From Discovery to Design: How We're Building the Future Chart of Accounts (COA)

Over the past several months, we've been listening. Through focus groups and discussions with stakeholders from across the University, we've gained valuable insight into how financial information supports budgeting, reporting, research administration, human resources, payroll, procurement, compliance, and decision-making.

As we move from discovery into design, we're building on what we heard to create a redesigned COA that supports the University's current needs while providing a strong foundation for Oracle Cloud and future growth.

One University, Many Requirements

One of the consistent messages we've heard is that every area of the University has important financial information needs. Colleges, research administration, Finance, Human Resources, regional campuses, auxiliaries, and administrative units all use financial information in different ways to support their unique missions and operations.

Our goal is to bring these perspectives together in a structure that recognizes the diverse ways the University operates while creating consistency where it benefits the institution as a whole. The result is a framework that enables better reporting while remaining intuitive, sustainable, and easier to manage over time.

The Principles Guiding Our Decisions

As we move into the next phase, decisions will be guided by a common set of principles to help us evaluate options consistently and transparently.

• Simple & Intuitive: Where possible, design the chart to reduce complexity by simplifying data entry, increasing automation, and making everyday financial tasks easier. People should be able to focus on the purpose of a transaction, not on figuring out every code to use.
• Standardized & Governed: Establish clear ownership, definitions, and governance processes that support consistent use, transparency, and the long-term sustainability of the chart. This ensures everyone across the University is speaking the same financial language, with agreed-upon definitions and a process for keeping them consistent.
• Single Source of Truth: Establish consistent definitions and reporting approaches so financial information can be understood and trusted across the University. Different people may run different reports, but they should be working from the same trusted data and shared definitions, ensuring financial information is consistent, reliable, and comparable across the University.
• Balanced Design: Ensure each element of the chart serves a clear purpose while using the right tools and systems to capture and report information effectively. Just as you wouldn’t use a single folder in OneDrive to organize every type of document, the Chart of Accounts shouldn't be expected to store every piece of information.
• Scalable & Flexible: The chart should support future growth, evolving university needs, and organizational change without requiring structural redesign. The chart should grow with the University, whether that's new academic programs, research initiatives, or organizational changes, without needing to be redesigned.

Oracle Cloud Best Practice

While the future Chart of Accounts will build on concepts familiar to today’s users, it will evolve to take advantage of Oracle Cloud capabilities and best practices. This means some parts of the structure may look different than they do today, with those changes intended to create a more flexible, sustainable, and effective framework for managing financial information.

What This Means for Stakeholders

Stakeholder input continues to be a foundational part of the Chart of Accounts redesign. Every conversation, focus group, and suggestion has helped us better understand how financial information is used across the University.

As we evaluate design options, some ideas may evolve to better support broader institutional needs and long-term sustainability. Your feedback continues to shape our understanding of business needs and the principles guiding the design. As the work progresses, we'll continue sharing updates and opportunities to learn how the evolving Chart of Accounts supports the University's needs.

What's Next?

As the design team continues this work, we're evaluating options with the needs of the entire University in mind, working toward a chart that supports diverse needs while providing a consistent and sustainable foundation for long-term success.

Thank you again to everyone who has contributed to the project so far. Your engagement, excitement, and passion are helping us build a chart that will support the University's evolving needs.

In our next update, we’ll take a closer look at why the COA is much more than a list of codes. We’ll explore how it serves as a framework for organizing financial information, supporting University operations, and enabling meaningful reporting.

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