Chart of Accounts Structure and Values
Account
Account classifies the nature of an accounting transaction. Length in BFS is 5 characters. BFS account numbers are assigned in ranges according to the classification of the account.
| Account Range | Classification of Account |
|---|---|
| 10000-19999 | Assets |
| 20000-29999 | Liabilities |
| 30000-39999 | Net Position (Equity) |
| 40000-49999 | Revenues |
| 50000-59999 | Expenditures |
| 60000-69999 | Budget (Provision) |
| 70000-79999 | Operating Transfers |
| 80000-89999 | Other Changes in Net Position (Fund Balance) |
| 90000-99999 | Intercampus Transfers |
Function Code
Function code identifies functional control points designated by the Office of the President. Function code is required for all current funds and is used with the following account types:
- Expense
- Budget Provision
The function code is not used with Assets, Liabilities, Fund Balances or Revenue accounts. Length in BFS is 2 characters. The values for this code are:
| Function Code | Description |
|---|---|
| 40 | Instruction & Departmental Research: This code includes all activity that is part of a unit's instruction program, except for tutorial instruction (which should be coded as Student Services), instruction during the summer session (which should be coded as Summer Sessions), and instruction for extension courses (which should be coded as University Extension). These activities include academic units' instruction, academic administration, departmental academic advising, student training grants, departmental research, and curriculum development. |
| 41 | Summer Sessions: This includes all activity for the administration, instruction, and operations of Summer Sessions. |
| 43 | Academic Support: This code includes all activity for specialized support related to instruction and research programs. It includes the retention, preservation, and display of educational materials, for instance, museums and galleries; the provision of services that directly assist the academic functions of the campus, for instance, academic shops and training clinics; media, such as audiovisual services; and academic computing. |
| 44 | Organized & Sponsored Research: This code includes all activity specifically organized to produce research outcomes, whether commissioned by an external agency or separately budgeted by a unit within the University. It includes all activity for individual and/or project research awards as well as those for Organized Research Units, institutes, research centers, and Committee on Research grants. |
| 60 | Libraries: This code is used only with activity for the campus Library and the Law Library. It includes the acquisition, preservation, display, and maintenance of collections. (Function code 60 should not be used with departmental budgets for libraries.) |
| 61 | University Extension: This code includes all activity for the administration, instruction, and operations of University Extension. |
| 62 | Public Service: This code includes all activity that is established primarily to provide non-instructional services beneficial to individuals and groups external to the campus. Included in this classification are campus outreach and community access programs and publications, for instance, arts, public lectures, community science education, and similar non-instructional services to particular sectors of the community. Examples are Lawrence Hall of Science and Cal Performances. |
| 64 | Maintenance & Operation of Plant: This code includes all activity for central services pertaining to the maintenance and operation of the physical plant, including administration, custodial services, grounds, utilities, building maintenance, renewal and replacement, and central campus facilities planning. |
| 65 | Depreciation Expense: For use with plant funds (to be used by the Controller's office only). |
| 66 | Impairment Expense: For use with plant funds (to be used by the Controller's office only). |
| 68 | Student Services: This code includes all activity for the offices of admissions, registrar, student financial aid administration, and those functions whose primary purpose is to contribute to the physical and emotional well-being of students and to their intellectual, cultural, and social development outside the context of the formal instructional program. It includes student activities, student advising in non-academic departments, health services, recreational sports, counseling, remedial instruction, and career guidance. |
| 72 | Institutional Support & General Administration: This code includes all activity for central units and functions that provide core services to the entire campus, for instance, administrative and business services, police, storehouse, communications, environmental health and safety, development, community and alumni relations, administrative computing, and all central campus administration. |
| 76 | Auxiliary Enterprises: This code includes all activity for units that exist to furnish goods or services for a fee to students, faculty, staff and other non-University customers, and are managed as self-supporting units. Examples include parking, student housing and food services, and intercollegiate athletics. |
| 78 | Student Financial Aid: This code includes student financial aid awards, grants, scholarships, fellowships, and loans administered by academic departments and/or by other service units. |
| 80 | Provisions for Allocation: This code includes appropriations for central campus provisions for discretionary purposes, salary and benefit allocations, and overhead recoveries. |
Chartfield1
ChartField1 identifies an activity that:
- has a beginning and an end date, or
- involves multiple funds, or
- is one of several similar activities within the same fund.
Length in BFS is 6 characters. BFS ChartField1 numbers are assigned in ranges according to whether it is for a construction value (code begins with 1), a management reporting value (code begins with 3) or a departmental value (code begins with 2-character department prefix). ChartField1 values are further defined by assigning an Attribute (required field) from a list.
Campus Management Codes: Campus management codes begin with the number 3 and are a subset of ChartField1 and are mandated for use across all control units for the categories listed in the table below. Management codes are shared values, that when used in tandem with the Division’s DeptID and PI CF2 code (where applicable), will identify the specific intent of each fund use.
