Departments

COA Handbook

About the COA Handbook

This handbook explains Yale’s Chart of Accounts (COA) and provides information to promote effective financial management.

What is the Chart of Accounts?

The Chart of Accounts (COA) is a set of codes used to classify and record financial transactions in meaningful ways. Yale’s Chart of Accounts structure was designed to:

• Identify specific “pots” of money and where it came from
• Specify where that money can & is being used
• Record the transactions related to that money

The COA also provides the structure for reporting and monitoring financial activity at Yale. It consists of segments and descriptive attributes (see below for an explanation of the PTAEO account structure) that help the University organize financial information for:

• Internal reporting and financial management
• External reporting and compliance
• Effective management of restricted funds

PTAEO

The COA contains five segments: project, task, award, expenditure type, and organization. The order in which they fall creates the acronym PTAEO.

• Project indicates the activity for which the money is used. [“why”]
• Task is a subset of project, and is used to identify components of the project. [“why”]
• Award indicates where the money comes from. [“funding”]
• Expenditure Type indicates the category of an account (asset, liability, fund balance, expense or revenue. [“what”]
• Organization indicates who uses the money. [“who”]

What’s New at COA?

• Updated project and task request forms (including instructions) now available. Access via “PTAEO Request Forms” page. More form and procedure updates are in process.
• Expenditure Type Locator – Version 2.1
  The ET Locator will help you quickly find Expenditure Type Codes along with their descriptions as well as the full ET hierarchy. For further information please refer to the ET Type Locator Guide in Quick Guides section.
• Data Warehouse & BUG Library: New and Enhanced Reports (September 2010)
• Activity Review Report Invoice Image Guide
  (April 2011)
• Access Review Report Instructions

Contact Information

Who to call for what…

Last Updated: December 19, 2011 (jp).