Accounting operations touch every aspect of the University's activity. In addition to general ledger ownership, our accounting teams and resources provide guidance for financial procedures, reports, and transfers; residential lease accounting and billing; and buildings, equipment, and furniture.
Common Tasks
More Tasks
Getting Started
Get started with common accounting procedures and reports, and Columbia's financial systems.
Closing Procedures
- Learn About the Closing Process
- View Current Month Closing Dates
- View FY2025 Closing Dates
- Closing the Fiscal Year
- Clean Up Pending General Ledger Transactions
Systems
Chart of Accounts
Learn how we have organized our financial information in the Chart of Accounts of the Accounting and Reporting at Columbia (ARC) system.
Journal Entries and Internal Transfers
Use journal entries to track a wide range of transactions, and to assign costs and revenues to appropriate accounts.
- Fix Errors (job aid)
Journal Entries
- Getting Started with Journal Entries
- Create a General Journal Entry
- Process a General or Internal Transfer Journal Entry
- Copy or Delete General Journals or Internal Transfers (job aid)
- Use the Journal Import Tool (job aid)
Internal Transfers
Reporting
Learn about the use and types of reports that are used to access, analyze, and monitor financial data.
- Getting Started with Reporting
- Find Reports for Revenues and Expenses
- Find Fiscal Year Financial Reports (job aid)
- Find Project Lifecycle Financial Reports (job aid)
- Find Financial Data Store (FDS) Reports (job aid)
- Find Commonly Used FDS Reports
- Find Fund Balances
- Learn about Bank Account Reconciliations
- View Your Account Information with a Project Reporting Jump Page (job aid)
Capital Assets, Buildings, and Equipment
Learn about capital assets, buildings, and equipment owned by Columbia or for which the University is accountable.
Equipment
Real Estate Billing and Accounting
Learn about our monthly billing, collection, and maintenance of tenant rent accounts, as well as security deposit processing and maintenance, for Columbia's residential units.
Petty Cash
Use petty cash for payment or reimbursement of small-dollar transactions when other payment options are not feasible (i.e., Columbia University P-Cards).
- Getting Started with Petty Cash
- Become a Custodian (Petty Cash Training and Custodian Knowledge Assessment)
- Manage Funds for Human Subject Research
- Annual Fund Certification
Petty Cash Lifecycle
Endowment and Gifts Administration and Compliance
Find everything you need to administer endowments and gifts and maintain compliance.
- Getting Started with Endowments and Gifts
- Spending and Substantiating the Appropriate Use of a Fund
- Find Key Policies and Guidelines
- Take the Required Endowment and Gift Administration and Compliance Training (instructor-led)
Administer Endowments and Gifts
- Request a New Endowment or Gift Project or Amend the Terms or Attributes
- Decapitalize an Endowment
- Request an Endowment Reinvestment
- Establish or Revise a Trustee-Approved Professorship
Term Sheets
- Learn About Term Sheets
- Look Up Term Sheets (website)