How to Create an Account

Accounts are an important element of UCI's financial system. Ensuring all accounts are set up correctly is essential to accurately reporting our financial standing as a public institution. UCI reports its financial standing to the University of California, Office of the President (UCOP), based on how our accounts are coded. These results are published in the UC's Annual Financial Report and Financial Schedules.

This page contains the information needed to set up an account that will accurately report your organization's finances. Central Offices and the Medical Center have unique attributes that need to be discussed with the Chart Manager before creating accounts.

Access to Account Maintenance

Users must have the Chart of Accounts Maintenance User role before they can copy accounts in KFS. Users granted this role in KSAMS can maintain accounts within their organization and all subordinate organizations.

If you are a Fiscal Officer in KFS, you automatically have the ability to maintain sub-accounts, sub-object codes, project codes, and account delegates. Basic KFS users have no access to COA maintenance. See this chart describing the level of access different users have.

Access to the Chart of Accounts Maintenance User role can be granted now by your Departmental Security Administrator (DSA). This role is hierarchal and only needs to be setup for the highest level organization code that the COA Maintenance User will be managing. To look up the role in KSAMS, search for "MAINT".

How to Lookup a KFS Account

Account Lookup

In the KFS Lookups & Requests portlet, expand the Chart of Accounts section and click the "Account" link.

Look up an appropriate account to copy that has the same UC Fund Number as the new account. The account that you're copying can belong to a different department. The Organization Code should be updated when you copy the account.

In the left column labeled Actions, select copy. (You must have the Chart of Accounts Maintenance User Role in KSAMS to copy accounts.) On the resulting screen, complete each tab as follows below.

How to Copy an Account: Step-by-Step Instructions

Before you begin this process, make sure you understand how to find an appropriate account to copy. This is described in detail at the end of this guide.

Document Overview Tab

Edit Description

Enter a brief description of the account maintenance document, e.g., "Create a new KFS account."

Edit Explanation Field

This step is required even though there isn't an asterisk.
Use this box to describe the purpose, changes, and what the desired HEFC fund would be.
If this is a new HEFC for your organization, please include the AGC, UAS, ARC, and HDC codes from the Budget Office.
The Chart Manager will use this information to set up the UC Account and HEFC after the document is submitted.
(Optional) If you have a preferred UC Account, please indicate what you would like the UC Account to be here.

Account Maintenance Tab

Enter Chart Code	Select the Chart Code, or search for it from the Chart lookup by pressing the magnifying glass icon: IR - Campus MC - Medical Center
Do Not Change the Account Number	The Account Number will be completed automatically with the KFS Document Number located above. Do not change this number. The system will assign the KFS account number at the end of the process.
Enter Account Name	The Account Name must begin with the six-digit UC Account number and five-digit Fund (Control Account) number. The name should be written in all caps. Example: "123456-78901 COMMENCEMENT" If the new UC Account number is not known, enter only the information you know and enter x's to hold space for the UC Account and Fund. Example: "40xxxx-1234 DESKTOP COMPUTING"
Enter Organization Code	Enter the KFS Organization Code (at the lowest level) where this account will be mapped in the General Ledger. This is not hierarchical; for example, if you create an account at the 7xxx level, and you have orgs that report to that org below it in 6xxx, it should be mapped to 6xxx.
Enter Account Effective Date	For the Account Effective Date, enter the date this account will start.
Sub-Fund Group Code	Sub-Fund Group Code should be correct if you selected the correct Fund to begin with. If you are using a different Fund than what you copied, please find and enter the correct SFG from another account with that Fund.)
Skip To the Next Tab	You may safely disregard the rest of the fields in the Account Maintenance Tab and move on to the Account Responsibility Tab.

Account Responsibility Tab

Change Those Responsible For Account	Under the Account Responsibility tab, you can change the UCInetIDs of the Fiscal Officer, Account Supervisor, or the Account Manager. Remember that the Fiscal Officer cannot be the same as the Account Supervisor.
Skip To Next Tab	After you have updated the first three rows (Fiscal Officer, Account Supervisor, and Account Manager) as needed, you may safely disregard the rest of the fields in this tab.

Guidelines and Purpose Tab

Account Purpose and Guidelines Fileds

Under the Guidelines & Purpose, provide a brief description of the purpose of the account in the Account Purpose text field. This is internal information only

All Remaining Tabs

Skip Remaining Tabs

You may safely disregard the rest of the tabs.
This information will be completed by the Chart Manager or another node in the workflow.

Submitting and Next Steps

When you are satisfied that all information is correct, click the submit button down below. The document will proceed through workflow, including approval from the Chart Manager in Accounting. If you're curious to know who will ultimately vet this request, visit the Route Log tab. Under the Pending and Future Action Requests tabs you will see a list of individuals who will receive this item in their Action Lists.

