account codes are established in a hierarchy of up to four levels for roll-up and reporting purposes. Examples of account codes include Petty Cash, Accounts Payable, Inter-fund activities (due to/due from), Tuition revenue, and Full Time Faculty Salaries. Five character account codes represent those accounts used for clearing purposes. The balance in these accounts should be kept at zero to the extent possible Program The University follows the programs defined by the National Association of College and University Business Offices (NACUBO). In the Chart of Accounts, the program code is a two-character code that identifies each of the NACUBO-defined programs. The Program codes utilized by the University are: 10-Instruction 20-Research 30-Public Service 40-Academic Support 50-Student Services 60-Institutional Support 70-Operation and Plant Maintenance 80-Student Services 90-Auxilliary Enterprises Chart of Account Maintenance Page 4

5 2.1.6 Activity This is an optional set of character code that is non-hierarchical and can be used to further define an object of expenditure, such as, temporary units of work, subsidiary functional classifications, or short duration projects. Activity code examples are: Repair to Student Union Lobby Floor, Computer Lab Printer Cartridge Recycling Location This is an optional set of character code that identifies physical locations. It is primarily used with, but not limited to, the Fixed Asset module. Location codes are established in a hierarchy of up to five levels for roll-up and reporting purposes. Examples of location codes are Controller s office, English Department, Institutional Advancement, and the Haven Warren Building Account Index (Optional) This code is an optional chart of accounts feature. It is a user-defined value for a set of FOAPAL elements. Account indices are generally used with restricted funds to minimize the data entry required to complete transactions. The University also uses account indices to cross reference current fund numbers to those established in the old JD Edwards Financial System. 2.2 Chart of Account Maintenance Whenever changes are made to certain elements of the chart of accounts certain approvals are required. Requests for the establishment of a new grant funds are sent to the Office of Grants and Contracts Accounting. The establishment of any other types of funds requires a request along with the appropriate supporting documentation be sent to the General Accounting Office. The establishment of a new organization code requires that a request be sent to the Assistant Vice President for Planning and Evaluation (AVP). If the request is approved, an is sent to the General Accounting office by the AVP. General Accounting then adds the organization code as appropriate. Any requests for the addition of a new account codes must be sent to the General Accounting Office for approval. If the request is approved, the General Accounting Manager will meet with the Controller to walk through suggest codes to be added. General Accounting then adds the account code as appropriate. It is important that the tree structures are complete and accurate at all times. In order to ensure that the chart of accounts tree structure continues to be accurate and meets the accounting and reporting needs of the University, the Office of General Accounting periodically runs and reviews the following chart of accounts reports: Chart of Account Maintenance Page 5

6 FGRFNDH Fund Hierarchy Report FGRORGH Organization Hierarchy Report FGRACTH - Account Hierarchy Report FGRPRGH - Program Hierarchy Report If it is determined by the General Accounting Manager that changes need to be made to the chart, communication with the Controller will indicating what changes need to be made. The General Accounting Manager is responsible for updating the chart in the Banner Finance System. Banner forms utilized by the General Accounting Manager to complete this task include: FORMS Chart of Accounts Maintenance (FTMCOAS) Fiscal Year Set-Up (FTMFSYR) System Data Maintenance Form (FTMSDAT) Account Type Maintenance Form (FTMATYP) Account Code Maintenance Form (FTMACCT) Control Account Maintenance Form (FTMACTL) Fund Type Code Maintenance Form (FTMFTYP) Fund Code Maintenance Form (FTMFUND) Fund Balance Account Maintenance Form (FTMFBAL) Bank Rule Code Form (GXRBANK) Program Code Maintenance Form (FTMPROG) Organization Code Maintenance Form (FTMORGN) Activity Code Maintenance Form (FTMACTV) Location Code Maintenance Form (FTMLOCN) Account Index Maintenance Form (FTMACCI) System Control Form (FOASYSC) Identification Form (FOAIDEN) Vendor Maintenance Form (FTMVEND) 3.0 Entities Affected by this Policy Office of General Accounting, Office of the Controller, Managers, Deans, Directors, Department Chairs, Budget Center Managers, and Principal Investigators Chart of Account Maintenance Page 6