SACS2003ALL Software Readme
The following contains the latest information about the SACS2003ALL software. It is in addition to or supersedes information that may be found in the SACS2003ALL Software User Guide.What's New
Listed below is a summary of the changes made to the Standardized Account Code Structure (SACS) software this year. We try to incorporate changes requested by users wherever possible. You may recognize one of your suggestions being implemented here. Once SACS is fully implemented throughout the state and the J-200 software is discontinued, we will have more time to enhance the SACS software.
Last year, adding the ability to print multiple forms at one time was a huge success. While there are occasional reports of display problems (usually corrected by changing printer drivers or printer settings), printing from the Table of Contents has made printing the SACS forms much more efficient.
This year, the change with the greatest impact will probably be the revision to the Import – Other process. To alleviate problems with Other Designations in the Components of Ending Fund Balance screen when General Ledger data is reimported, upon reimport, if detailed Other Designations exist the software will now automatically recalculate Object 9780.
For additional information on each of the changes, refer to the relevant sections of this user guide and the SACS Software Instruction Manual.
Enhanced Features
Import - Other
- Added a Components of Ending Fund Balance (CEFB) recalculation routine to alleviate problems with Other Designations when General Ledger data is reimported.
- Modified to ignore zero amounts being imported to alleviate receiving fatal account code and combination technical review check errors.
Software User Guide, Instruction Manual, and Financial Reporting Calendars
The SACS2003ALL Software User Guide, the SACS2003ALL Instruction Manual, and the COE and district versions of the Financial Reporting Calendars are included in the SACS2003ALL software build this year. Upon installing the software, these documents will be copied to a new subdirectory within the SACS2003ALL directory: C:\SACS2003ALL\Calendars and Manuals.
Margins
Top and side margins were increased on many of the forms to accommodate binding
Accounting for Accumulated Depreciation
The accumulated depreciation contra-asset accounts (objects 9425, 9435, and 9445) have been redefined as debit accounts rather than credit accounts, and require that their credit balances be reported as negatives. This change will be included in the 2003 edition of the California School Accounting Manual.
As such, all fund and supplemental forms (as well as related technical review checks) that include accumulated depreciation objects 9425, 9435, and 9445 were modified to add the negative amounts rather than subtract positive amounts. This is a reversal of a change that was made last year in the SACS2002 software. In addition, any ending balances reported for these objects in the 2001-02 unaudited actual financial reports as positive amounts have been adjusted to negative amounts in the SACS2003ALL software to enable the technical review checks comparing prior year ending balances to current year beginning balances to work properly.
New Fund Forms
Added two new funds, one for capital projects and one for debt service, to collect expenditure data for capital projects funded by Mello-Roos or similar special districts that are blended component units of LEAs (for districts only)
- Form 49 – Capital Project Fund for Blended Component Units
- Form 52 – Debt Service Fund for Blended Component Units
New Supplemental Forms
Added two new supplemental forms to emulate the newly required GASB 34, note disclosures for capital assets and long-term debt.
- Form ASSET – Schedule of Capital Assets
Replaces supplemental Form 96A - Form DEBT – Schedule of Long-Term Liabilities
Replaces supplemental Form 97A
Deleted Supplemental Forms
- Form 96A – General Fixed Assets Account Group Schedule of Changes
Replaced by new supplemental Form ASSET - Form 97A – General Long-Term Debt Account Group Schedule of Changes
Replaced by new supplemental Form DEBT
Revised Supplemental Forms
- Form A/AI – Average Daily Attendance (ADA)
- Revised the heading for Summer School – Hours of Attendance to Supplemental Instructional Hours, to reflect the broader scope of summer school.
- Form CAT – Schedule for Categoricals
- Deleted Distribution of Per ADA Allocation (Line 2c) from the State Ending Balances and State Deferred Balances worksheets to reflect changes in Section 12.40 of the Budget Act of 2002-03.
