Chart of Accounts

Chart of Accounts

What is the Chart of Accounts?
The Chart of Accounts is the basis of any accounting system. The purpose of the Chart of Accounts is to:
• classify each financial transaction
• select or extract the financial data through account inquiry screens or reports
• report on (or enquire about) the sum total of financial transactions at various levels on the chart.
Accounts are made up of a string of numeric and alphanumeric fields that act as identifiers. The General Ledger is
used to record and store each individual account and their transactions.
The University of Melbourne has defined eight segments (23 digits) to make up their Chart of Accounts:
Company
Budget Unit
Section
Account
Project
Group
Activity
Location
01
606
20
5554
78250
B10
12
01
When entering your account code details in Themis, the Chart of Accounts will display in various forms (e.g.:
Descriptive FlexField, List of Values, etc). Whichever form is displayed, Themis enables you to type in the segment
details, if known, or use the List of Values to search for and select the appropriate code.

There are two types of segment:
• Independent segments – values are not linked to other segments (e.g.: Company, Budget Unit, Natural
Account)
• Dependent segments – values are determined by the segment’s relationship with another segment
(e.g.: Section is dependent on Budget Unit)

Company
The Company segment represents the legal entity or company that consolidates or summarises the activities of
the entity. The University, Trusts, semi-autonomous bodies and subsidiaries have been allocated an individual
company number.
This segment is a two digit numeric value (independent).
Segment
Example

Company
01
The University of Melbourne

77
Melbourne University Bookshop
Application Services – Themis Chart of Accounts – 1

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Budget Unit
The Budget Unit segment defines the organisational unit (normally the Department number).
This segment is a three digit numeric value (independent) and is linked to Themis access for finance.
Segment
Example

Budget Unit
600
Science, Faculty General
601
Chemistry
654
Zoology

Section
The Section segment defines the internal management structure or areas of responsibility within a Budget Unit.
To ensure consistency in reporting it is recommended that any set-up or changes to these values be undertaken at
the beginning of the year, and alterations should not be made during the year.
This segment is a two digit numeric value (dependent on Budget Unit).
Segment
Example

Section
01
Animal Behaviour &Evolution

03
Conservation & Wildlife Biology
05
Reproduction
&
Development
Example taken from: 654 Zoology.

Natural Account
The Natural Account segment is used to classify income, expenditure, assets, liabilities and equity. Note: please
do not use 5555 – Other consumable supplies where a suitable code exists.
This segment is a four digit numeric value (independent).
• Income accounts 4000 – 4999
• Expenditure accounts 5000 – 6999
• Internal recoveries 7000 – 7199
• Internal expenses 7200 - 7999
Segment
Example

Natural Account
4173
Sale of Publications
5653
Staff
Training
&
Development
5554
Stationery

7281
Internal Photocopying Expense

Application Services – Themis Chart of Accounts – 2

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Project
The Project segment captures financial transactions for specific research projects. While this segment is used to
identify activities with external reporting requirements (e.g.: ARC and NHMRC grants), it must always contain a
value. As such, all expenditure that is not part of a specific project should be allocated to code 00000 – Operating.
This segment is a five digit numeric value (independent).
Segment
Example

Project
00000
Operating (default value)
78250
ARC
Research

Group Code
The Group Code allows Budget Units to capture and group information concerning their areas, and at levels that
are relevant to them.
Before requesting the creation of additional group codes, Departments/Faculties should ensure this information
cannot be captured in other segments of the Chart of Accounts string (e.g.: UoM departments located on different
campuses should use the Location segment to track their information, and researcher specific transactions can be
recorded using the Project segment, etc). In addition, areas should be aware that too much detail in the Group
Code segment may significantly increase workload when entering transactions and/or analysing report data.
This segment is a three digit alpha or alpha-numeric value (dependent on Budget Unit).
Segment
Example

Group Code
GEN
General (default value)
A03
Aquarium
A14
Wallaby
Yards

Activity
The Activity segment is used to satisfy external reporting requirements (such as the University’s research and
teaching expenditure, etc). This segment may also be used by Faculty and Departments to report on information
that is of interest to them (e.g.: research support expenditure, research income, etc).
This segment is a two digit numeric value (independent).
Segment
Example

Activity 11 Teaching
12
Research

Location
The Location segment is used to determine the assignment of a campus or physical locality to transactions.
This segment is a two digit numeric value (independent).
Segment
Example

Location 01 Parkville
14
Burnley

Application Services – Themis Chart of Accounts – 3

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