Chartfield and Account Usage

The Chart of Accounts serves as the foundation for all financial reporting. These set of accounts feed into the campus’s general ledger to provide a breakdown of all financial transactions occurring throughout each fiscal year and gives insight into the financial health of the institution.

The CSU has standardized a set of chartfield definitions in order to facilitate comparable reporting, training, and common business practices across the campuses. Each campus develops and creates their own set of chartfield values that are mapped to the definitions set by the CSU.

The campus will utilize the following chartfield categories to facilitate proper reporting to the CSU, State Controller’s Office, and various external stakeholders:

  • Account (6 characters)
  • Fund (5 characters)
  • Department (4 characters)
  • Program (4 characters)
  • Class (5 characters)
  • Project (8-9 characters)