1300 Chart of Accounts Governance

Policy Sections

1300.1 Governance and Oversight

1300.2 Required Approvals and Permissions

This policy establishes the University’s rules and standards regarding the Chart of Accounts (“COA”) data governance structure, responsibilities, and requirements.

The Controller’s Office, which is responsible for all aspects of financial accounting and reporting, governs the COA.  The Chart of Accounts unit within the Controller’s Office performs this governance.

All requests for new or modified (including close/inactivate) COA segments, hierarchies, and configuration attributes, are subject to the overall COA governance processes and procedures, as developed and maintained within the Controller’s Office. 

This policy establishes formal responsibilities and accountabilities for how Yale handles all requests for new, modified, or closed data elements on the COA.  The purpose of standardized governance of the COA is to:

• Create and maintain consistency for the structure of the elements and segments of the COA;
• Facilitate standard accounting and reporting at the unit and University levels by ensuring the consistent use of COA segments;
• Provide a governance structure that is independent of the maintenance of the accounting system and local finance and administrative departments; and
• Utilize center of expertise knowledge regarding the various financial and non-financial stakeholders involved with each segment of the COA.

Chart of Accounts (“COA”)

The Chart of Accounts (“COA”) is a set of codes used to classify and record financial transactions in meaningful ways.  In addition, the COA provides the structure for reporting and monitoring financial activity at Yale.  It consists of segments, hierarchies, and configuration attributes that help the University organize financial information for accounting, reporting, financial management, and compliance.

Alternate Administrator

An Alternate Administrator is a financial/enterprise business system user outside of the COA unit and Financial Systems & Solutions (“FSS”) who, as a result of that user’s roles or permissions, has the ability to create, maintain, or inactivate segments, hierarchies, or attributes that are defined as part of the COA.  Alternate Administrators, despite having these capabilities, must not perform any of these COA functions, except as explicitly provided in this policy.

The Controller’s Office, which is responsible for all aspects of financial accounting and reporting governs the COA.  The COA unit within the Controller’s Office performs this governance.

The segments and attributes subject to this policy are defined, where appropriate, by the Controller’s Office, based upon factors including but not limited to:

• University accounting policies and practices;
• University financial and operational reporting needs and requirements;
• External accounting and financial reporting requirements; and
• Regulatory compliance requirements and reporting needs.

All requests for new or modified (including close/inactivate) COA segments, hierarchies, and configuration attributes, must be submitted to the COA unit for review and approval.  The preferred submission method is by email to coa@yale.edu; see related information below for details.

If a user is an Alternate Administrator (e.g., an Organization Administrator in Human Resources), that user must not create, maintain, or inactivate segments, hierarchies, or attributes that are defined as part of the COA.  If an Alternate Administrator identifies the need for a new, modified, or inactivated segment, hierarchy, or attribute, the Alternate Administrator must submit a request to the COA unit using the standard processes as outlined in Procedure 1300 PR.01 Requesting, Modifying, and Closing Chart of Accounts Segments. 

In certain circumstances, the COA unit may establish specific parameters for governance in specialized units where certain request types are frequent and standardized.  In such instances (e.g., setting up individual Grants), the COA unit may delegate all or part of the preliminary review of specified segment requests to the appropriate Alternate Administrator.  The COA unit will, however, retain overall governance responsibilities.

The COA unit determines the appropriate person or team for processing any approved requests.

The COA and FSS units collaborate to identify and make effective the necessary and appropriate controls to enforce this policy and the associated procedure.

Controller’s Office/COA

• Responsible for the definition of the COA, and the definition of the segments and attributes that constitute the COA.
• Responsible for the governance/approval of all new or modified (including close/inactivate) segments and attributes.
• Responsible for establishing specific parameters for governance in specialized areas where certain request types are frequent and standardized.  The Controller’s office is also responsible for the overall governance on the use of those segments for accounting and financial reporting purposes.

Financial Systems & Solutions (“FSS”)

• Accountable for the administration of the COA segments and attributes (including all new, modified, and/or closed/inactivated segments) as part of the overall management of the University’s financial/business systems. 
• May delegate certain tasks within the COA administration process to specialized units such as Sponsored Projects Financial Administration (“SPFA”) or Capital Asset Accounting, provided that those units observe and utilize the appropriate governance process as discussed herein, and the operating processes and procedures for setup/maintenance defined by FSS.

Other Stakeholders

There are other stakeholders associated with the COA governance that may influence certain governance decisions or financial system configurations.  The Controller’s Office and/or FSS will include selected stakeholders in the related procedures and processes when and if appropriate.  Potential stakeholders include, but may not be limited to:

• Office of Financial Planning and Analysis (“FP&A”);
• Sponsored Projects Financial Administration (“SPFA”);
• Business Operations; and
• Human Resources for data elements that are part of the Chart of Accounts but have shared functionalities within the financial/enterprise system.