: MARCH 28, 2012
:

2
CRACKING THE CODE

3
CRACKING THE CODE
• Without a method for tracking income and expense we would be like the proverbial shoebox turned into the accountant at tax time. Never a good idea!
• We have a moral responsibility to be good stewards of other people’s money.
• We have a practical reason to mind the store. We want to make sure Vanguard is “here to stay.”

4
CRACKING THE CODE
• First a quick tip. That’s a whole lot of numbers and everyone has a different name for what they are called.
I find it easier to differentiate them by the number of digits in each section.
: In other words the, the six digit number means this, the five digit number means that. We’ll learn the technical names but if that helps well … great!
• Also, you sometimes see the first two sections run together (110) or all the numbers run together
(11062100075515). Learn to separate them in your mind because they do have different meanings.

5
CRACKING THE CODE
1-10-621000-75515 (for example)
•
1 Location (1 digit)
• 10 Fund (2 digits)
• 621000 Department (6 digits)
• 75515 Object Code (5 digits)

6
CRACKING THE CODE
1 -10-621000-75515 (for example)
• 1 is a Location (1 digit)
• You’re right. We only have one location so this number will always be one. However, you never know what the future holds!
• This field is useful if you are running a report that requires a data point be defined and you want the report to return all the data.

7
CRACKING THE CODE
110 -621000-75515 (for example)
What does it mean?
• 10 is a Fund (2 digits)
• Funds are unique to non-profit accounting. Think of nonprofits as having three “pots”: unrestricted funds; temporarily restricted funds; and permanently restricted funds.
• The money is not kept in separate bank accounts so we need a way to differentiate the balance in each “pot.”
: Unrestricted funds start with 1
: Temp-restricted funds start with 3
: Perm-restricted funds start with 7

8
CRACKING THE CODE
110 -621000-75515 (for example)
What does it mean?
• Most commonly used funds:
: 10 Unrestricted operations
: 12 Unrestricted department carry forward
: 30 Temp-restricted operations
If you have a question about funds please contact the
Office of Fiscal Management.

9
CRACKING THE CODE
1-10621000 -75515 (for example)
What does it mean?
• 621000 is a Department (6 digits)
• Schools have many mini “companies” operating under one big umbrella. We call them departments. Having this distinction in our coding allows us to keep track of how we are doing globally as well as spotlighting one department or an area. For example, all sport department numbers begin with 48.
• Reports can be run to group departments using wildcards. For example, running a report for department
1* will capture all our academic departments.

10
CRACKING THE CODE
1-10621000 -75515 (for example)
What does it mean?
• Most departments conform to the following. Beginning digit:
: 1 - Academic departments
: 2 or 3 - Academic support, including the Library
: 4 - Admissions and student life
: 48 – Sports
: 5 – Scholarships
: 6 – Business and Advancement departments
: 7 – Building and maintenance departments
: 9 – Auxiliary services
If you have a question about departments contact the Office of Fiscal Management.

11
CRACKING THE CODE
1-10-62100075515 (for example)
What does it mean?
• 75515 is an Object Code (5 digits)
• Another good name for an object code might be income and expense, except those are two words and object code is just one (sort of). Think of all the time you are saving!
• Object codes are not restricted to use by a specific department. The object code Fines (53000) has a very general meaning but when you pair it up with the
Security Department you understand it is a parking fine.
When you use it with Residence Life you understand someone broke a window in their dorm, or something even more unfortunate.

12
CRACKING THE CODE
1-10-62100075515 (for example)
What does it mean?
• Object codes conform to the following. Beginning digit:
: 1 – Assets
: 2 – Liabilities
: 3 – Fund balances
: 4 – Revenue (operational in nature)
: 5 – Revenues (auxiliary in nature)
: 6 – Payroll expenses
: 7 – Operational expenses
: 8
– Other expenses, including equipment
If you have a question about object codes contact the Office of Fiscal Management.

13
: You have learned why the chart is important and how to understand it’s components.