Overview
A chart of accounts (COA) is a financial organizational tool that functions as the common language for all financial transactions within the Berkeley Financial System (BFS). It serves as the following:
- Organization of a simplified, scalable structure for financial data
- Collaboration across UC Berkeley
- Communication with the UC Office of the President
- Consistent, reliable and verifiable financial reporting, providing better access to data
Managed by the Financial Accounting and Controls team, the chart of accounts is made up of the individual segments that create the Full Accounting Unit (FAU) chartfields. The combination of chartfield values is called a chartstring. The FAU chartstring is used to record and categorize transactions in UC Berkeley’s general ledger (i.e. BFS). Getting the chartstring correct is essential for internal analysis and reporting, external reporting and compliance, and effective management of restricted funds.
The FAU chartstring and each of the individual chartfield values identify the following:
- types of revenues recognized and expenses incurred (account segment within the FAU chartstring)
- which cost center generated the financial activity (i.e. deptID, business unit, etc.),
- the fund type associated with the financial transactions
- the related function associated with the expenses incurred such as teaching, research, etc.,
- if there are any projects or business activity associated with the financial activity (chartfield 1 and chartfield 2 for non-C&G related activity and the PC Chartfields for C&G related activity) that financial users need or want to track
More detail on the chart of accounts and the individual FAU segments are outlined in the following sections.
UC Berkeley's Chart of Accounts (COA)
UC Berkeley's Chart of Accounts is composed of individual segments (chartfields) that when combined make up the Full Accounting Unit (FAU) chartstring. The individual segments or chartfields describe the attributes and codes that are required for every journal entry and transaction that flows through BFS.
Following are the individual chartfields in the FAU, example FAU code for each of the segments, the length of the chartfield, its purpose and use, and description.
The attributes and codes associated with each segment must accompany the dollar amounts recorded.
Example of a Full Chartstring
This is an example of a full chartstring:
1 50215 30684 14015 44 CPADVO OSKIB - 01 1009999 01
| Business Unit | Account | Fund | Dept ID | Function | Chartfield 1 | Chartfield 2 | PC BU | Project | Activity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 50215 | 30684 | 14015 | 44 | CPADVO | OSKIB | 01 | 1009999 | 01 |
Full Accounting Unit (FAU)
Following are the individual Full Accounting Unit (FAU) chartfields and segments that make up the COA’s FAU:
Business Unit
Length
5 alpha numeric digits
Use
Who?
Description
Business Unit identifies the major operational unit within UC Berkeley responsible for the transaction.
A full Business Unit is five digits but sometimes you may see just the first digit (1 or J) in BFS.
Examples
- 10000 for campus
- J0000 for UCOP activity at UCB
- F0000 for Berkeley Foundation
Account
Length
5 numeric digits
Use
What?
Description
Categorizes the nature of the transaction as a specific type of asset, liability, fund balance, revenue, or expense.
Budget and operating transfers are also a type of category available in BFS.
Example
- 50215 for academic wages
Fund
Length
5 numeric digits
Use
How?
Description
Tracks spending restrictions and designations by source of funding.
It is also used to categorize fund balances for external reporting.
Example
- 30684 for a US Government Federal Grants Fund
Dept ID
Length
5 numeric digits
Use
Who?
Description
Dept ID identifies the lowest budgetary unit (also referred to as "cost centers") to which the unit is responsible for, or affected by, a given financial transaction.
Example
- 14015 for the Environmental Health Science Research Dept
Function
Length
2 numeric digits
Use
Why?
Description
Designates the purpose of the transaction. It classifies expenses into natural classification categories by expense or budget provision type.
Not used for Revenue or Balance Sheet accounts.
Example
- 44 to denote research activity
Chartfield 1 (CF1)
Length
6 alpha numeric digits
Use
Why?
Description
Optional field used to track activities that have a beginning and end date, involves multiple funds or is one of several similar activities within the same fund.
The campus primarily uses CF1 and CF2 fields to track faculty start-up, retention and relocation costs. In a minority of cases, the campus uses CF1 to track additional chair support provided, salary savings, field trips, commencement expenses, etc. but in all of those cases, we have specific account codes to track these types of expenses. Sometimes however, departments feel they need to track them at a more granular level of detail such as by asset, by building, or by person. Other uses include remodeling costs, PMB support, equipment repair by asset, etc.
Of all expenses that are recorded in the general ledger, 98% of expenses do not use the CF1 field and for those that do, on average they make up less than 1% of total financial dollars in BFS.
