Resources & Job Aids: PTAEO and PFOO Defined

There are two basic accounts structures used at Stanford. The PTAEO account structure is used by a large number of users across campus to record university expenses. The PFOO account structure is used by a small number of users across campus to record revenue and fund transfers. Both account structures are represented on Oracle financial reports used across campus by a large number of users.

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PTAEO Account Segments and Definition


Use the PTAEO account structure when:

  • Recording expenses (i.e. spending money in support of the University)
  • Reviewing and approving expenditure transactions
  • Reviewing expenditure statements & reports

PTAEO is the acronym for the account segments used to classify and record expenditure transactions. The definition and format of each letter represented is described in the table below. PTAEO codes are used in the transaction originating systems (i.e. iProcurement [link], iOU [link], PCard [link], iJournal [link] and Labor Distribution [link]). The expenditure type transaction details are recorded in the Grants Accounting (GA) module of the Oracle Financial System.

PTAEO Account Segments and Definition
Account Segment Segment Name Definition Format
P Project
  • A project is an activity or event with a single purpose (i.e. conference, research project, expenses of a gift fund, department administrative operations, etc.), with one or more funding source(s), and usually an associated budget.
  • All University expenditures are associated with a project.
  • Projects are used to track sponsored projects, capital projects, and non-sponsored activities.
  • Projects may:
    • cross organizational boundaries and funding sources
    • cross fiscal years
    • be for either one-time or on-going events
    • be simple with just one task or complex with many tasks and sub-tasks
  • All projects are assigned a Project-Owning Organization.
  • Additional Resources:
    • Project Types & Definitions [link]

Seven-character number assigned automatically by the system. No intrinsic logic in the numbers.

Example:
1234567
T Task
  • Tasks allow projects to be segregated into components for ease of tracking.
  • Expenditures are posted at the Task level, so all projects must have at least one task.
  • Tasks can be used to differentiate various components of a Project (i.e. key deliverables or activities).
    • Separate Tasks with separate budgets can be defined for different organizations working on a single Project.
    • Committed cost sharing is set up as a Task on sponsored projects (with a separate funding source).
  • Tasks are assigned a Task-Owning Organization, which may be different from the Organization that owns the Project.
  • Budgets are set at the Task level.

One to eight characters that may (or may not) contain decimals to indicate subtask hierarchy. Logic may be assigned by an individual school or department.

Examples:
1
2.3
106.23.2
A Award
  • An Award represents a funding source for a Project or Task.
  • A project or Task may be funded by one or many Awards.
  • A single Award may be used to support multiple Projects or Tasks.
  • Each Award is assigned an Award-Owning Organization.
  • Certain Awards require and have a customer (sponsor), billing status, and burden schedule [fringe benefit, facilities and administration (indirect) cost, infrastructure, etc.].
  • Additional Resources:
    • Award Types & Definitions [link]
    • Award Range Table [link]

Five-character alphabetical code assigned in meaningful ranges that correspond to fund classes.

Examples:
PAAAA-VZZZZ range for Sponsored Research

GAAAA-JZZZZ range for Expendable Gifts
E Expenditure Type
  • In addition to Project, Task, and Award, an Expenditure type is associated with each transaction.
  • The Expenditure Type is used to track how the money was spent (i.e. salaries, materials, travel, etc.).
  • Certain Expenditure types are used to capture unallowable costs (when expenditure type title includes "UNALW")
  • Additional Resources:
    • Expenditure Type Query [link]
    • Expenditure Type Definitions & Rules [link]

Five-character numeric code, usually beginning with 5.

Example:
52410 (description Domestic Travel, Allowable)
O Organization
  • The Organization segment represents a unit with an established position in Stanford's Organization Hierarchy.
  • The Organization value in the PTAEO account structure will automatically default to "ZZZZ Stanford" for all expenditure transactions and it cannot be changed.
  • For reporting purposes, the applicable organization /department will be identified based on the attributes defined at the Project, Task, or Award segment level during the PTA Setup Process [link].
  • All applications used at Stanford (i.e. Oracle, PeopleSoft, and any new systems) share the same organization values.

Four-character alphabetical code

Example:
ZZZZ Stanford
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PFOO Account Segments and Definition


Use the PFOO account structure when:

  • Processing University receipts (i.e. depositing income)
  • Initiating expense or fund transfers in iJournal
  • Running and reviewing fund statements & reports

PFOO is the acronym for the account segments used to classify financial transactions and balances (i.e. revenue, assets, liabilities, and fund balances) in the General Ledger (GL) module of Oracle Financials. The definition and format of each letter represented is described in the table below.

PFOO Account Segments and Definition
Account Segment Segment Name Definition Format
P Project
  • Projects in the PTAEO account structure map to Projects in the PFOO account structure.
  • A project is an activity or event with a single purpose (i.e. conference, research project, expenses of a gift fund, department administrative operations, etc.), with one or more funding source(s), and usually an associated budget.
  • Projects are used to track sponsored projects, capital projects, and non-sponsored activities.
  • Projects may:
    • cross organizational boundaries and funding sources
    • cross fiscal years
    • be for either one-time or on-going events
    • be simple with just one task or complex with many tasks and sub-tasks
  • All projects are assigned a Project-Owning Organization.
  • Additional Resources:
    • Project Types & Definitions [link]

Seven-character number assigned automatically by the system. No intrinsic logic in the numbers.

Example:
1234567
F Fund
  • Fund identifies a specific funding source, (i.e. gift, endowment, or sponsored grant).
  • Same as the Award in PTAEO.

Five-character alphabetical code assigned in meaningful ranges.

Examples:
PAAAA-VZZZZ range for Sponsored Research

GAAAA-JZZZZ range for Expendable Gifts
2.3
106.23.2
O Object
  • Object represents assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses, and fund balances.
  • Expenditure Type values (the "E" in PTAEO) in the General Ledger (GA) roll up into Expenditure categories that map to Objects in the General Ledger (GL) PFOO account structure. Due to the rollup and mapping, there is a greater level of expenditure detail in GA than in GL
  • Additional Resources:
    • Object Code Listing [link]

Five-character numeric code beginning with 1-5, depending on whether it is an: 1-Asset, 2-Liability, 3-Fund Balance, 4-Revenue, or 5-Expense.

Examples:
40001 Tuition Income
O Organization
  • The Organization segment represents a unit with an established position in Stanford's Organization Hierarchy.
  • The Organization value in the PFOO structure is auto-populated from the Award-Owning Organization attribute defined during the PTA Setup Process -.
  • All applications used at Stanford (i.e. Oracle, PeopleSoft, and any new systems) share the same organization values.

Four-character alphabetical code; ranges are used to group organizations together.

Example:
PFNZ English Department
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