AGRESSO FINANCE SYSTEM
CODING MANUAL
Published Version 0.2
(August 2015)
Author: Rachael Fleetwood, Deputy Director of Finance
CONTENTS
Page 2
Introduction
Pages 3 – 11
Income and Expenditure
 Structure of Budget Codes
 Attributes
 Account Codes
Pages 12 - 13
Balance Sheet
 Structure of Budget Codes
 Account Codes
Pages 14 – 15
Examples
Page 16
Abbreviation descriptions
Page 1
INTRODUCTION
This document contains information on the coding structure used with the University Finance System,
Agresso Business World (ABW). The coding structure applies to all financial activities and the specific
identification of the faculty/department/division, activity type, funding type and account code is used to:






Produce management information for the multiple levels within the Organisational
Hierarchy
Produce the University monthly Management Accounts
Produce the University Financial Statements
Provide information for financial returns claims/invoices to customers and external funders
Complete financial returns such as HESA, TRAC, HEBCIS
Pay external agencies
It is important that the activities are correctly coded in order to ensure that the University accurately
reports its income and expenditure across the multiple funding streams and functions. In addition, all
expenditure must be correctly coded to the Budget code that will be funding the activity to ensure that the
University complies with VAT and Tax legislation and that its activities are correctly reported.
CODING STRUCTURE
The term Chart of Accounts simply means the collection of accounts, projects, rules and relationships that
we use to define and analyse UWE’s finances. The Agresso chart of accounts structure is built around the
concept of ‘Budget codes’ (previously referred to as Costcentres), ‘attributes’ and account codes.
Budget Code:
A budget code that holds the various transactions relevant to that activity e.g.
comparable to an individual’s bank account
Attribute:
The most basic element of information in Agresso. They are descriptive tags that
can be attached onto the Budget codes in Agresso to create more meaningful
multi-dimensional reporting
Account codes:
Define how we analyse the products or services being bought or delivered or the
type of income generated e.g. Equipment, office consumables, travel UK,
advertising, telephones, photocopying
When transactions are entered into Agresso, it is essential that the correct Budget code and account code
are used. The budget code is the main account for the collection of income and expenditure, and the
account code analyses what has been purchased; attributes are assigned to the Budget code when the code
is originally set up or when additional information is required by the University.
The Chart of Accounts form part of the University Financial Statements which consist of the


Income and Expenditure statement, and
Balance Sheet.
The following 2 sections break down the coding structure between these two elements.
Page 2
INCOME AND EXPENDITURE STATEMENT
STRUCTURE OF BUDGET CODES
Each budget code is a consistent code length and is made up of 8 Characters, (4 Alpha, 4 Numerical):
A
–
–
–
U University funds
R Research funds
E Other external funds
AAA
0000
Unit ref
e.g. FIN,
LAW, AEF
Sequential number
WHAT DO ‘U’, ‘R’ AND ‘E’ MEAN?
U – University Funds
This covers the normal ongoing activities of the department or division that are funded through the
University by the annual budget allocation. These are commonly referred to as ‘University Funded’ and so
include any core activities that:



generate income (e.g. University trading activities such as Residences, Catering, Centre for
Sport),
are used as a ‘holding account’ for recharges to other accounts
funded by the core block grant from HEFCE (includes QR but excludes HEIF as this is not
deemed to be core).
R - Research funds
Research Accounts are established where research is undertaken for an external funder and the activity
undertaken satisfies the Frascati definition of research which states:
"Research and experimental development (R&D) comprise creative work undertaken on a systematic basis
in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use
of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications."
"R&D is a term covering three activities: basic research, applied research, and experimental development.
Basic research is experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the
underlying foundation of phenomena and observable facts, without any particular application or use in
view. Applied research is also original investigation undertaken to acquire new knowledge. It is, however,
directed primarily towards a specific practical aim or objective. Experimental development is systematic
work, drawing on existing knowledge gained from research and/or practical experience that is directed to
producing new materials, products or devices, to installing new processes, systems and services, or to
improving substantially those already produced or installed."
(Second chapter of the OECD 1993 Frascati Manual)
Page 3
E – Other External Funds
Covers any other activity that is not funded through the University annual budget or is deemed not to be
research. Examples of this type of Budget code would be HEIF Funding (from HEFCE), donations from
external sources, ad hoc income which is not generated year on year such as royalty income, consultancy
projects, CPD activities etc.
UNIT REF - AAA
This refers to the 3 character reference as identified at Level 5 within the Finance Organisational Hierarchy
structure. This is often a team or unit within a department or division. The latest version of the
Organisational Hierarchy structure can be found here.
SEQUENTIAL NUMBER
Each Budget code is allocated a sequential number and is the unique code given for each Budget code.
There is no meaning within this number and is purely the next number available.
