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FOAPal and Account Codes

The Banner system's Chart of Accounts classifies Assets, Liabilities, Net Assets, Revenues, Expenses and Transfers using an alpha/numeric system called a FOAPal. To obtain a current FOAPal hierarchy list, please run Insight FIN022.

The components of a FOAPal are explained below:

  • Fund
    • Identifies the source of the money.
    • The University uses approximately 1400 funds.
    • The most used and largest University funds are the 10000 State appropriated General Fund and the 28000 Auxiliary Housing and Dining Fund.
    • A single fund can be paired with multiple ORG's.

    Major Fund Types:

    • 1xxxx

      University General fund

      • The largest of these funds is the 10000 fund, which is called the Unrestricted General Fund. The majority of the University's revenue and expenses related to its primary instructional mission and support functions are recorded in the 10000 fund.
    • 2xxxx

      Unrestricted self-supporting funds

      • These funds include programs funded by student fees, such as Student Clubs, the Recreation Center, and other student fee funded organizations.
      • 22xxx - Extended Studies funds - are supported by continuing education tuition and fees.
      • 28xxx - Auxiliary Operations - include Dining Services, Residence Halls, the University Center, Parking Services, etc. Auxiliary funds sell goods and services to students, staff and external customers.
    • 3xxxx

      Restricted Grant and Gift funds

      • These funds are sometimes referred to as sponsored projects and are funded by external sources such as the Federal and State governments and other private entities.
      • 328xx through 329xx are supported by gift and grants funds provided by the UNC Foundation and are to pay for University expenses approved by UNC Foundation donors.
      • These funds primarily support research, instruction or public service activities related to the mission of UNC.
    • 6xxxx

      Capital Project or Reserve funds

      • These funds are managed and carefully monitored by Senior Management and/or the Facilities office.
      • These funds generally are funded by cash transferred from unrestricted funds to be used or saved for specific purposes.
    • 8xxxx

      Agency funds

      • These funds are used to account for non-university cash that belongs to scholarship programs or student groups.
      • These funds do not belong to and are not under the control of UNC.
      • UNC allows scholarship programs and student groups to utilize the University Banner Finance System to simplify their accounting processes.
      • These funds work much like a checking account provided by a bank.
  • Organization (ORG)
    • Identifies the unit responsible for managing the money.
    • A single ORG can be paired with multiple Funds.
    • Mandatory for all transactions.
    • Does not track cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable or any other asset or liability.
    • Follows a structure very similar to the University's organization chart.

    ORG roll up structure:

    1xxxx - roll up to the University President
    2xxxx - roll up to the Board of Trustees
    3xxxx - roll up to the Provost
    4xxxx - represent each of the Colleges

    40xxx - roll up to the Dean of Education and Behavioral Sciences
    42xxx - roll up to the Dean of Human and Social Sciences
    44xxx - roll up to the Dean of the Monfort College of Business
    46xxx - roll up to the Dean of Natural and Health Sciences
    48xxx - roll up to the Dean of Performing and Visual Arts

    5xxxx - roll up to the VP of Finance and Administration
    6xxxx - generally related to Auxiliary Services or Student Activities
    7xxxx - roll up to University Relations
    8xxxx - are generally related to Athletics
    9xxxx - account for Central University Revenues and Expenses

  • Account
    • Identifies the type of revenue or expenditure.
    • Mandatory for all transactions.

    Income Statement accounts codes include:

    5xxxx - used to categorize revenues such as tuition, student fees, housing contract revenue, ticket sales, etc.

    6xxxx - used to categorize Personnel expenses such as faculty, staff and administrative salary and fringe benefit costs, etc.

    7xxxx - used to categorize Other expenses such as cost of goods sold, supplies, capital equipment, travel, overhead charges, etc.

    9xxxx - used to categorize Transfers In and Transfers Out. This includes transfers of cash and/or budget from one fund to another. No exchange of goods or services is provided by a transfer transaction. All transfer transaction must be approved by the General Accounting office.

    Balance sheet account codes include:

    1xxxx - used to categorize Assets such as cash, accounts receivable, inventory, etc.

    2xxxx - used to categorize Liabilities such as accounts payable, accrued liabilities, etc.

    3xxxx and 4xxxx - used to categorize Net Assets. Net Assets equal the total of assets minus liabilities and were formerly called fund balance. Transactions are never made directly to Net Assets except in extremely rare circumstances and then these transactions are made ONLY by the University Controller.