Departmental Codes: Departments can create and update departmental codes for their Org Node(s) only. The code must begin with the departmental prefix (first two characters of the Org Node).
| Project Range | Short Definition | Long Definition | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1XXXXX | Plant (construction projects) | Project set up for each capital project managed by a central department; PD&C or other entity as defined. | |
| 91XXXX | Debt Projects | Project set up for debt service projects managed by a central department. | |
| Management Project Codes | |||
| 3DCFAC | Campus-wide, for endowed chair payouts | Allowance for Endowed Chair Holder | This code is used for payout from an endowed chair that follows the Hewlett or Common Good payout model and is designated for the scholarly allowance. |
| 3DCRES | Campus-wide, for endowed chair payouts | Support for Multidisciplinary Initiative from Endowed Chair | This code is used for payout from an endowed chair that follows the Hewlett payout model and is designated for the multidisciplinary initiative. |
| 3DCSTU | Campus-wide, for endowed chair payouts | Graduate Student Support for Endowed Chair Holder | This code is used for payout from an endowed chair that follows the Hewlett or Common Good payout model and is designated for graduate student support. |
| 3S00MC | Faculty Start-up | Support for newly appointed permanent faculty for costs, such as research, laboratory renovations, equipment, summer salary, exceptional removal, and housing differential. | Support for individual permanent faculty upon their hire. The negotiated agreements include funding for costs such as research support, renovation of laboratories, equipment, summer salary, exceptional removal, and housing differential. Does not include expenses related to their actual recruitment, for example travel to campus for interviews; these are reported as Faculty Recruitment. Please note: do not use this category for Hewlett endowed chair or common good payout model. See Hewlett/Common Good Activity Codes. |
| 3S0FAC | Schlr Allow StUp Endow Chr | Endowed Chair payout – Scholarly Allowance, when used as part of a start-up package | Use this code when payout from an endowed chair that follows the Hewlett or Common Good payout model is part of a start-up package and designated for the scholarly allowance. |
| 3S0RES | Multi-disc StUp Endow Chr | Endowed Chair payout – Multidisciplinary, when used as part of a start-up package | Use this code when payout from an endowed chair that follows the Hewlett payout model is part of a start-up package and designated for the multidisciplinary initiative. |
| 3S0STU | Stu Spprt StUp Endow Chr | Endowed Chair payout – Grad Student Support, when used as part of a start-up package | Use this code when payout from an endowed chair that follows the Hewlett or Common Good payout model is part of a start-up package and designated for graduate student support. |
| 3T00MC | Faculty Retention | Costs for the retention of permanent faculty such as research support, laboratory renovations, equipment, and summer salary. | Costs for the retention of individual permanent faculty. The negotiated agreements include funding for expenses such as research support, laboratory renovations, equipment, and summer salary. Please note: do not use this category for Hewlett endowed chair or common good payout model. See Hewlett/Common Good Activity Codes. |
| 3T0FAC | Schlr Allow Ret | Endowed Chair payout – Scholarly Allowance, when used as part of a retention package | Use this code when payout from an endowed chair that follows the Hewlett or Common Good payout model is part of a retention package and designated for the scholarly allowance. |
| 3T0RES | Multi-disc Ret | Endowed Chair payout – Multidisciplinary, when used as part of a retention package | Use this code when payout from an endowed chair that follows the Hewlett payout model is part of a retention package and designated for the multidisciplinary initiative. |
| 3T0STU | Stu spprt Ret | Endowed Chair payout – Grad Student Support, when used as part of a retention package | Use this code when payout from an endowed chair that follows the Hewlett or Common Good payout model is part of a retention package and designated for graduate student support. |
|
3U00MC Note: use is optional | Faculty Recruitment | Costs for the recruitment of permanent faculty, such as position advertisements, travel and lodging of recruiters, and travel, lodging, and business meals of candidates. | Funds expended during the permanent faculty recruitment process for costs such as position advertisements, travel and lodging of recruiters, and travel, lodging, and business meals of candidates during interview travel to the campus. Does not include funds awarded to newly appointed permanent faculty in support of research or other start-up needs; these are reported as Faculty Start-up. |
| 3X0CGC | Common Good Curriculum Expense | Costs related to Common Good Curriculum (CGC) courses. Should be used to track the total funds spent on CGC courses. Excludes R&C costs which are tracked separately. | Costs related to Common Good Curriculum (CGC) courses. Should be used to track the funds spent on CGC courses from all funding sources. Should include all GSI and lecturer cost related to CGC. Reading and Comprehension (R&C) costs are excluded and should be tracked using a separate management code. |
| 3X0RAC | Reading and Comprehension Exp | Costs related to Reading and Comprehension (R&C) courses. Should be used to track total funds spent on R&C courses. | Costs related to Reading and Comprehension (R&C) courses. Should be used to track total funds spent on R&C courses for GSIs and lecturers. Starting July 1, 2019 all funding for R&C courses will be provided by the Center. |
| 3ZACOM | Commencement | Commencement Ceremony Costs | Use these existing codes for transactions related to commencement ceremonies, regardless of fund source, to be used with purchase orders, financial journals, and budget journals. |
| Departmental Project Codes | |||
| XXxxxx - XXxxxx | Departmental Projects | Optional field available to department to record activities not classified as a management project code, above. | |
| UC Systemwide Program Codes | |||
| UC0xxx | UC Systemwide Programs | To track activity for UC systemwide programs - associates transactions with a formalized set of ongoing systemwide or cross-campus/location activities. Examples of such programs to be reported: Natural Reserve System, CA Institute of Quantitative Biosciences (QB3), Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS), Multicampus Research Units (MRU - White Mountain Research Center, Institute of Transportation Studies), UC Humanities Research Institute and Global Health Sciences. | |
Use of ChartField1 is determined by the above hierarchy, i.e. codes are only available to departments if there is no construction or management reporting requirement.
