Larger Text
Smaller TextGlossary of Financial Terms
Chart of Accounts Terms Summary
| McMaster Legacy Term | PeopleSoft Terms |
Ledger |
Fund |
Account |
Department |
or |
Department + Program |
or |
Department + Project |
Subcode |
Account |
or |
Program |
or |
Project Activity |
| (colloquially) Account Code | ChartField String |
General terms
| PeopleSoft Terms | McMaster Legacy Term | Definition |
| Account | Currently referred to as Subcode for revenue and expense types of transactions. Balance sheet types of transactions are currently recorded in a separate ledger with its own unique Subcodes also called variable account control. | The classification of the nature/concept of the financial transactions, Balance Sheet, Revenue or Expenditure. |
| Account | Subcode | |
| Approval Workflow | Approvals | |
| Business Unit | No current term. E.g. McMaster, Divinity, RMA, Allergen, HAPA, HAHSO. | A consolidation of accounting information for an entity. The business unit is the basis for recording transactions, executing processes and reports. |
| Buyer | Buyer | A person who can procure goods or services. Also known as a Purchasing Buyer. |
| Canned Reports | eReports, Oracle Reports | |
| Chart of Accounts (COA) | see Account | |
| ChartField String | several names, often refered to as an account code by non-finance users | replaces the 10 digit fund-account-subcode combination |
| Commitment Control (abbreviated as KK) | Budget | the part of PeopleSoft that holds budget information; do not confuse with Hyperion which is the budgeting tool |
| Department | Currently referred to as the six digits Account in McMaster FAS. For McMaster FAS users, this segment represents mainly the Cost Centre and in some cases a program or project. In the balance sheet section of the FAS (ledger 0) this six digit code represents an asset or a liability. | A uniquely identified responsibility unit with employees or without employees for a Special Envelopes, and; a budgetary unit that rolls up into a Budgetary Envelope, and; and a unit within the structure of the University organizational chart as defined for management reporting (i.e. by envelope). |
| Department + Program | Account | Departments can share Programs for interrelated Activities (e.g. Interdisciplinary programs). |
| Department + Project | Account | |
| EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) | Direct Deposit | |
| Encumbrance | Commitment | |
| Fund | Ledger (1st digit of account number) | Fund will represent a High Level hierarchy of the source of funding for the transactions. Fund accounting classifies Funds for accounting and reporting purposes in accordance with regulatory requirements or limitations imposed by external sponsor or donor. |
| Hyperion | SAS/FM | Budgeting tool/software |
| Income statement in Commitment Control | Screen 32/44 | |
| Invoice | Invoice | An invoice gets keyed into a voucher to create a payment. |
| Item | Commodity Code | |
| Journal Source | The identification of when a transaction is coming from (e.g. submodule, manual journal, interface). | |
| Journals | Transactions or data feeds. | Transactions that reach the General Ledger. Could be transactions coming from a submodule or a manual journal. |
| Ledger | Actuals or Budget | Repository of all financial information. |
| nVision Reports | SAS FM, Excel Reports | |
| P-card or Procurement Card | Acquisition Card | BMO Mastercard |
| Period 998 | Adjustment period | An accounting period used to store adjusting entries |
| Pre-Encumbrance | Currently not officially recorded in FAS. | In PeopleSoft, when a purchase requisition is completed a PRE-encumbrance is placed on the account, when the requisition gets approved and becomes a purchase order, the pre-encumbrance turns into an encumbrance. Once the purchase order is approved, the encumbrance is cleared and the expense applied to the account. This process includes an additional budget check at the pre-encumbrance step that doesn’t exist today. However, this check is automated and will only require users to be aware of it. |
| Program (e.g. in McMasters current 9000’s series) | There is no specific chartfield at McMaster that identifies program; instead, McMaster has used its department or cost center (account) or in some cases, specific accounts (Subcodes) to identify programs. | Programs are long-term in nature, as opposed to projects that have a defined beginning and end. Programs can refer to Academic Programs or other non-academic programs. |
| Project | There is no specific chartfield at McMaster that identifies projects; instead, McMaster has used its department or cost center (account) or in some cases, specific accounts (Subcodes) to identify projects. Currently capital projects are identified as six digit accounts in the FAS ledger. | Project is defined as activities directed towards the accomplishment of a set of objectives that has a defined beginning and end. An exception will be made for endowed trusts. |
| Project Activity (only for projects) | Subcode | An Activity defines the processes or actions necessary to complete the Project. |
| Purchase Order or PO | Purchase Order | |
| Queries | QMF (IBM) | |
| Requester | A person who can create a Purchase Requisition. | A person in the system that can enter a requisition. |
| Requisition or Req | Purchase Requisition | |
| RTV (return to vendor) | tool to enter a return thereby ensuring that a subsequent refund is credited correctly | |
| Set ID | No current term. E.g. All FAS users share the same subcode list. | A configuration of information to be shared by all users of the system. |
| Submodule | No current term, but systems like PO and on-line cashiering would be the equivalent. | PeopleSoft modules where transactions occur. A/P, A/R, Grants, etc. The transactions from these systems affect the General Ledger via ‘journals’. |
| Supplier | Supplier | |
| Supplier Classification | External/Employee/Student Refunds (Fed from Student Financials) | |
| Supplier Location | A supplier location is not a physical address. It is a default set of rules, or attributes, that define how you do your business with a particular supplier). | |
| Supplier Persistence | One Time/Regular | |
| System Integration Testing (SIT) | testing stage that tests sub-system with each other | |
| User Acceptance Testing (UAT) | Testing stage involving typical end users, follows SIT | |
| VAT (Value Added Taxes) | GST/HST | |
| Voucher | Cheque Req., Payment Request, P.O. Invoice, Manual Cheque, Non P.O. Invoice | |
| Voucher Origin | Identifies a specific entry date for online or batch entry, such as department, division, company or specific user. |