- Added a line in the Federal Deferred Revenues worksheet for NCLB Transferability entries.
- Deleted Distribution of Per ADA Allocation (Line 2c) from the State Ending Balances and State Deferred Balances worksheets to reflect changes in Section 12.40 of the Budget Act of 2002-03.
- Form CEA/CEB – Current Expense Formula/Minimum Classroom Compensation
- Updated the resources in Column 4a and Row 12a reductions to include new resources 3718, 4124, 4140, 4141, 6140, 6701, 7021 & 7156.
- Certification Forms (Forms CA/CB/CI)
- Added a line for the contact’s e-mail address.
- Added a line for the contact’s e-mail address.
- Form CA – Summary of Unaudited Actuals Data Submission
- Modified text for forms CEA, DAY, and TRAN for further clarification.
- Form CHG – Change Order Request
- Updated with CDE’s new address.
- Criteria and Standards Forms
- District Only
- Included line 25 of Form A (line 22 of Form AI) in ADA, deficit spending and reserves calculations in the First Tier so charter school ADA from all charter school districts are factored in when determining compliance with C&S reserves, deficit spending, and ADA criteria .
- Included line 25 of Form A (line 22 of Form AI) in ADA, deficit spending and reserves calculations in the First Tier so charter school ADA from all charter school districts are factored in when determining compliance with C&S reserves, deficit spending, and ADA criteria .
- County only
- Deficit Spending and Reserves thresholds were adjusted based on the prior year’s 2% COLA, per the Criteria and Standards Interim only.
- Within the Status of Employee Salary and Benefit Negotiations section, added the “If settled” section, as is in the budget forms.
- Deficit Spending and Reserves thresholds were adjusted based on the prior year’s 2% COLA, per the Criteria and Standards Interim only.
- District Only
- Form ICR – Indirect Cost Rate Worksheet
- Revised to include Goal 9000 as well as Goal 0000 for Data Processing Services.
- Form JUV – Juvenile Court and County Community Schools Account (County only)
- Revised Expenditure section to limit the extraction of data to goals 3500 (County Community Schools) and 3600 (Juvenile Courts), and added new Object 7370, Transfers of Direct Support Costs.
- Form L – Lottery Report
- The Lottery Report was redesigned to provide for transfers from unrestricted lottery Resource 1100 to other resources for expenditure, and to separately display resource 6300 from resource 1100. In addition, checks were built into the form to verify that contributions net to zero, and that the ending balances equal revenues minus expenditures, by resource.
- Form MYP/MYPI – Multiyear Projections
- The calculation to determine if Available Reserves meet the Minimum Recommended Reserves (line F8) was modified to consider the Restricted Ending Fund Balance if negative, the Unrestricted Ending Fund Balance and amounts in Designated for Economic Uncertainties.
- (Districts only) For further clarification, when an Unbalanced condition exists for line A1g in the Unrestricted worksheet, “Unbalanced” will display on line A6 of the Unrestricted/Restricted worksheet in addition to displaying on line A1g of the Unrestricted worksheet.
- The calculation to determine if Available Reserves meet the Minimum Recommended Reserves (line F8) was modified to consider the Restricted Ending Fund Balance if negative, the Unrestricted Ending Fund Balance and amounts in Designated for Economic Uncertainties.
- Form PCR – Program Cost Report
- Added a new “Schedule of Other Costs (OC)” worksheet to display the details of the Other Costs GL data being pulled into Column 5 of Form PCR.
- Form RL/RLI – Revenue Limit Summary
- District Only
- Removed the Charter Schools section (heading and lines 41a and 41b) since the technical review checks were revised to exclude charter schools.
- Removed the Charter Schools section (heading and lines 41a and 41b) since the technical review checks were revised to exclude charter schools.
- County Only
- Preloaded the Ratio of Special Education Property Taxes to Total Property Taxes, (line 32), since it is a constant number.