Attributes: All CF1 values must have an Attribute. Attributes primarily relate to Contracts and Grants funds and are selected from a list. Since All CF1 values must have an Attribute, non-sponsored awards values should be Attributed as “NON C&G ATTRIBUTE.”
|
Attribute |
Definition of this Attribute code |
note |
|---|---|---|
|
COST SHARE |
cost share |
|
|
FABRICATION |
fabrication |
|
|
FUND YEAR |
funding period |
When FUND YEAR is selected, an Attribute Value defining the year (year 1, year 2) must also be selected. |
|
NON C&G ATTRIBU |
This CF1 is not used for C&G funds |
|
|
PI/FACULTY |
PI/Faculty/Collaborator |
|
|
PROGRAM INCOME |
program income |
|
|
TASK/DELIVR/PHA |
task/deliverable/phase |
|
|
NONE OF ABOVE |
none of the others for a C&G fund |
| 3X0CGC | Common Good Curriculum Expense | Costs related to Common Good Curriculum (CGC) courses. Should be used to track the total funds spent on CGC courses. Excludes R&C costs which are tracked separately. | Costs related to Common Good Curriculum (CGC) courses. Should be used to track the funds spent on CGC courses from all funding sources. Should include all GSI and lecturer cost related to CGC. Reading and Comprehension (R&C) costs are excluded and should be tracked using a separate management code. |
Chartfield2
ChartField2 is an optional field for use by departments to classify transactions. Length in BFS is 5 characters, where the two characters are the departmental prefix. The field can be alphanumeric, and is set up and maintained by the department.
ChartField2 is used to track activities which cannot be captured in the other chartfields (Dept ID, Fund, Account, etc.). Many research departments use ChartField2 to identify Principal Investigators (faculty members) for grants. In addition, ChartField2 is often used to track costs (and revenues) for conferences, special events, publications, etc.
Attributes: All CF2 values must have an Attribute. Attributes are selected from a pull-down list; the attribute PI/FACULTY also requires an Attribute Value to identify a specific faculty member. Attributes primarily relate to tracking Contracts and Grants (C&G) and faculty-managed balances, but are not restricted to those uses.
|
Attribute |
Definition of this Attribute code |
note |
|---|---|---|
|
COST SHARE |
cost share |
|
|
FABRICATION |
fabrication |
|
|
FUND YEAR |
funding period |
|
|
NON C&G ATTRIBU |
This CF2 is not used for C&G funds |
|
|
PI/FACULTY |
PI/Faculty/Collaborator |
When PI/FACULTY is selected an Attribute Value must also be selected – click the Lookup icon in the Attribute Value field and select the name/employee ID for the individual this CF2 value describes. |
|
PROGRAM INCOME |
program income |
|
|
TASK/DELVR/PHA |
task/deliverable/phase |
|
|
NONE OF ABOVE |
none of the others for a C&G fund |
Fiscal Year
A fiscal year is a 12-month accounting period over which an entity tracks and reports its financial activities. A fiscal year begins on the first day of any month and ends on the last day of the twelfth month.
UC Berkeley's fiscal year begins annually on July 1 and ends on June 30 of the following year. The fiscal year is typically displayed as FY followed by a 4-digit number representing the year in which that fiscal year ends. For example:
FY2022 refers to the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2021 and ending on June 30, 2022.
Accounting Period
Accounting Period is a number that represents a month.
| Accounting Period | Month |
|---|---|
| 1 | July |
| 2 | August |
| 3 | September |
| 4 | October |
| 5 | November |
| 6 | December |
| 7 | January |
| 8 | February |
| 9 | March |
| 10 | April |
| 11 | May |
| 12 | June |
Common Chart of Accounts
UCOP has replaced its aged in-house financial reporting system, which contains financial data for all UC campuses and is used for external reporting. A new Common Chart of Accounts (CCOA) is being implemented concurrently. To learn more about the Common Chart of Accounts, please visit: