Part of the accounting staff’s responsibilities includes the accurate recording of financial activity in compliance with the legal requirements defined in California Education Code Section 84030, federal and categorical state guidelines, as well as other applicable statutes and regulations. The District is required to present financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for state and local governments. GAAP is a framework within which financial transactions are recorded and reported resulting in financial statements that provide comparability between governmental entities, consistency between accounting periods and the reliability for internal and external users of financial statements. The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) has determined GAAP requirements for state and local governments since 1984.
Accounting functions include preparing interim and multi-year forecasts as well as developing or compiling the annual budget. On a routine basis, District accountants record journal entries, review accounting activity, reconcile bank statements and provide oversight for Purchase Requisitions. In addition, accountants prepare and review a vast array of required external reports throughout the year. Accounting staff communicate program restrictions and provide guidance on the use of the District’s Chart of Accounts segments for Fund, Organization, Account, and Program codes. On an annual basis, the accounting staff serves as one of the primary points of contact for the District’s financial audit. As a result, much of the Summer and Fall is filled with audit preparation and fieldwork. On an ad-hoc basis, the accounting staff also serves as the fiscal contact for contract audits.
The accounting staff also supervises the Payroll, Accounts Payable, Non-student Accounts Receivable, Purchasing and Self-Service Banner access functions within the Fiscal Services Department. Externally, the accounting staff interacts primarily with the Marin County Office of Education, California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, Public Accounting firms, Financial Institutions, and the Internal Revenue Service.
Chart of Accounts
The Chart of Accounts (COA) is the “key” to Banner finance. It defines the accounting distribution used on all transactions processed in the Banner Finance module.
The Chart of Accounts code is defined by one capital letter- “M”- that uniquely identified the Marin Community College District chart, and it consists of four elements that are defined as follows:
F O A P
Fund
This is a five-digit code that identifies a self-balancing set of accounts and identifies ownership. Balance sheets and revenue/expense reports can be produced for any fund, which can be restricted or unrestricted.
11100 – Unrestricted General Fund
11400 – Community Education and Services
12XXX – Restricted General Funds
33100 – Child Development Fund
49100 – Capital Outlay Fund for Measure C
Organization
This is usually a five-digit code that identifies a unit of budgetary responsibility or departments within an institution. It is normally used to define “who” spends the money.
Account
This is a five-digit code that identifies objects, such as the general ledger accounts (assets, liabilities, control, fund balances) and the operating ledger accounts (income, expenditures, transfers). The account is a line item within an institution’s financial structure. Commonly used College of Marin Account codes are listed on Account Codes (Rev. 5.15.2013).
Program
This is a six-digit code that identifies a function and enables the institution to establish a method of classifying transactions across organizations and accounts. California community colleges follow the Taxonomy of Programs (TOPS) and Administrative and Support Activities (ASA) codes as defined by the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office. Active College of Marin Programs codes are listed in the Program Codes (rev. 5.15.2013).
Budget Reference Documents
Accounting Forms
You may obtain these forms in the MyCOM portal, Employee tab, in the employee-only forms section.
- Expenditure Transfer Request
- FOAP Change Form
- Statement of Cash Collections