Example
- CPADVO for the Advocacy Video Series
Chartfield 2 (CF2)
Length
5 alpha numeric digits
Use
Why?
Description
Optional field for departments to track activity that cannot be captured using other chart fields (Dept ID, Fund, Account, etc.). Many use the field to identify Principal Investigators or track revenues and expenses associated with conferences, special events, publications.
Example
- OSKIB in for Principal Investigator Oski Bear
Full Accounting Unit (FAU) Table
| Name | Length | Use | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business Unit | 5 alpha numeric digits | Who? |
Business Unit identifies the major operational unit within UC Berkeley responsible for the transaction. A full Business Unit is five digits but sometimes you may see just the first digit (1 or J) in BFS. |
10000 for campus J0000 for UCOP activity at UCB F0000 for Berkeley Foundation |
| Account |
5 numeric digits |
What? |
Categorizes the nature of the transaction as a specific type of asset, liability, fund balance, revenue, or expense. Budget and operating transfers are also a type of category available in BFS. |
50215 for academic wages |
| Fund | 5 numeric digits | How? |
Tracks spending restrictions and designations by source of funding. It is also used to categorize fund balances for external reporting. |
30684 for a US Government Federal Grants Fund |
| Dept ID | 5 numeric digits | Who? | Dept ID identifies the lowest budgetary unit (also referred to as "cost centers") to which the unit is responsible for, or affected by, a given financial transaction. | 14015 for the Environmental Health Science Research Dept |
| Function | 2 numeric digits | Why? |
Designates the purpose of the transaction. It classifies expenses into natural classification categories by expense or budget provision type. Not used for Revenue or Balance Sheet accounts. |
44 to denote research activity |
| Chartfield 1 (CF1) | 6 alpha numeric digits | Why? |
Optional field used to track activities that have a beginning and end date, involves multiple funds or is one of several similar activities within the same fund. The campus primarily uses CF1 and CF2 fields to track faculty start-up, retention and relocation costs. In a minority of cases, the campus uses CF1 to track additional chair support provided, salary savings, field trips, commencement expenses, etc. but in all of those cases, we have specific account codes to track these types of expenses. Sometimes however, departments feel they need to track them at a more granular level of detail such as by asset, by building, or by person. Other uses include remodeling costs, PMB support, equipment repair by asset, etc. Of all expenses that are recorded in the general ledger, 98% of expenses do not use the CF1 field and for those that do, on average they make up less than 1% of total financial dollars in BFS. |
CPADVO for the Advocacy Video Series |
| Chartfield 2 (CF2) | 5 alpha numeric digits | Why? | Optional field for departments to track activity that cannot be captured using other chart fields (Dept ID, Fund, Account, etc.). Many use the field to identify Principal Investigators or track revenues and expenses associated with conferences, special events, publications. | OSKIB in for Principal Investigator Oski Bear |
Project Costing (PC) Chartfields
The PC Chartfields only apply to Contract and Grant related funds for externally sponsored research.
PC Business Unit
Length
2 numeric digits
Use
Who?
Description
PC Business Unit identifies the two accounting entities the award is associated with (GM100 for UC Berkeley or GMJ00 if its associated with ANR/UCOP.
Example
- 01 denotes the business unit
Project
Length
7 numeric digits
Use
Why?
Description
Tracks financial activity for a body of work that often has a start and end date and spans across fiscal years.
Example
- 1009999 denotes the project code
Activity
Length
2 numeric digits
Use
Why?
Description
The funding period(s) mandated by the sponsor facilitating expense tracking by funding period (e.g. 01, 02, 03, etc.).
Example
- 01 denotes project year 1 of the contract
Project Costing (PC) Chartfields Table
| Name | Length | Use | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PC Business Unit | 2 numeric digits | Who? | PC Business Unit identifies the two accounting entities the award is associated with (GM100 for UC Berkeley or GMJ00 if its associated with ANR/UCOP. | 01 denotes the business unit |
| Project | 7 numeric digits | Why? | Tracks financial activity for a body of work that often has a start and end date and spans across fiscal years. | 1009999 denotes the project code |
| Activity | 2 numeric digits | Why? | The funding period(s) mandated by the sponsor facilitating expense tracking by funding period (e.g. 01, 02, 03, etc.). | 01 denotes project year 1 of the contract |
Additional Resources
- Chart of Accounts describes the structure and values in each of the chartfields
- The Chartstring page provides further details and definitions