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Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQs page continues to grow and develop. If you have a suggestion for something to include, please email [email protected]


The Chart of Accounts, or COA, is a system of tracking every financial transaction that occurs at the College. Our Banner system currently catalogs these transactions using an alpha-numeric sequence called a FOAPAL, which can then be used to deliver streamline financial reports.

There are 3 main types of accounts:

  • Asset accounts record any resources your company owns that provide value to your company. They can be physical assets like land, equipment and cash, or intangible things like patents, trademarks and software.

  • Liability accounts are a record of all the debts your company owes. Liability accounts usually have the word “payable” in their name—accounts payable, wages payable, invoices payable. “Unearned revenues” are another kind of liability account—usually cash payments that your company has received before services are delivered.

  • Equity accounts are a little more abstract. They represent what’s left of the business after you subtract all your company’s liabilities from its assets. They basically measure how valuable the company is to its owner or shareholders.