All staff who can work at home should continue to do so. Only with an explicit request from a supervisor should a staff member return to campus. For more information, review COVID-19 Workplace Guidance.
Accounting Manual
The Accounting Manual is a resource that provides information and guidance for accounting and financial management activities. The intended audience is Yale staff who have accounting and/or financial management responsibilities. Often, the documents here are related to the university’s Policy and Procedure documents and should be used along with these companion documents. For questions or additional accounting guidance, please contact the General Accounting team in the Controller’s Office at controller.genacct@yale.edu.
For additional support and guidance please note:
- General Accounting provides accounting guidance, but does not provide technical support for the Workday financial systems. That team is now known as Financial Systems and Solutions. Questions and requests for that team should be sent to sharedservices@yale.edu.
- COA information, guidance and forms are found on the COA website.
- Workday training and user guides are located on Workday at Yale.
To more easily browse topics, please use the filters below:
| Topic | Title | Finance Activity Type |
|---|---|---|
| Financial Management-General | 1101 Guiding Principles for Business and Financial Administration | Policy Links |
| Unallowable Costs | 1305 PR.04 Unallowable Costs | Policy Links |
| Custom Commitments | About Commitments | Resources |
| Journal Entries | About Journal Sources | Resources |
| Buying Goods and Services (AP and Expenses) | About Purchasing Cards (P-Cards) | Resources |
| Month-end Financial Close | Account Certification Training Guide | Training |
| Month-end Financial Close | Account Reconciliation Template | Policy Links |
| Financial Management-General | Accounting Adjustments | Training |
| University Service Providers (USP – formerly ISP) | Accounting by and for University Service Providers | Resources |
| Travel | Accounting for Air Travel Expenses | Resources |
| Accounting for Building and Land | Accounting for Building and Land Costs | Resources |
| Accounting for Fellowships, Stipends and Tuition-related | Accounting for fellowships Stipends and Tuition-related items | Resources |
| Gifts and Endowments | Accounting for Gifts - Training | Training |
| Grants & Contracts – Sponsored Accounts | Accounting for Grants | Resources |
| Inventory | Accounting for Inventory Transactions | Resources |
| Financial Management-General | Accounting for non-Yale Entities (aka Agencies) | Resources |
| Capital Assets – Buildings and Equipment | Accounting for Software Costs, Computer… - Policy | Policy Links |
| Buying Goods and Services (AP and Expenses) | Advances and Spend Authorizations | Resources |
| Month-end Financial Close | Balance Sheet Ledger Account Reconciliation & Certification | Resources |
| Month-end Financial Close | Balance Sheet Ledger Account Reconciliation & Certification - Procedure | Policy Links |
| Travel | Business Meals / Food & Beverage | Resources |
| Buying Goods and Services (AP and Expenses) | Buying Guide | Resources |
| Capital Assets – Buildings and Equipment | Capital Asset Overview | Resources |
| Capital Assets – Buildings and Equipment | Capital Project Accounting Entries | Resources |
| Capital Assets – Buildings and Equipment | Capitalization, Depreciation & Disposal of Capital Assets-Policy | Policy Links |
| Buying Goods and Services (AP and Expenses) | Carbon Credit Offsets | Resources |
| Cash Transactions | Cash receipts of refunds, rebates or reimbursements | Resources |
| Capital Assets – Buildings and Equipment | Change in Financial Responsibility for a University Building Location | Resources |
| Chart of Accounts (COA) | Chart of Accounts (COA) Website | Resources |
| Chart of Accounts (COA) | COA Business Use Case Guide | Resources |
| Chart of Accounts (COA) | COA Charging Instructions Form | Resources |
| Chart of Accounts (COA) | COA Training | Training |
| Custom Commitments | Commitment Journal Entries-Training | Training |
| Chart of Accounts (COA) | Complete list of COA Procedures, Forms & Guides | Resources |
| Planning & Budgeting | Create a Budget Amendment | Training |