Page 4
ATTRIBUTES
There are many attributes that can be attached to the Budget code. Ideally this is done at the point the
code is created but could be added at a later stage if necessary. Attributes are used to record additional
information associated with the Budget code and also provides the University with holistic, consistent and
multi-dimensional reporting via the use of drop-down menus for each individual attribute.
The attributes within Agresso are primarily located within various folders on the ‘Relation’ tab within the
Project Master file, namely:




Common
Old Code Relations
Data Control
User Approval
The following table provides a summary of the attributes which could be used against a Budget code, as
well as:




the Agresso Prefix for that attribute and for Activity Prefix, the reference codes
a description of what the attribute (and Activity Prefix reference) means
identifies whether the code is mandatory or optional
and also the cost centre type to which the attribute is applicable.
ATTRIBUTES USED WITHIN THE ‘COMMON’ SUB FOLDER
Type
Agresso Prefix
Description
Mandatory/
Optional
Mandatory
Cost Centre
Code type
All
Activity
PRO.TYPE
Identifies the type of activity that
the Budget code is to be used for.
A few descriptions of activity types
are provided below – see pages 8 &
9
Funder
FUNDING
Details the funding source for each
activity
(Please see further details
regarding additional Funder
attributes below)
Mandatory
All
Budgetholder
RESNO
Name of the person who is
accountable for the income and
expenditure against each Budget
code
Mandatory
ALL
Contract Value
CONT_VAL
Records the contract value of
externally funded projects
Mandatory
R & E only
FIN_COST
FIN_COST
Used to derive the Annual Financial
Statements for the University
(Attribute assigned by the Group
Financial Accountant)
Mandatory
ALL
Page 5
HESA_CC
HESA_CC
Records Budget code against the
HESA Budget code requirements.
Required for external reporting
requirements to HESA
(As determined by the Group
Financial Accountant)
Mandatory
ALL
fEC Cost
FEC_COST
Identifies whether the Budget code
is costed using the fEC
methodology and if so, the need to
ensure journal transactions are
made against the account to reflect
the total project cost
Mandatory
ALL
PASS
reference
PASS
Reference number as recorded by
the PASS system
Optional
R & E only
Corporation
Tax
CORP_TAX
Classifies whether the Budget code
is attributable to corporation tax
(Attribute is assigned by the Group
Financial Controller)
Mandatory
ALL
HE-BCI
Contract Type
HEBCI_CONTRACT
Contract type as required for HEBCI
reporting purposes
(Completed by the RBI team)
Mandatory
R & E only
Master Project
MASTER_PROJ
Allows a number of Budget codes
to be grouped together for
reporting purposes
Optional
ALL
TRAC
TRAC
Allocates the Budget code to the
TRAC categories as defined in the
drop down list – if you are unsure,
please contact the TRAC
Accountant
Mandatory
R & E only
Research
Centre and/or
Group
In-kind
Contributions
RESEARCH_CENTRE
Assigns a Budget code to a
recognised research centre or
group within UWE
Facility to record in-kind
contributions from external
organisations
Optional
ALL
Optional
R & E only
Spend on
Student
STUDENT_SPEND
To identify whether the University
can use the spend incurred
(excluding staff costs) to determine
‘spend on students’ for league
table purposes
Optional
ALL
IN_KIND_CONT
Page 6
ATTRIBUTES USED WITHIN THE ‘OLD CODE RELATIONS’ SUB FOLDER
Old Budget
code
OLDCOSTCTRE
Enter the Old Budget code that was Optional
used prior to the new code setup
before 1 August 2015
(Used for historic reporting
purposes)
U
Old UWECode
OLDUWECODE
Enter the UWEcode that was
previously used before the Finance
Organisational Hierarchy was
created within Agresso
(Used for historic reporting
purposes)
Optional
ALL
Allows delegated authority to
approve transactions up to a
certain value
Optional
ALL
OTHER ATTRIBUTES USED
User Approval
FUNDER ATTRIBUTES
Additional details are recorded when the Funder is initially set up to ensure holistic reporting across the
University regarding where UWE receives its funds from. These are:
Funder
Category
FUNDER_CAT
Groups funders into high level
categories for reporting purposes
(Used as a relation from the funder
details)
Mandatory
ALL
Funder 1 and
2
Funder 1
Funder 1 %
Funder 2
Funder 2 %
Some projects are funded by more
than one funder; details can be
entered using this attribute to
assign the % split from each funder
Optional
R & E only
HE-BCI Funder
type
HEBCI_FUNDER
Contract type as required for HEBCI
reporting purposes
(Completed by the RBI team)
Optional
R & E only
Page 7
ATTRIBUTE: ACTIVITY
It is important that the University records its activities correctly in order to easily complete its annual
Financial Statements and other reporting requirements. The following provides a description of the activity
types used against each Budget code:
Activity
Description
Agresso
Reference
BS
Balance Sheet
Activities which relate to assets and/or liabilities such
as buildings, bank accounts, stock, supplier and
customer balances on accounts
Conferences
Conferences are usually planned several months in
advance and are based on a specific event.