    Internal Sales and Purchase account codes

    Internal purchases and sales account codes are used when an accounting transaction is processed between two UNC departments. These transactions are usually completed using an EIO (Electronic Internal Order).

    • An example of this would be when the science department purchases a computer from Bear Logic. This transaction would be recorded as internal revenue to Bear logic and an internal expense to the science department.
    • While internal transactions represent "real" revenue to the selling department and "real" expense to the purchasing department, they do not increase the University's total actual revenue and expenses. Therefore, the UNC Banner system provides a unique set of account codes for these transactions that can be identified and eliminated from the University's financial statements.
        • Internal Revenue account codes generally have the format - 579xx
        • Internal Purchases (expenditures) account codes generally have the format - 729xx
    • This elimination process is the reason the account codes for both the internal revenue and internal expense must match.
  • Program
    • Identifies the purpose of the transaction.
    • Follow a standardized system of comparable functional categories that are required by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO). These categories are used in the preparation of various financial statements.
    • Mandatory for all transactions.
    • Program codes for revenues are similar to revenue account codes; however, expenditure program codes have very different categories than expense account codes.

     The primary NACUBO expenditure program codes are:

    • 1xxx - Instruction

      Expenditures for activities that are directly related to the University's instructional program, including expenditures for academic and tutorial instruction and regular, special and extension sessions.

    • 2xxx - Research

      Expenditures for activities specifically organized to produce research, whether commissioned by an external agency or within the institution.

    • 3xxx - Public Service

      Expenditures for activities established primarily to provide non-instruction services beneficial to external individuals and groups such as conferences, institutes, etc.

    • 4xxx - Academic Support

      Expenditures incurred to provide support services for the institution's primary missions: instruction, research and public service. This category includes costs such as educational and library materials, academic computer support, curriculum development and academic administration and personnel costs including academic deans but not department chairpersons.

    • 5xxx - Student Services
      Expenditures incurred to provide support services to students. These expenditures include the costs of the Admission and Registrar's offices, plus the cost of activities with the primary purpose of contributing to students' emotional and physical well-being and intellectual, cultural and social development outside the context of the formal instruction program. The Enrollment Management, Student Activities, Cultural Centers, Counseling and Career Guidance, etc. offices are included in this category.
    • 6xxx - Institutional Support
      Expenditures incurred to support central activities for the administration and operations of the University as a whole. University executive management (governing boards, President, Vice Presidents) planning, legal functions, fiscal services, human resources, administrative computing, etc., are included in this program code.
    • 7xxx - Operations and Maintenance of Plant
      Includes all expenses related to the administration, supervision, operation, maintenance, preservation and protection of the University's physical plant. Expenditures include facility operations, new construction, facility and grounds repair and maintenance, utilities, custodial services, fire protection, property insurance, hazardous waste disposal, central receiving, disaster preparedness and capital leasing.
    • 8xxx - Scholarships
      Expenditures include scholarships or financial aid entitlements from restricted, external or unrestricted, or institutional funds. Scholarships, trainee stipends or other awards may only be categorized to this program code if the recipient of the aid is not required to perform service to the University in consideration of receiving the award, nor are they expected to repay the amount received.
    • 91xx - 94xx - Auxiliary
      Expenditures for operations that provide goods or services to students, faculty, or staff for which a fee is charged. An auxiliary enterprise exists to furnish goods or services to students, faculty, staff, other institutional departments, or incidentally to the general public. The distinguishing characteristic of an auxiliary enterprise is that it is managed as an essentially self-supporting activity. Examples are residence halls, food services, college stores, and parking services. The auxiliary enterprise category includes all expenses relating to the operation of auxiliary enterprises, including expenses for operation and maintenance of plant, depreciation and administration.
  • Activity
    • Identifies which project is being tracked within a FOAP (not required).
    • A single activity code may be used by multiple funds, organizations, accounts and/or programs.
    • Activity codes are assigned by the General Accounting office after consultation with the Business Manager requesting the activity code.
    • Activity codes are optional in the Banner system, however, the University has determined that certain transactions must have an Activity code attached to them.

    Transactions requiring activity codes include, but are not limited to:

    • Axxxx - Capital Projects
    • Cxxxx - Conference Services activities
    • ESxxx - Extended Campus activities
    • Fxxxx - UNC Foundation activities
    • Mxxxx - State Capital projects
    • Pxxxx - State Capital projects
    • Qxxxx - Multiyear activities
    • Zxxxx - Scholarships
  • Location - Not currently used