- District Only
- Form SEA – Special Education Revenue Allocations
- Updated to reflect changes in the 2002-03 P1 SELPA Special Education Funding Exhibit.
- Form SIAA/SIAB – Summary of Interfund Activities - Unaudited Actuals/Budget
- Added new Fund 49, Capital Project Fund for Blended Component Units and new Fund 52, Debt Service Fund for Blended Component Units (District only).
- Added new Object 7380, Transfers of Direct Support Costs – Interfund, to the Direct/Indirect Support columns (SIAB only; will be added to SIAA next year).
- Added new Fund 49, Capital Project Fund for Blended Component Units and new Fund 52, Debt Service Fund for Blended Component Units (District only).
- Form TRAN – Annual Report of Pupil Transportation
- Miscellaneous changes for further clarification, including revisions to Schedule III, line 4, Interprogram/Interfund Transfers section, and adding a warning message upon exiting the form if Days Pupils Transported exceeds what is reasonably expected for a school year.
Revised Fund Forms
- Reinstated printing of the fund reconciliation sections (Assets, Liabilities and Fund Equity) during the Budget Period, in response to numerous LEAs’ requests. Since we couldn't make printing of this section optional, we suggest that those LEAs who do not use it, replace the page(s) with a blank that says, “This page intentionally left blank”.
- Added new object codes to funds (and to applicable supplemental forms):
- Object 7370 – Transfers of Direct Support Costs – Effective FY 2003-04
Added to Funds 01
- Object 7380 - Transfers of Direct Support Costs–Interfund – Eff. FY 2003-04
Added to Funds 01, 03, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 25, 61
- Object 7370 – Transfers of Direct Support Costs – Effective FY 2003-04
- Revised titles of existing object codes:
- 5710 – from Direct Costs for Transfer of Service, to Transfers of Direct Costs
- 5750 – from Direct Costs for Interfund Services, to Transfers of Direct Costs – Interfund
- 7310 – from Direct Support/Indirect Costs Charges, to Transfers of Indirect Costs
- 7350 – from Direct Support/Indirect Costs for Interfund Charges, to Transfers of Indirect Costs – Interfund
- 5710 – from Direct Costs for Transfer of Service, to Transfers of Direct Costs
- Deleted obsolete Debt Service object codes 7631-7639.
- Adjusted resource ranges, as applicable, in the Other Federal Revenues and Other State Revenues sections.
Deleted Fund Forms
- Account Groups are eliminated in the GASB Statement 34 reporting model
- Form 96 – General Fixed Asset Account Group
- Form 97 – General Long-Term Debt Account Group
New Report
- A new selection, Special Education MOE, has been added to the Reports Menu.
- The Special Education Maintenance of Effort report is in progress and will be distributed shortly after the SACS2003ALL software release.
Revised Government-wide Reports
- The government-wide reports section is being revised to reflect:
- New Fund 49, Capital Project Fund for Blended Component Units
- New Fund 52, Debt Service Fund for Blended Component Units
- The change of Debt Service Objects from 7631-7639 to 7431-7439
- Miscellaneous other revisions in response to feedback from users
- New Fund 49, Capital Project Fund for Blended Component Units
- Updated GASB 34 report files will be distributed shortly after the SACS2003ALL software release.
Technical Review Checks
- New Warning Checks
- FUND51-IMPORT – (Districts only) Added for Estimated/Unaudited Actuals data only during the Budget and Unaudited Actuals reporting periods, to check for existence of supplemental Form 51A if Fund 51 data exists.
- RL-CALC-C – (County only) Added during Budget and Unaudited Actuals reporting periods, to verify that revenue limit sources reported in the general ledger equal those reported in Form RL/RLI (same as RL-CALC for districts)
- FUND51-IMPORT – (Districts only) Added for Estimated/Unaudited Actuals data only during the Budget and Unaudited Actuals reporting periods, to check for existence of supplemental Form 51A if Fund 51 data exists.
