Minimum Required Elements for General Ledgers and Payroll Journals

If your organization is selected for a subrecipient monitoring review, Federal Fiscal Monitoring Division (FFM) staff will require you to submit financial records including general ledgers and payroll journals maintained by your organization. FFM staff will not accept these documents unless they follow certain guidelines, which may vary according to your type of organization.

For School Districts, Education Service Centers, and Open-Enrollment Charter Schools general ledgers and payroll journals must confirm to the rules given below. 

General Ledgers

All general ledgers submitted for review should be organized in a tabular format and contain, at a minimum, the following required elements: 

• Complete account code with a minimum of 15 digits, beginning with a three-digit fund code to comply with Financial Accountability System Resource Guide (FASRAG) and any other applicable FASRAG special supplements or modules
• Predetermined set of cost categories and commodity codes used for the purpose of calculating aggregate costs
• Transaction date
• Transaction reference number (check number or purchase order number)
• Transaction description
• Vendor Name
• Budgeted amount
• Obligated/Encumbered amount
• Expenditure amount

Payroll Journals

All payroll journals submitted for review should be organized in a tabular format and contain, at a minimum, the following required elements: 

• Complete account code with a minimum of 15 digits, beginning with a three-digit fund code
• Employee first and last name, and identification number
• Gross salary and other income, deductions, and net earnings
• Pay period, check date, and check number
• All fund codes to which the payroll costs were charged

Note: if an employee is paid from multiple funding sources i.e. state and federal, provide payroll records that includes payroll costs charged to each contributing funding source. 

For further guidance, please review the examples of the detailed general ledger and payroll journal below which demonstrate acceptable formatting and informational content:

• Sample General Ledger (TEA is providing this sample solely to demonstrate the use of the required account code structure. You should not interpret the items included as actual allowable costs under a federal grant.)

• Sample Payroll Journal (TEA is providing these samples solely to demonstrate the use of the required account code structure. You should not interpret the items included as actual allowable costs under a federal grant.)