The standard
California Agency Chart of Accounts
A free, open chart of accounts for California cities, counties, special districts, and joint powers authorities. Every posting code already has a line on each State Controller report those agencies file, so the reports come from the ledger instead of from a new mapping every year.
Release 2027.03 (draft for review)
Prepared September 29, 2026. 181 object codes and every crosswalk rule are marked proposed while the release is reviewed. Codes published in 2026.10 keep their meaning. What changed
- Funds
- 159
- Objects
- 527
- Functions
- 208
- FTR lines covered
- 1,505
Crosswalk check: 726,650 code, fund type, and function combinations tested; 0 gaps; 0 conflicts. Coverage report
9
State Controller reports produced from one ledger
95%+
of the dollars agencies filed statewide, on every report, reachable from CACOA codes
3 of 3
sample agencies whose whole published ledger found a place in the chart
Tools
Report finder
Pick a report, fund, object, and function and see exactly which line and field they report on.
Mapping workbench
Paste a trial balance, map it once, and watch the FTR lines fill in. Runs in your browser.
Valid combinations
Which codes can be used together, SACS style, with lists ready to load into your system.
Downloads
Excel and CSV files, the crosswalk workbook, and mapping rules for reporting software.
Adopt it
Adopting the CACOA
Why adopt it, the three paths, and a plan that fits inside one fiscal year.
Adding your own codes
Reserved ranges for local detail, and the rule that keeps every report line right.
Sample changeovers
Three agencies' published ledgers, mapped and compared with what they filed.
How it is tested
Every test each release must pass, with the results, pass or fail.
Reference
Manual
How the chart works and how it lines up with the Cities FTR, chapter by chapter.
Objects
Assets, liabilities, revenues, expenditures, and other financing, with descriptions and FTR placement.
Funds
Fund blocks by category, from the general fund to the government-wide conversion ledger.
Functions
The purpose of spending, organized the way the FTR expenditure forms are.
Departments
Organizational blocks with a default function for each department.
Cities FTR crosswalk
Every form and line of the Cities FTR and the CACOA codes that feed it.
State Controller reports
Counties, special districts, transit, street and road reports, and who files which.
The account string
Four codes, each answering one question: FUND-DEPT-FUNC-OBJECT, for example 100-30-2100-4000 for regular salaries in the police department of the general fund.
| Object range | Class |
|---|---|
| 1000-1899 | Assets |
| 1900-1999 | Deferred Outflows of Resources |
| 2000-2799 | Liabilities |
| 2800-2899 | Deferred Inflows of Resources |
| 2900-2999 | Fund Balance / Net Position |
| 3000-3999 | Revenues |
| 4000-4999 | Payroll & Benefits |
| 5000-5999 | Materials & Services |
| 6000-6999 | Capital Outlay |
| 7000-7999 | Debt Service |
| 8000-8999 | Other Financing Sources/Uses |
| 9000-9999 | Control/Non-Posting |
Fund blocks
Three-digit funds grouped by category. The category decides which report form and column a fund reports on.
| Funds | Block |
|---|---|
| 100-299 | Governmental Operating / Special Revenue |
| 300-399 | Governmental Capital Projects |
| 400-499 | Governmental Debt Service / Financing |
| 500-699 | Enterprise / Business-Type Activities |
| 700-799 | Internal Service Funds |
| 800-899 | Fiduciary / Trust / Custodial |
| 900-999 | Reserved / Future Use |