General Ledger Explained

Budgeted units are identified with a discreet general ledger numbers allowing for tracking of all financial activity. This guide explains the structure of the budget.

For questions on this topic contact accounting@gettysburg.edu 717-337-6224

General Ledger

Chart of Accounts Structure

Gettysburg College’s Chart of Accounts consists of many different funds, departments, programs, and projects that allow the College to track various financial activities within its general ledger.

Account Number - Consists of 6 parts (In the following order)


Part	Category	Number of Digits
1	Account	5
2	Fund	5
3	Department	5
4	Program	2
5	Class Code	5
6	Project ID	7

Example: 65000-11100-61500-51-00000-000000

Part 1 - Account:

Represents what types of expenditure you have incurred or type of revenue generated, i.e. travel, lodging, security fines, participation fees, etc.

Account Code Numbers	Account Code Category	Account Code Descriptions
10000- 19999	Assets	Items College owns
20000- 29999	Liabilities	Obligations of College
30000- 39999	Fund Balance	Net Assets of College
40000- 49999	Revenues	Services provided by College
50000-59999	Payroll Expenses	Expenses related to Payroll of the College
60000-89999	Operating Expenses	Expenses related to the business of the College

Part 2 - Fund:

Represents the funding source for where the money resides, i.e. Operating vs. Plant fund

Fund Code #s	Fund Code Descriptions
11100-19999	Current Unrestricted Funds
20000-29999	Current Restricted funds
30000-39999	Loan Funds
40000-49999	Endowment Funds
50000-59999	Deferred Funds
70000-79999	Plant Funds
91000-99999	Agency Funds

Part 3 - Department:

Represents a true operational entity, or an activity conducted by that entity i.e. Financial Services department or Midnight Madness Program

Department #’s	Department Description
00000	Institutional Bypass (general)
10000- 19999; 64000- 64599	President/Human Resource Divisions
20000- 25999; 27000- 29999	Provost Divisions
26000- 26999	Information Technology Division
30000- 39999	Enrollment/Educational Services Division
40000-49999	College Life Division
50000-59999	Development & Alumni Relation Division
60000-69999	Finance and Administration Division

Part 4 - Program:

Represents an area in which a Department resides in a higher educational institution, i.e. instructional, Academic support, or student services

Program #’s	Program Description
00	Institutional Bypass (generally reserved for revenue accts)
01	Instruction
11	Research
21	Public Service
31	Academic Support
41	Student Services
51	Institutional Support
61	Operations and Maintenance
71	Auxiliary Enterprise

Part 5 - Class Codes

Part 6 - Project/Grant ID:

Represents a special grant received or a project that is being tracked separately, such as a construction project. The term of project or grant is usually for a limited period of time, such as one to three years.

Project #’s	Project ID Description
1400000- 1999999	Professional Development Grants
2200000- 3499999	Sponsored Research/Foundations Grants
3500000- 3799999	Academic Equipment Projects
3800000- 3899999	Capital Projects
3900000- 3999999	IT Projects
5750121- 5750206	Athletics Projects
4000000- 5750120; 5750207- 6590000	Facilities Plant Projects

