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Policy CAH - Program Accounting

Policy CAH-Program Accounting (PDF)

Issue Date: October 20, 2021

Updated: November 20, 2024


Accounting Requirements

The District shall establish internal controls and procedures to record program revenues and expenditures in accordance with GAAP and the school fee provisions in Utah Admin. Rules R277-407-13. The District shall implement program accounting which accurately reflects the use of funds for allowable costs and activities, requires that transactions be recorded when they occur, allows adjusting journal entries during the year and at the end of the year, in accordance with GAAP, and requires that initial transactions, and adjusting entries if applicable, be recorded in the proper program, using the following codes as established by the State Board of Education approved chart of accounts:

  1. Fund;
  2. Function;
  3. Program;
  4. Location; and
  5. Object or revenue code, as applicable.

Utah Admin. Rules R277-113-5(9)(a), (b) (August 7, 2024)

The District shall:

  1. record revenues and expenditures in compliance with the State Board of Education approved chart of accounts;
  2. record expenditures using school location codes that can be mapped to official school location codes used in the State Board of Education system of record;
  3. record expenditures using approved district and school codes in the State Board of Education system of record;
  4. submit expenditures using location codes in the Utah Public Education Financial System;
  5. perform program accounting in accordance with GAAP and Utah Admin. Rules R277-113; and
  6. beginning with the fiscal year that begins on July 1, 2021, accrue school fees and fee waivers and use contra-revenue accounts to record fee waivers in the District’s accounting system.

Utah Admin. Rules R277-113-8(1) (August 7, 2024)

The District shall record and annually report each school in the District’s expenditures for salaries, benefits, supplies, contracted services, and equipment. If the District pays for contracted services that occur at the school level, the District shall record the payments to the contractors in the appropriate function and object codes for these categories of expenditures at the school level. Centralized administrative costs shall be recorded to the administrative location code. If the District reports expenditures in programs, the District shall report the expenditures to one or more schools.

Utah Admin. Rules R277-113-8(2), (3), (4), (6) (August 7, 2024)

If the District determines to reallocate funds to respond to changing circumstances and student needs as permitted by Utah Code § 53F-2-209, then the District shall:

  1. Report accounting transactions and adjust entries using the State Board of Education approved chart of accounts, including
    1. A dedicated program code;
    2. A dedicated other financing uses code for fund or program transfers from state restricted funds; and
    3. Expenditure details accurately describing transactions in response to changing circumstances and student needs; and
  2. Refund to the state restricted program from which the original transfer originated any remaining funds transferred under Utah Code § 53F-2-209 not completely and/or materially expended at the end of each fiscal year.

If the District reallocates funds under Utah Code § 53F-2-209, it shall ensure that the District continues to meet federal maintenance of effort requirements and other state or federal requirements on restricted funding, including requirements for program-specific effort, matching, and equity.

Utah Code § 53F-2-209 (2023)