- New Fatal Checks
- INTERFD-DIR-SUPP – Created to check balancing of new Object 7380 (Transfers of Direct Support Costs – Interfund), during the Budget and Unaudited Actuals reporting periods
- INTERFD-DIR-SUPP-FN – Created to check balancing of new Object 7380 (Transfers of Direct Support Costs – Interfund) by function, during the Budget and Unaudited Actuals reporting periods
- INTRAFD-DIR-SUPP – Created to check balancing of new Object 7370 (Transfers of Direct Support Costs), during the Budget and Unaudited Actuals reporting periods
- INTRAFD-DIR-SUPP-FN – Created to check balancing of new Object 7370 (Transfers of Direct Support Costs) by function, during the Budget and Unaudited Actuals reporting periods
- INTERFD-DIR-SUPP – Created to check balancing of new Object 7380 (Transfers of Direct Support Costs – Interfund), during the Budget and Unaudited Actuals reporting periods
- Warning Checks Changed to Fatal – These checks must now be cleared rather than explained
- CHK-FUNCTIONxOBJECT – Changed from Warning to Fatal for Estimated and Unaudited Actuals data during Budget and Unaudited Actuals reporting periods; now this check is Fatal for all data types and reporting periods
- LOTTERY-CONTRIB – Changed from Warning to Fatal for budget and unaudited actuals reporting periods; remains Warning for Interim periods. Revised to allow transfers out (negative amounts) in Resource 1100 for objects 8980-8999
- CHK-FUNCTIONxOBJECT – Changed from Warning to Fatal for Estimated and Unaudited Actuals data during Budget and Unaudited Actuals reporting periods; now this check is Fatal for all data types and reporting periods
- Revised Checks
- BALANCE-FDxRS, BALANCE-FDxRS-AGENCY, and CEFB=FD-EQUITY - Revised to sum objects 9400-9499. (Last year these checks were changed to subtract accumulated depreciation objects 9425, 9435 and 9445 because the software was changed to require positive numbers for these objects. This year the software was changed back to require negative numbers.)
- CHK-DEPENDENCY – Added text in the EXCEPTION message for further clarification on the order in which to open the forms
- CHK-RESOURCExOBJECT – Revised to check Object 9791 for Actuals to Date and Projected Year Totals data during the Interim periods (all other objects 9700-9799 are excluded from this check for Actuals to Date and Projected Year Totals data during the Interim periods)
- CORR-ADA – Revised to automatically pass for the three county offices of education that get their Adults in Correctional Facilities money as a regular apportionment rather than a separate grant
- DP-OVERDISTRIBUTED – Revised to include Goal 9000 as well as Goal 0000
- GLTD-ACTIVITY – Renamed to LTD-ACTIVITY to reflect change to long-term debt from general long-term debt, and now checks data from the new supplemental Form DEBT instead of deleted Form 97A
- GLTD-IMPORT – Renamed to LTD-IMPORT to reflect change to long-term debt from general long-term debt, and modified to include new funds 49 and 52 (district only), and to only run for the Unaudited Actuals reporting period
- INTERFUND-DIR-COST – Renamed to INTERFD-DIR-COST for consistency with other related checks, and Passed and Exception messages modified to reflect the revised title of Object 5750 (Transfers of Direct Costs – Interfund)
- INTERFD-DIR-SUPP-IND – Renamed to INTERFD-INDIRECT, and Passed and Exception messages modified to differentiate from checks for the new objects (7370 and 7380) created to distinguish transfers of Direct Support Costs from transfers of Indirect Costs
- INTERFN-DIR-SUPP-IND – Renamed to INTERFD-INDIRECT-FN, and Passed and Exception messages modified to differentiate from checks for the new objects (7370 and 7380) created to distinguish transfers of Direct Support Costs from transfers of Indirect Costs
- INTRAFD-DIR-COST – Passed and Exception messages modified to reflect the revised title of Object 5710 (Transfers of Direct Costs)