Summary List of General Ledger (G/L) Accounts and Descriptions

Account	Description	Description	Long Description
12200	A/R--Other	Asset	Monies deposited in current year, but represent revenue earned (services provided) in prior year.
13120	Prepaid Expenses--Other	Asset	Expenses paid in current year, but increase, recurred, or used in following years (i.e. multiple year contracts)
21491	Accrued Expenses--Other	Liability	Expenses incurred, items received or used in current year but not to be paid for until next year.
21530	Deferred Income	Liability	Monies received in advance of when service provided.
41158	Fees--Workshops	Revenue	Conferences, Workshops, and Clinics
41705	Ticket Sales	Revenue	Music performance and events
41708	Subscription Sales	Revenue	Magazines & Periodicals Sales
41709	Advertising/Program Sales	Revenue	Newspaper and Department Ads sales
41720	Miscellaneous Sales	Revenue	CD sales, T-shirts, Book Sales
41890	Miscellaneous Income	Revenue	Music performances, DJ services, and Campus Recreation Forfeit Fee
41895	NCAA Post Season Rev	Revenue	Revenue is related to NCAA Playoffs such as reimbursement, ticket sales, program sales, merchandise, and per diem activity.
41901	Lib Fines/Lost Goods Charges	Revenue	Library and Athletic Departments
41910	Participation Fees	Revenue	Grab, Service Learning, and Campus Recreation Intramural Registration Fees
53003	Staff Wages - Casual	Expense
53005	Staff Overtime	Expense
53020	Faculty-Honoraria Wages	Expense	Faculty honoraria wages
54001	Student Wages- Non Work-study	Expense
60100	Post Office Charges	Expense	Postage
60120	Air & Ground	Expense	UPS/FedEx charges
60200	Telephone	Expense
60203	Wireless Service	Expense	Cellular phone expenses, including reimbursements
60250	Cable TV	Expense
60260	Internet-Database	Expense
60300	Advertising	Expense
60400	Photocopying	Expense
60420	Printing & Duplicating - Off Campus	Expense
61500	Trvl/Lodg/Meals - College Business-Domestic	Expense	Domestic travel, lodging and meals related to College Business. (eRide, Airfare, taxi, transportation department use, tolls, hotel, meals, parking, etc)
61502	Travel/Mileage	Expense	Mileage reimbursement for use of personal vehicle
61503	Travel/Lodging/Meals-International	Expense	International travel, lodging and meals. (Airfare, taxi, transportation department use, tolls, hotel, meals, parking, etc)
61505	Travel/Lodging/Meals -Class/Team-Domestic	Expense	Domestic Class/Team Travel (Airfare, taxi, transportation department use, tolls, hotel, meals, parking, etc)
61506	Travel/Lodging/Meals-Recruiting-Dom	Expense	Domestic Recruiting Travel (Airfare, taxi, transportation department use, tolls, hotel, meals, parking, etc)
61512	Meals & Snacks-Off Campus	Expense	Off campus business meetings and food purchased from outside the College
61513	Travell/Lodging/Meals -Prof Dvlp-Domestic	Expense	Domestic Professional Development Travel (Airfare, taxi, transportation department use, tolls, hotel, meals, parking, etc)
61514	Registration Fees - Domestic	Expense	Domestic training, conference and seminar fees
61515	Registration Fees - International	Expense	International training, conference and seminar fees
61700	Entertainment - Other (limited use)	Expense
61701	Meals & Snacks - On Campus	Expense	College catering and dining charges
62100	Honoraria/Lecturers	Expense	Payment of Services (unless consulting or professional fee)
62119	Maj-College Artist Fee Sponsor	Expense	Department sponsorship of Majestic shows
62120	Artist Fees	Expense	Majestic Theater account used for artist fees
62121	Distributor Fees	Expense	Majestic Theater account used for distributor fees
62140	Athletic Officials	Expense	Athletic Department account used to record payment of officials at sporting events
62160	Professional Service Fees	Expense	Payment for professional services/consulting
62162	Technical Consulting Fees	Expense	Payment for professional services/consulting - computer/IT related/plant related items
62163	Service/Software License	Expense
62716	Fellowship-Scholarship Expense (limited usage)	Expense	Payments to Gettysburg students for the pursuit of study or independent research. Research fellowship monies to further their education. Financial Aid Office requests notification of these payments.
64110	Other Services	Expense	Examples: Photography or DJ services
64175	General Contracts & Others	Expense
64200	Repairs & Maintenance	Expense	Use for service contracts also.
64204	Hardware Maintenance	Expense	IT contracted recurring maintenance costs for hardware & telephone switch maintenance
64205	Software Maint-Instit systems	Expense	IT contracted recurring maintenance costs for software for institutional systems=PS, R25,Server
64206	Software Maint-Desktop	Expense	IT contracted recurring maintenance costs for software for desktop use.
64310	Rental--Equipment	Expense
64315	Rental--Vehicles	Expense
64360	Rental--Other	Expense
65000	Supplies & Materials - General Office	Expense	Department office supplies and other various types of supply items.
65001	Other Supplies	Expense
65003	Supplies & Materials - Instructional	Expense
65004	Printing & Duplicating - On Campus	Expense	RICOH Services, ePosters
65005	Supplies & Materials - Bookstore	Expense	Bookstore department charges
65009	Supplies & Materials - Program	Expense
65212	Vehicle Fuel	Expense	Fuel purchased for College owned vehicles
66000	Equipment & Furniture	Expense
66001	Hardware	Expense
66005	Expans-EQ/Wiring	Expense
66006	Computers	Expense
66040	Books & Related Material	Expense
66060	Software-Instit Systems	Expense	IT Dept=Newly purchased and not part of a new institutional system purchase
66061	Software-Desktop	Expense	IT Dept=Newly purchased for desktop uses, tools, and packages
69110	Subscriptions	Expense	Magazines and Periodicals subscriptions
69130	Memberships and Dues	Expense
69137	Copyright/License Fee	Expense
69181	Campus Department Services	Expense	Misc sales/services to departments
69700	Awards & Prizes	Expense

Frequently Used GL Codes (PDF)

Transferring Funds

New line item within same budget
Different budget

Restricted Use Funds

Agency Funds (9xxxx) are accounts which hold assets as an accomodation on behalf of another organization external to the College. The College acts as custodian, intermediary, and/or agent and has little or no discretion over the use of these resources.

Agency Fund Guidelines (PDF)
Endowment and Current Restricted (4xxxx and 2xxxx)
- Endowment and Current Restricted Funds Guidelines
Plant
- Plant Fund Guidelines
Grants (2xxxx)
- Grant Funds Guidelines