What is it?
FOAPAL is the backbone of Banner Finance, the financial management system at Carleton. FOAPAL is the accounting string used to denote where a revenue or expense item is to be transacted in the chart of accounts or general ledger. FOAPAL stands for Fund, Org(anization), Account, Program, Activity and Location.
Why is this important?
Every financial transaction needs to have the appropriate FOAPAL elements. It is important to properly categorize the financial activity on the general ledger to generate financial statements that
- are meaningful to the University’s stakeholders,
- provide useful information to departmental, Fund and project managers, and
- support assessment of the University’s strategic goals.
Where do I find more information?
- Visit Banner Finance for further information on FOAPALs.