Guidance

Academies chart of accounts and automating the accounts return

Financial data structure and guide for automating academy trust financial returns.

From:
Department for Education
Published
14 May 2019
Last updated
13 June 2025 鈥� See all updates

Applies to England

Documents

Guide to adopting the academies chart of accounts

HTML

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 443 KB

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 5.44 MB

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 589 KB

Detailed user guide for automating the academies accounts return and draft financial statements

HTML

Quick automation guide

HTML

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 317 KB

Details

This guidance is for academy trusts.

皇冠体育app academies chart of accounts is the Department for Education鈥檚 (DfE) standard for financial data that underpins the academies聽accounts return聽and budget forecast return.聽

皇冠体育app 鈥榞uide to adopting the academies chart of accounts鈥� explains how to use the academies chart of accounts.

皇冠体育app 鈥榓cademies chart of accounts鈥� spreadsheets provide the account codes and show how they map to DfE鈥檚 financial returns.

皇冠体育app 鈥榓ccount codes guidance鈥� shows what should be included in the account codes.

You can use automated technology to submit trial balance data from the academies chart of accounts directly to DfE. We will then use it to pre-populate:

  • a large percentage of your accounts return
  • draft financial statements
  • one third of the budget forecast return

皇冠体育app 鈥榙etailed user guide鈥� and 鈥榪uick automation guide鈥� explain how this works and how to do it.

You can use the 鈥榙raft trust financial statement template鈥� to populate the document manually.

Webinars, workshops and Q&A sessions

We host webinars and dial-in sessions on Eventbrite. You can view planned sessions and book your space at聽.

Further enquiries

Academies聽chart of accounts or automation

For queries about the academies聽chart of accounts or automation, contact us via the聽. Put either 鈥楢cademies chart of accounts鈥� or 鈥楢utomation/API鈥� at the top of your enquiry, as appropriate.

Financial management software provider

For queries about financial management software providers, contact us via our聽.

Updates to this page

Published 14 May 2019
Last updated 13 June 2025 show all updates

  1. Added 'Academies chart of accounts 2025 to 2026' and 'Academies chart of accounts: account code guidance 2025 to 2026'. Removed 'Academies chart of accounts 2023 to 2024' and 'Academies chart of accounts: account code guidance 2024 to 2025'. Updated 'Guide to adopting the academies chart of accounts'.

  2. Updated to reflect that the academies accounts return (AR) 2023 to 2024 submission deadline has now passed. Also updated 'Academies chart of accounts: account code guidance 2024 to 2025'.

  3. Added 'Quick guide to automation added' and 'Academies chart of accounts 2023 to 2024 v6.4.0'. Updated 'Detailed user guide for sending automated data the the accounts return and draft financial statements' and 'Draft trust financial statements template for 2023 to 2024'.

  4. Within the 'Academies chart of accounts and automating the accounts return' homepage, the webinars, workshops and Q & A sessions section has been updated with an Eventbrite link and a list of the sessions we hold.

  5. Details for the new Core Schools Budget Grant added to the 'Academies chart of accounts 2024 to 2025' and 'Academies chart of accounts: account code guidance 2024 to 2025'. We've added new dates for webinar, workshops, and Q&A sessions. We've included a link to a new FMS provider helpdesk.

  6. Added 'Academies chart of accounts 2024/25' and 'Academies chart of accounts: account code guidance 2024/25'. Removed 'Academies chart of accounts 2022/23' and 'Academies chart of accounts: account code guidance 2023/24'. Updated sections 4.2.10 and 4.2.11 of 'Guide to adopting the academies chart of accounts'. New dates added for Technical Update webinar sessions and Mapping Review workshops. Automation availability updated in 'User guide for automating the academies accounts return and draft financial statements'.

  7. Academies chart of accounts 2023 to 2024 has been updated to version 6.3.0 to show the latest mappings to the budget forecast return (BFR) 2024.

  8. Additional sessions have been added to 'Webinar: Introduction to the academies chart of accounts and automation' and 'Workshop: Academies chart of accounts mapping review'.

  9. Added content on income from insurance claims to 'Guide to adopting the academies chart of accounts'.

  10. Dial in and webinar dates have been updated.

  11. We've updated the section about latest webinars. We have also updated the automation guidance for the for FMS provider status, and the CoA 2022-23 version has been updated to include the most up to date mappings to the Department for Educations financial returns.

  12. New dates added to the 'Webinars, workshops and Q&A sessions' section. Academies chart of accounts 2023/24 updated in amended BFR mapping column Account code guidance 2023/24 added to.

  13. Updated 'User guide for automating the academies accounts return and draft financial statements' New workbook added: 'Draft financial statements 2022/23

  14. An updated version has been added for 2023/24 'Account code guidance: acadamies chart of accounts' Updates have been made to the 'Guide to adopting the academies chart of accounts'

  15. Updates to webinar dates and recording of Academies CoA technical update webinar added.

  16. Updated academies chart of accounts 2023-24 file: updated mapping to the BFR fields, see rows 208 to 223 on the change control tab for details.

  17. Chart of Accounts 2023/24 file updated. 皇冠体育app 'Change control' tab updated as missing four new accounts codes included within the 'Structures and mappings' tab.

  18. - Academies chart of accounts 2023/24 added - Academies chart of accounts 2021/22 removed - Guide to adopting the academies chart of accounts, section 4 'Updates', updated to document changes between CoA versions for 2022/23 and 2023/24 - New dates for webinars and dial in sessions

  19. We've added new webinar dates.

  20. We have: updated the dial-in sessions and webinar dates; published an updated version of the 'Draft trust financial statements' template; updated videos to add reference to 2021/22 AR form; updated the 'Guide to academies chart of accounts' section 3.10.5 to correct error '16 to 19 Bursary Fund'; updated guidance on section 5.5 'Calculated fields - opening balances' in the 'User guide for automation'; and updated guidance on section 5.6 'Calculated fields - funds' in the 'User guide for automation'.

  21. October and November webinar dates cancelled.

  22. Link to the live accounts return form has been added to the landing page.

  23. Updates include - updated 'Use guide for automation of the accounts return and draft financial statements; - updated 'Academies account code guidance'

  24. We have added webinar dates for academies chart of accounts and automation introductory presentations.

  25. We have updated this page with an Excel template that uses a trust鈥檚 automated data to produce draft financial statements. We have also added to the change control sheet on the 'Academies chart of accounts 22-23' file to delete one account code.

  26. We have updated this page with the updated academies chart of accounts (CoA) for 2022/23 and guide.

  27. We have updated this page with information about monthly dial-in sessions to ask questions about the DfE chart of accounts and automation.

  28. We have updated the guide to adopting the academies chart of accounts with new sections covering the chart of accounts structure and recharges, and an update to the guidance about Salix loans.

  29. We have updated this page with additional guidance for downloading automated draft financial statements. This is included within the 'Quick start guide to automating the academies accounts return and financial statements'.

  30. We have updated the "Quick start guide to automation" and the "Guide to automating the academies accounts return" for the 2020/21 accounts return. We have also updated the "Guide to adopting the academies chart of accounts" to explain the accounting treatment for COVID-19 funding in the 2020/21 accounts return.

  31. We have updated the academies chart of accounts for financial year September 2021 to August 2022.

  32. We have updated this page adding a new information video about automating the academies accounts return.

  33. Sections 3.4 and 3.5 of the chart of accounts guidance has been expanded to include new guidance to help trusts with specific issues raised.

  34. We have updated this page to add the guide to automation for academies accounts return for 2019/20.

  35. We have updated the academies chart of accounts for the academic year 2020/21.

  36. First published.

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