(SAFE) Chart of Accounts (COA) (2024)

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State Accounting Fiscal Essentials

SAFE Policy Manual

Revised: 07/26/2023

Chart of Accounts (COA)

Applicable or Related Code Sections

ORC Section 126.21(A)(2) - Accounting duties of director of budget and management

PURPOSE

This policy provides a brief overview of the state’s Chart of Accounts, the use of ChartField Strings to facilitate the input of financial transactions, and the definitions and requirements of each ChartField within a ChartField String.

Scope

The terms of this policy apply to all state agencies, offices, boards, and commissions for expenditures made from funds within the state treasury.

Definitions

“Chart of Accounts”: The list of the values for ChartFields in the accounting structure of the State.
“ChartFields”: The structural components that define the financial structure of an organization in the General Ledger module in OAKS FIN. These fields classify the state of Ohio’s accounts into the appropriate reporting entities and reporting categories for financial reporting.
“ChartField String": Unique combinations of ChartFields that capture data for management and financial accounting.
"OAKS FIN Account Codes”: OAKS FIN account codes are uniquely structured numbers used to identify account properties necessary in reporting and controlling financial activities for the state of Ohio. FIN account codes consist of six numbers. The first digit represents the type of account; for example, revenue (4) or expense (5). The first three digits represent the category segment; for example 500 (payroll) or 570 (capital).

Provisions

The Chart of Accounts (COA) is essential to ensure quality and usability of the state's financial information and is shared across modules within FIN, HCM, and EPM. It provides the organizing framework for both management and financial reporting within the financial system.

The COA structure is a string of informational fields that identifies, segregates, and categorizes transactional and budget data. It is comprised of individual ChartFields or segments that, when linked together, provide special identification characteristics.

ChartField maintenance is the activity of managing the structure of the COA and establishing valid values used to record financial transactions.

A. Quick Codes

The ChartField Strings can be associated with various quick codes (i.e., Combo Codes, Speed Charts, Reason Codes) to facilitate the input of financial transactions. Quick codes may be established with invalid combinations to enable workflow when the ChartField String can be corrected prior to budget check validation. Quick codes with invalid combinations of ChartFields cannot be used as a method to manage agency budgets, including payroll budgeting.

B. ChartField Definitions and Requirements

ChartField	Length	Definition	Required	Defined by
Fund	4	Defines a fiscal and accounting entity with a self-balancing set of accounts. A fund consists of cash and other financial resources together with related liabilities and residual equities or balances, as well as any corresponding changes. Segregates accounting transactions for activities or objectives and will correspond to the fund structure that the State currently uses.	Required for all transactions.	OBM Fiscal Support Services
Account	6	Defines the purpose of the transaction and classifies account as balance sheet account or operating account. Operating accounts include revenue, expenditures, and transfers.	Required for all transactions.	OBM Fiscal Support Services
ALI	6	Appropriation Line Item – Identifies the legal spending authority authorized by the Ohio General Assembly.	Required for encumbrances and expenditure transactions	OBM IT
Department	9	Captures the State and agency organizational chart and identifies the work unit associated with the transaction.	Required for all transactions.	OBM Fiscal Support Services
Program	5	Captures the cost of providing a specific good or service in response to an identified social or individual need.	Optional	OBM-Budget & OBM IT
Grant/Prj	10	Grant/Project – Tracks federal grant transactions and grants from other sponsors, which may cross fiscal years, funds, etc. Is the gateway to functionality in project costing module and may be used to tract projects when that functionality is required.	Required for federal grant transactions and optional on other grant transactions.	Agency, OBM-Budget & OBM IT
Project	10	Tracks project transactions, which are defined as authorized expenditures or revenue for a specific purpose over a defined period of time, and time and may cross fiscal years. May be capital or non-capital but is differentiated from ongoing operations by their lifecycle.	Optional	Agency & OBM IT
Serv Loc	5	Service Location – Captures the location where the good or service is received. Allows the agency to track spending by geographic location such as county, city, district, or building.	Required for encumbrances and expenditure transactions.	OBM IT
Reporting	10	Fulfills agency reporting requirements for operations, cost centers or tasks. May be used with selected Agency Budget rulesets.	Optional unless used in an Agency defined budget rule.	Agency & OBM IT
Agency Use	10	Fulfills agency reporting requirements for operations, cost centers or tasks.	Optional	Agency & OBM IT
ISTV Xref	4	Interstate transaction voucher – Records the cross-reference agency.	Required for all ISTV transactions.	OBM IT
Budget Reference	8	Budget Reference – Captures federal fiscal year. May also be used to break down an ALI into units for budget control when used with selected Agency Budget rulesets.	Optional unless used in an Agency defined budget rule	Agency & OBM IT