The Chart of Accounts (COA) structure uses “chartfields” (or segments) to record the financial effect (balance sheet, revenue and expense, etc.) of each transaction. The chart of accounts is intended to consider all financial reporting needs, providing sufficient flexibility to allow for the development of financial reports for management, as well as external readers. It serves as the basis for recording the day-to-day financial operations of the University.

UVM's Chartfields

The use of chartfields separates the unique aspects of each transaction into relational segments for summarization and reporting. Each chartfield captures a different element of information (who, what, why, how, where) regarding the transaction. It is the combination of chartfields -- or "chartstring" -- that brings meaning to the transaction. The use of multiple chartfields allows for flexible data accumulation and reporting of the financial aspects of projects, activities, programs, events, etc. that occur across UVM organizations or funds.

NameAccountOperating UnitDeptFundSourceFunctionProjectProgramPurposeProperty
Length
(no. of digits)
5253636444
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Chartfield Definitions

  • Account - Categorizes the nature of a transaction as a specific type of revenue, expense, asset, or liability. See the Debit and Credit Convention overview (PDF) to understand the natural balance of each account type, and the impact of a debit (+) and credit (-) on each transaction.There are also accounts that are for budgetary uses only that relate only to revenue and expenses. Budgetary accounts follow an alpha-numeric nomenclature, for example E6000 – General Operating Expenses.
  • Operating Unit - Represents a roll-up of departments for financial reporting.
  • Department - A unit that has an ongoing business purpose, has an established budget, has a responsible person with fiscal oversight, has employees, and occupies space.
  • Fund - Used to track spending restrictions and designations, and to categorize UVM's net positions for external reporting.
  • Source - Tracks the source of revenues and expenses for operational and educational programs, sponsored projects, contributions from donors, etc.
  • Function - Designates the purpose of the revenue or expense transactions as it applies to federal and other external reporting requirements.
  • Project - Identifies chartfield associated with sponsored or non-sponsored projects.
  • Program - Used to record transactions associated with formal or informal programs often across multiple departments or operating units.
  • Purpose -  Tracking mechanism for university-wide purposes and activities occuring within and/or across departments and organizations, programs, and funds
  • Property - Tracks capital additions, deletions, and maintenance costs associated with particular University buildings

Additional Project-Related Fields

In addition to the Project chartfield, three other chartfields are used to gather information specific to projects: PC Business Unit, Activity, and Analysis Type. These three chartfields are used by PeopleSoft to process project transactions correctly and are therefore required for transactions using a project ID:

Project-Related Chartfields
NamePC Business UnitActivityAnalysis Type
Length
(no. of digits)
543
GCA01 for sponsored
PC001 for non-sponsored
AAAAAAA
  • PC Business Unit: Defines the ledger the project will be accounted for in the Projects, Commitment Control, and Grants/Contracts modules. Non-Sponsored Projects use Business Unit PC001; Sponsored Projects use Business Unit GCA01. The specific Commitment Control ledgers for PC001 projects are PC_PARENT and PC_CHILD for expense budgets and spending. Ledger PC_REV is for revenue budgets and revenue.
  • Activity: Allows for more granular detail about the project. Each Project Type has designated Project Activities. A Project ID can have multiple Activities which would allow for budgeting and transacting against each unique activity.
  • Analysis Type: Used to further categorize the transaction as expense or revenue. The Analysis Type also is used to calculate Facilities & Administrative costs. Users need to enter this value only when entering a journal; otherwise, the system selects the correct value.

Chartfield Value Lists

There are two ways to access a list of available chartfield values.

Chartfield Queries

For the most current list of chartfield values and their descriptions, run the relevant query for the chartfield of interest. In PeopleSoft Financials, navigate to Main Menu > Reporting Tools > Query > Query Viewer and search for one of the following:

UV_GL_DEPARTMENT_LIST
UV_GL_FUNCTION_LIST
UV_GL_FUND_LIST
UV_GL_OPER_UNIT_LIST
UV_GL_ACCOUNT_LIST
UV_GL_PROJECT_LIST
UV_GL_PROPERTY_LIST
UV_GL_PURPOSE_LIST
UV_GL_SOURCE_LIST
UV_GL_PROGRAM_LIST

Chartfield Documents

The following documents list each of the PeopleSoft chartfield values recognized at UVM:

Requesting New Chartfield Values

All new chartfield values except Project are created centrally by the Controller's Office. You may request a new chartfield value by submitting a PeopleSoft Helpdesk Footprint.

Project values are assigned by the PeopleSoft system using the next ID available when the project is created.

Contact

Fax: 802-656-1967

Office hours: 8:00 a.m.-Noon and 1:00-4:00 p.m.

85 South Prospect St., Box 30
Burlington, VT 05405