Finding an Account to Copy

In the Kuali Financial System, new accounts are created by copying existing accounts. When creating a new account, the process is easiest if you are able to find an account to copy in the same lowest-level organization in which the new account is needed that matches the appropriate HEFC. If possible, match the UC Account as well.

If You Cannot Find an Appropriate Account to Copy

If you cannot find an existing account within your organization that has the required HEFC or UC Account, your local financial manager will need to work with the Budget Office and Accounting to set up a new UC Account. If the HEFC does not exist in your organization, your local financial management will need to work with the Budget Office to determine the following information so Accounting can set up the new UC Account for your group:

UC Account Name
UAS (Uniform Accounting Structure) KFS= HEFC
AGC (Account Group Code) UC Account Type
ARC (Annual Report Code) Financial Schedule Reporting
PHDC (Payroll Home Department Code) UCPath=HR Org

After you have this information, you can proceed to copy an account according to the instructions below. The AGC, UAS, ARC, and PHDC can be included in the e-document's Explanation box. The Chart Manager in the Accounting Department will use this information to set up your account with an appropriate HEFC/UC Account.

Tip: Before requesting a new Sales and Services Fund or Other Sources Fund, you should also start by contacting the Budget Office.

How to Edit an Account

To Edit an existing account, please see our guide on how to Edit an Account.

How to Reopen Closed Accounts

Accounts can only be reponed by contacting Contracts and Grants Accounting for C&G (Incept to date) accounts or General Accounting for Non-C&G (Fiscal Year)Accounts.

When requesting that an account be reopened, please include:

The reason the account was closed.
The reason for needing the account to be reopened.
An explanation of what the account will be used for in the future.

Key Account Attributes Related to Reporting

When you create a new account in KFS, pay attention to the following attributes because they play a key role in how our finances are reported to UCOP:

KFS Organization Code
This indicates the department responsible for the account. Note that accounts should only be mapped to organization codes that are at the lowest level of the hierarchy.
UC Account
The UC Account name should be descriptive of the overall purpose of the KFS accounts that share the same UC Account attribute. The UC Account may represent a need to track financial activities for a particular project, operation, person, or activity. The UC Account allows tracking expenses and income across multiple fund sources. The UC Account code has meaning as well. The first two digits represent function and relate to the Higher Education Function Code (HEFC) as follows:

UC Account Number	Name of Function (click for description)	HEFC Code
40xxxx	Instruction	INST
41xxxx	Departmental Research	INST
40990x	Summer Session	INST
61xxxx	University Extension	INST
42xxxx	Teaching Hospitals	TEHS
43xxxx & 40xxxx	Academic Support (the default is 43, but many historic accounts were set up with 40)	ACAD
44xxxx – 47xxxx	Organized Research: Dept., Institutes, Centers, Etc.	RESR
48xxxx – 49xxxx	Organized Research: Federal Contracts	RESR
50xxxx – 55xxxx	Organized Research: Institutional Grants & Special Committee Grants	RESR
56xxxx – 59xxxx	Organized Research: Committees of the Academic Senate Grants	RESR
60xxxx	Libraries	LIBR
62xxxx	Public Service	PBSV
64xxxx	Maintenance & Operation of Physical Plant	MOPP
66xxxx	General Administration	ISUP
72xxxx	Institutional Support & Services	ISUP
68xxxx	Student Services	STSR
76xxxx	Auxiliary Enterprises	AUXE
77xxxx	Financial Aid	GRFA
78xxxx	Graduate Financial Aid	GRFA
79xxxx	Post Doc Financial Aid	GRFA
80xxxx	Provision for Allocations	PROV

The UC Account also has a relationship to the KFS organization (department) to which it belongs. No one UC Account number can exist in more than one organization.

In some circumstances, the second set of digits of the UC Account (XX 01 XX) can be mapped to a particular organization code, whereby a particular set of digits in the 3 ^rd and 4 ^th position clearly identify the UC Account as belonging to a particular department. Such coding can be valuable for reporting, analysis, and identification when reviewing and approving transactions. Unfortunately, some of this coding consistency was lost when KFS went live, as maintaining the middle two digits with a particular structure is not strictly enforced when setting up new accounts. However, if such coding is valuable to the unit maintaining the chart of accounts, it is recommended that such coding considerations be maintained whenever possible.
Control Account or (UC Fund Number)
The Control Account and UC Fund should always be identical—except that the Control Account number is prefixed with the letters "UC". The terms are often referred to interchangeably. Both indicate the source of the funding, and they should have the same Sub Fund Group attributes. They are maintained as separate fields for UCOP reporting.
Higher Education Function Code (HEFC)
This code plays a role in how we report our finances and, as noted above, should correspond to the first two digits of the UC Account number assigned to each account. In the university's financial report, operating expenses are broken down according to the HEFC of the KFS Account. Click the image below to see an example of what this breakdown looks like. See the detailed descriptions of all HEFCs to determine which function code you should be using.