Resources: 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 expenditures. The PFOO account structure is used by a small number of users across campus to record asset, liability, or revenue and fund transfers. Both account structures are represented on Oracle financial reports used across campus.

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PTAEO Account Segments and Definition


Use the PTAEO account structure when:

  • Recording expenditures (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, Expense Requests, PCard, iJournals and Labor Distribution). The expenditure 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 (by having tasks in multiple orgs)
    • 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, a Principal Owner, and a Manager.
  • Additional Resources:

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).
  • All Tasks are assigned a Task-Owning Organization, a Principal Owner, and a Manager (which may not be the same as the Project assignments).
  • Budgets are set at the Task level.
  • Additional Resources:

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.
  • Award in PTAEO is equivalent to the Fund in the PFOO account structure.
  • 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 a Award-Owning Organization, a Principal Owner, and a Manager (which may not be the same as the Project or Task assignments).
  • Certain Awards require and have a customer (sponsor), billing status, and burden schedule [fringe benefit, facilities and administration (indirect) cost, infrastructure, etc.].
  • Additional Resources:

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

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 the University Administration Organizational 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 owning organization / department will be identified based on the attributes defined at the Project, Task, or Award segment level. See How To: Request New PTA.
  • 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 revenue)
  • Initiating fund transfers in iJournals
  • Recording assets, liability, or revenue transactions
  • Running and reviewing fund statements & reports

PFOO is the acronym for the account segments used to classify financial transactions and balances (i.e. assets, liabilities, fund balances, revenue, and expenses) 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 (by having tasks in multiple orgs)
    • 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, a Principal Owner, and a Manager.
  • Additional Resources:

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.
  • Additional Resources:
    • Fund Title Query (Launch Oracle and open SU Inquiry Tools folder)

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, fund balances, revenue, and expenses.
  • For example, the 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:

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 University Administration Organizational 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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