| Accounts Receivable (Non-Sponsored) | Customer Set up for AR | Resources |
| Month-end Financial Close | Datamart Reporting Link | Resources |
| Capital Assets – Buildings and Equipment | Determining Funding and Disbursements on Capital Projects | Resources |
| Capital Assets – Buildings and Equipment | Equipment-Policy | Policy Links |
| Buying Goods and Services (AP and Expenses) | Express Shipping (eShipGlobal) | Resources |
| University Service Providers (USP – formerly ISP) | External Sales Approval Process | Resources |
| Financial Management-General | Financial Management - Policies | Policy Links |
| Financial Management-General | Financial Review Checklist | Resources |
| Month-end Financial Close | Financial Review Checklist Certification Training | Training |
| Year-end Financial Close | GA Sweep | Resources |
| Gifts and Endowments | Gifts-Policies | Policy Links |
| Journal Entries | How to Reverse a Journal Entry | Training |
| Journal Entries | Internal Ledger Account Pairs | Resources |
| International | International Activities - Tax | Resources |
| International | International Activities - Toolkit | Resources |
| Journal Entries | Journal Entry Resources | Resources |
| Accounting for Building and Land | List of Permitted ETs for Building Orgs | Resources |
| Month-end Financial Close | Month End Calendar | Resources |
| Financial Management-General | Net Balance Requirements | Resources |
| Payroll & Payroll Costing | Payroll Costing | Resources |
| Payroll & Payroll Costing | Payroll Costing for Staff Phased Retirement | Training |
| Payroll & Payroll Costing | Payroll Costing – Salary over the IRS pension cap | Training |
| Payroll & Payroll Costing | Payroll Schedule | Resources |
| Payroll & Payroll Costing | Payroll Toolkit | Resources |
| Buying Goods and Services (AP and Expenses) | Procure to Pay-Policies | Policy Links |
| Buying Goods and Services (AP and Expenses) | Procure-to-Pay Toolkit | Resources |
| Buying Goods and Services (AP and Expenses) | Procurement Website | Resources |
| Buying Goods and Services (AP and Expenses) | Procurement-Buying and Paying | Resources |
| Buying Goods and Services (AP and Expenses) | Purchase of Computers for less than $5,000 | Resources |
| Buying Goods and Services (AP and Expenses) | Purchasing Card-Policies | Policy Links |
| Transfer and Reclassification of Funds | Reclassification and Transfer of Funds | Resources |
| Transfer and Reclassification of Funds | Reclassification and Transfer of Funds - CENTRAL PROCESS OWNERS | Resources |
| Cash Transactions | Record Cash Sale | Resources |
| Travel | Reimbursed Expenses and 3rd Party Contributions | Resources |
| Internal Financial Reporting & Review | Reporting Training and Guides | Training |
| Internal Financial Reporting & Review | Reporting Updates | Resources |
| Financial Management-General | School of Medicine (YSM) Finance Links | Resources |
| Payroll & Payroll Costing | Secondments | Resources |
| University Service Providers (USP – formerly ISP) | Service Provider Billing - Ledger Accounts and Categories | Resources |
| University Service Providers (USP – formerly ISP) | Service Provider Policy, Forms & Procedures (area #1410) | Resources |
| University Service Providers (USP – formerly ISP) | Service Provider – Journal Source Contacts | Resources |
| Financial Management-General | Signature and Approval Authority-Procedure | Policy Links |
| Grants & Contracts – Sponsored Accounts | Spend Restrictions / Allowability | Resources |
| Financial Management-General | Standards of Business Conduct | Policy Links |
| Financial Management-General | Suspense Transactions | Resources |
| Travel | Travel Policies, Forms & Procedures | Policy Links |
| University Service Providers (USP – formerly ISP) | University Service Provider Resources – includes training | Resources |
| Inventory | Valuation of Inventory - Policy | Resources |
| Unallowable Costs | When to use Unallowable Cost Spend Categories | Resources |
| Financial Management-General | Workday Financials Training and Guides | Training |
| Planning & Budgeting | Yale Budget Tool (YBT) | Resources |
| Financial Management-General | Yale University Hotline | Resources |
| Year-end Financial Close | Year-end Closing Calendar | Resources |
| Year-end Financial Close | Year-end Closing Procedures | Resources |