CF
Core
This covers the normal ongoing activities of the
department or division that are funded through the
University by the annual budget allocation and is not
income generating. These are commonly referred to
as University Funded
UC
CPD/Short Courses
These courses usually have a very short duration and
may include Continuing Professional Development
(CPD) activity. This could cover both ‘credit bearing’
and ‘non credit bearing’ courses and it is important
that the correct account codes are used to determine
the correct accounting treatment in the financial
statements
CP
Donations
Donations are classified as gifts to the University
which are unconditional and so can be used for any
purpose
DO
Endowment
Gifts received with specific terms attached such as the
need to maintain the capital sum or the capital sum
can only be spent on items specified in the deed of
contract (Permanent or expendable endowments).
Any accounts that are set up as Endowments will be
operated under the Charity Commissioner’s rules
EP
Holding
Used for where costs are incurred and then passed
onto other users e.g. salary – posted to this type of
code but then recharged out to individual research
projects
UH
Page 8
Activity
Description
Knowledge Transfer
Partnerships (KTP)
Is a part government-funded programme to encourage
collaboration between businesses and universities in
the United Kingdom. Each KTP involves three
'partners':
Agresso
Reference
KP

Masterplan
a company (this may be a private enterprise,
public body or voluntary agency),
 a knowledge base (in this case UWE), and
 an associate (a recently qualified graduate)
Masterplan projects are funded from the allocated
£250m capital envelope
MA
Other
Used for ‘other’ activity not covered by one of the
existing activity attributes
Note: Limited use only – please speak to the Deputy
Director of Finance first before using this type of
activity
OT
Partnerships
Encompasses activities such as collaborative provision,
credit recognition, student exchange and any other
teaching and learning activities conducted in
collaboration with external institutions and
organisations
PA
Prizes
Gifts received under £25k with specific terms attached
such that the interest and/or capital can be allocated
as a prize, (usually annually) to students for a
particular subject/course
PR
Refurb/Maintenance
Identifies Budget codes which are used for refurb
and/or maintenance activities (Primarily used by
Facilities)
RB
Research
Used for Budget codes where the activity undertaken
is deemed to be for research purposes. This could
involve internal and external funding streams.
RX
Services Rendered,
Consultancy,
Knowledge Exchange
Funds received in return for the provision of goods or
services which do not meet the research definition
such as consultancy. All activity under this type of
activity should still be costed under full economic
costing and an appropriate price should have been
agreed prior to the commencement of the work.
SR
Studentships
Set up to support either one or more students for their ST
studies, usually at postgraduate level. The funding
generally covers the fees and stipend as well as
providing a small non pay budget for the period of
study.
Page 9
Activity
Description
Trading
Covers the normal activities of a department or
division that are income generating and have income
targets associated with its activities as part of the
annual budget allocation. Such areas are normally
within the Support functions of the University e.g.
Residences, Catering, Printing & Stationery
Agresso
Reference
UT
Page 10
INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT CODES
Account codes identify the category/type of income and expenditure being incurred and are an essential
part of any transaction posting.
Account codes in Agresso are 4 characters long and consist of four numbers, although the Balance Sheet
codes start with a letter. Generally the first number identifies the category of income or expenditure, while
the following 3 provide specific analysis. The income and expenditure account codes can be summarised
as:
Codes starting with:
1***
16**
19**
2***
3*** and 4***
49**
5***
76**
Represents
Income, including tuition fee, research, consultancy, residences and
catering
fEC income
Internal recharge income
Payroll
Non Pay costs
Internal recharge costs
Estates/Building works account codes
fEC costs
On published reports direct from Agresso, the account codes have been grouped by type of category rather
than showing an individual lines e.g.
4241
4242
4243
Travel (UK)
Travel (EU)
Travel (Overseas)
)
) Would be grouped as ‘Travel & Subsistence’
)
An end user would still have the ability to ‘drilldown’ to the individual account codes, and ultimately
transactions, should they wish to do so.
A full list of account codes and the respective groupings is available on the Finance webpage and can be
found here.
Page 11
BALANCE SHEET
STRUCTURE OF BUDGET CODES
Each cost centre is a consistent code length and is made up of 8 Characters, (4 Alpha, 4 Numerical):
AA
ZZ Balance Sheet
AA
0000
Subsection of Balance Sheet
FA= Fixed Asset
CA= Current Asset
IN = Investments
DR = Debtors
Sequential number
within assigned block
BALANCE SHEET SUBSECTIONS WITH PRE ASSIGNED NUMBER BLOCKS
Blocks of sequential numbering is made available for subsections of the Balance Sheet and is as follows.
