School Finance Badge #01: Basics of Account Codes-School Finance Badge #1

School Finance Badge #1 - PowerPoint

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This document explains the basics of Washington school district account codes and why a uniform account code structure is legally required for federal and state financial reporting. Required codes are defined in the School District Accounting Manual, including fund type (Chapter 1), general ledger (Chapter 4), revenue (Chapter 5), expenditure (Chapter 6), and capital projects/transportation vehicle expenditure codes (Chapter 10), plus program matrices (Appendix A).<br /><br />Districts report activity through multiple funds (e.g., General, Capital Projects, Debt Service, ASB, Custodial, Permanent, Transportation Vehicle). The General Fund has required sub-funds: sub-fund 0 for state/federal basic education and sub-fund 1 for local enrichment.<br /><br />General ledger (three-digit) codes produce the balance sheet (assets 200–499, liabilities 601–799, fund balance 800–899) and operating statements (revenues 960, other financing sources 965, expenditures 530, other financing uses 535/536). Revenue coding uses 960 (or 965 for items like bond sales/transfers) plus a four-digit subsidiary code. Revenue categories are organized by source: local (1000–2000), state (3000–4000), federal (5000–6000), and resources from other districts/entities (7000–8000). For state/federal special purpose revenues, the last two digits often indicate the supported program (e.g., 4121 for Special Education).<br /><br />Expenditures use GL 530 and, in the General Fund, a structured string: Program (PP) + Activity (AA) + Object Title/NCES object (O+BBB) + Location (LLLL). Program codes distinguish instructional and support/community services, and many are “restricted” (e.g., Special Education, LAP, Bilingual, Highly Capable, Transportation) requiring correct coding and potential recovery of unspent restricted funds. Location coding supports ESSA per-pupil reporting.<br /><br />The document emphasizes that some code combinations are invalid and must pass OSPI validation; tools like Appendix A matrices and the OSPI Valid COA Lookup Tool help verify program/activity/object/NCES combinations. Other funds (Capital Projects, TVF, ASB, trust/custodial) have different required segments and activity-based classifications.

Keywords

Washington school district account codes

uniform account code structure legal requirement

School District Accounting Manual OSPI

fund types General Capital Projects Debt Service ASB

General Fund sub-fund 0 basic education sub-fund 1 local enrichment

general ledger three-digit codes balance sheet and operating statement

revenue coding 960 and 965 with subsidiary codes

revenue sources local state federal other districts categories

expenditure coding GL 530 program activity object location (PP-AA-O+BBB-LLLL)

OSPI validation invalid code combinations COA lookup tool Appendix A matrices