Elements of the Full Accounting Unit (FAU)

Elements of the Full Accounting Unit (FAU)

fau

Name Length Required Description Example
COA 1 Yes The Chart of Accounts (COA) is a grouping of accounts and organizations used to record transactions and prepare financial statements for a business entity. Multiple charts are used at UC Davis to accommodate the many fund sources and reporting requirements. It represents the rules, policies and regulations under which these organizations function. Seven charts are currently defined in our financial system. Charts are created and maintained by General Accounting.   View All Charts 3
UC Davis
Campus
Account 7 Yes An account is an entity designated as the source of funds, or recipient of income, for a transaction. Accounts are unique to a chart. Account codes are assigned by the organization to which they belong and the characters have no particular significance for the system. This allows organizations to create account identifiers that are significant to them. For example, an account for Chemistry's general expenses might be: CHEMGEN. Accounts are created/modified by using an Account document in KFS.

Use the Account Lookup (11) in Decision Support to see accounts assigned to your department.

FISGEN1
FIS Operating
Account
Sub
(Account)
1-5 No A sub-account can be used to break down an account into multiple smaller units for better tracking of detailed budgets and expenses. The sub-accounts may be used in any manner which benefits the reviewer of the account transactions. Each sub-account is unique to an account, but the same sub-account code may be used on multiple accounts. Sub-accounts are created/modified by using a Sub Account document in KFS.

Use the Sub Account Lookup (6) in Decision Support to see accounts assigned to your department.

STAFF
Staff Related
Expenses
Object 4 Yes The Object code defines the purpose of the transaction. Object codes are unique in each chart, but many objects occur in multiple charts. Object codes are grouped numerically by purpose (i.e., all object codes in the 8000 range are for supplies and expense). Document initiators must ensure that an appropriate object code, whether provided by the system or by the initiator, is on each financial document they prepare. Object codes are defined by the UC Office of the President and used at all UC campuses for consistent reporting purposes. They are established and maintained in the system by Accounting & Financial Services.

Use the Object Lookup (14) in Decision Support to see object codes.

2000
In State Travel
Sub
(Object)
1-3 No Sub-object codes allow a department to specify a more detailed breakdown of an object code. For example, the travel object code could have sub-objects for meals, lodging, car rental and so on. Sub-objects are established for an account/object combination, and can be as specific as required to meet a department's needs. The same sub-object codes may be used for multiple account/object combinations, but must be established separately for each. Sub-objects are created/modified by using a Sub Object document in KFS.

Use the Sub Object Lookup (195) in Decision Support to see sub objects assigned to your department.

MEA
Meals and
Incidentals
Project 1-10 No Projects allow departments to create an identifier which may be used on any transaction across charts, organizations and accounts. Each relevant transaction can then be coded with the project identifier, in addition to the account number, so that the total costs associated with that project can be calculated. Any DaFIS user can use a project code on a transaction, regardless of the project manager or home organization. At UC Davis, project codes have been widely used to meet a great variety of reporting needs. Projects are created/modified by using a Project document in KFS.

Use the Project Lookup (7) in Decision Support to see projects assigned to your department.

STAFFTRAIN
Staff Training
Reference 1-8 No Identifies a description for the transaction line that will appear on the general ledger. This is a user-defined field, and can be used at the department's discretion. The contents of this field appear on several Decision Support queries. L. SMITH
Name of
traveler
Amount Varies Yes Identifies the dollar amount to be applied to the full accounting unit. You can enter a decimal point (necessary for $34.25 but not for $34). Do not enter a $ sign or commas because the field will format automatically. $34.00