ZZFA
9001 to 9100
= properties at Frenchay
ZZFA
9101 to 9150
=properties at Glenside
ZZFA
9150 to 9200
= properties at Bower Ashton
ZZFA
9201 to 9300
= other property interests i.e. Stoke Park, Wallscourt etc.
ZZIN
9301 to 9350
= Investments in subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures
ZZCA
9351 TO 9599
= various current asset related cost centres i.e. stocks, loans etc.
The following current asset and current liability cost centres are fixed to specific account codes for
ZZDR
9400
= Debtors Ledger Control Account, operable with sub ledger only.
ZZDR
9499
= Year end Journals for Debtors and Prepayments.
ZZBK
9500
= all Bank Accounts
ZZCR
9700
= Accounts Payable Control Account, operable with sub ledger
only.
ZZCR
9799
= Year end Journals for Creditors and Receipts in Advance.
ZZAC
9813 to 9815
= Accommodation Deposits for specific years.
Please note that all Balance Sheet Cost Centres will be set up by Financial Accounts team.
For a number of other BS account codes, especially those relating to Reserves, Endowment etc, cost centre
use is ZZZZ0000.
Page 12
BALANCE SHEET ACCOUNT CODES
The account codes used against the Balance sheet cost centres have a different structure to those within
the Income and Expenditure accounts. The format for the account codes used with the Balance Sheet cost
centres are 1 Alpha character followed by 3 numerical characters:
A
Either A or B
000
3 numbers
A = Assets
B = Liabilities
A full list of account codes and the respective groupings is available on the Finance webpage and can be
found here.
Page 13
Example 1
Finance Organisational Hierarchy Structure, Cost Centres and Attributes
Following example is based on the Village student accommodation at Frenchay:
Level 1: University (UNIV)
Level 2: Corporate Services (COPS)
Level 3: Facilities (FAC)
Level 4: Trading Areas (TRD)
Level 5: Student Village Accommodation (STV)
Cost Centres: e.g. USTV0001
Attribute:
Attribute:
Attribute:
ACTIVITY = Trade
BUDGETHOLDER = A Smith
MASTER PROJECT = Accommodation
Using the above we could extract reports at a cost centre level or at Level 5 for the whole of the Student
Village.
By using the attributes we can build information based on particular areas of commonality. For example
we could produce a report on Trade activity that would include the Student Village and any other cost
centres that had been tagged, has their attribute set up, as Trade activity. We could produce a set of
reports for budget holder ‘A Smith’ using the Budget Holder attribute or a set of reports to cover all student
accommodation (Village, Wallscourt, Cotswold Court, Glenside, etc.) using a Master Project attribute set up
to capture cost centres relating to accommodation.
Page 14
Example 2
ANALOGY BASED ON A DOWNLOADED MUSIC COLLECTION
Level 5: Album Name
Cost Centres: Tracks on the album
Attributes: Artist, Type of Track (classic, hip hop, punk, etc.), person rating, etc.
We could (as with the Student Village) simply call up the album by name (our standard Level 5 report) and
see the individual tracks (cost centres). However by giving each track (cost centre) a number of attribute –
say the name of the artist, or the type of music, or a personal rating – we are able to look at our whole
music collection (Agresso database) to create a whole new set of music playlists (reports) based on the
name of the particular artist or our top rated tracks or by the type of music.
Page 15
ABBREVIATIONS
CPD
Continuing
Professional
Development
People maintain their knowledge and skills related to their professional
lives
fEC
Full Economic
Cost
The total cost of undertaking an activity including buildings, facilities, staff,
consumables
HEBCIS
Higher Education
and Community
Interaction
Survey
Is a survey conducted by HESA which collects financial and output data for
each academic year. HEBCIS is compulsory for HEIs within the UK and
augments the Finance Statistics Return (FSR). Data is submitted to HESA in
December of each year.
HEFCE
Higher Education
Funding Council
Promotes and funds teaching and research in higher education
institutions. Includes general information and sections on finance, good
practice, and research
HEIF
Higher Education
Innovation Fund
Funding provided by HEFCE to support and develop a broad range of
knowledge-based interactions between Universities and Colleges and the
wider world, which result in economic and social benefit to the UK.
HESA
Higher Education
Statistics Agency
Is the central source for the collection and dissemination of statistics
about publicly funded UK higher education
QR
Quality Research
Type of Funding provided by HEFCE for research performance. It is
intended to strengthen and support a world class research base in English
higher education institutions
TRAC
Transparent
Approach to
Costing
An approach to demonstrate the full costs of research and other publicly
funded activities in higher education to improve the accountability for the
use of public funds
UWE
University of the
West of England
VAT
Value Added Tax
A tax on goods and services, which may be exempt, zero rated or standard
rated.
Page 16