- INTRAFD-DIR-SUPP – Renamed to INTRAFD-INDIRECT, and Passed and Exception messages modified to differentiate from checks for the new objects (7370 and 7380) created to distinguish transfers of Direct Support Costs from transfers of Indirect Costs
- INTRAFN-DIR-SUPP – Renamed to INTRAFD-INDIRECT-FN, and Passed and Exception messages modified to differentiate from checks for the new objects (7370 and 7380) created to distinguish transfers of Direct Support Costs from transfers of Indirect Costs
- OBJ-POSITIVE – Revised to exclude new Object 7380, Transfers of Direct Support Costs – Interfund, and accumulated depreciation objects 9425, 9435 and 9445, since their normal balance will be negative
- PY-GFA-CY-BGFA – Renamed to PY-ECA=CY-BCA to reflect change to capital assets from fixed assets. It now compares prior year GL data to the new supplemental Form ASSET data (instead of to Form 96A data), and runs for Unaudited Actuals period only
- PY-GLTD-CY-BGLTD – Renamed to PY-ELTD=CY-BLTD to reflect change to long-term debt from general long-term debt. It now compares prior year GL data to the new Form supplemental DEBT data (instead of to Form 97A data), and runs for Unaudited Actuals period only
- REV-POSITIVE – Revised to exclude Contributions (objects 8980-8999)
- RL-CALC – Revised to exclude Charter Schools Entitlement (Object 8015) for Fund 01 instead of adding it in for Fund 09, and also to work for both Basic Aid and non-Basic Aid districts
- TRAN-OTHER-MILES – Added text in the EXCEPTION message for further clarification
- BALANCE-FDxRS, BALANCE-FDxRS-AGENCY, and CEFB=FD-EQUITY - Revised to sum objects 9400-9499. (Last year these checks were changed to subtract accumulated depreciation objects 9425, 9435 and 9445 because the software was changed to require positive numbers for these objects. This year the software was changed back to require negative numbers.)
- Deleted Checks
- BALANCE-FDxRS-GRP96 – No longer needed since Account Group 96 no longer exists
- BALANCE-FDxRS-GRP97 – No longer needed since Account Group 97 no longer exists
- GLTDAG-POSITIVE – No longer needed since Account Group 97 no longer exists
- RL-CALC-BASIC-AID – No longer needed since RL-CALC was modified to check Basic Aid as well as non-Basic Aid districts
- BALANCE-FDxRS-GRP96 – No longer needed since Account Group 96 no longer exists
KNOWN ISSUES:
Symptom
Installation of the software may take up to 15 minutes, several times during which the user may be prompted to reboot the machine.
Probable Cause
To install the SACS software, the user's PC must have ODBC, MDAC, and DCOM. If the user's PC does not already have these components, the SACS software installation program must first install each component,
then reboot after each component is installed, before the SACS software installation can proceed.
Resolution
Once the three components are installed on the user's PC, they will not need to be installed again (even if the SACS software is uninstalled).
Workaround
If prompted, please reboot the PC.
Symptom
Run-time error 429 when trying to open the software.
Probable Cause
MDAC application did not get installed.
Resolution
Close all applications. Download the mdac_typ.exe file from our website http://www.cde.ca.gov/fiscal/software/sacsprobs2003.htm. Once downloaded, double-click on the mdac_typ.exe file. When the MDAC setup is complete (be sure to read the prompts thoroughly) the software should open properly.
Symptom
TRC text window - width of text exceeds window size.
Probable Cause
Text formatting set to match printer settings.
Resolution
Horizontal Scroll Bar added so that window can be viewed.
Workaround
Set screen resolution to 800x600 or higher for best viewing.
Symptom
GPF error or system runs very slowly.
Probable Cause
The computer runs out of physical/virtual memory.
Resolution
Under investigation.
Workaround
Avoid opening too many windows concurrently. If the error is received, shut down the application and reboot the machine.