Dear County and District Chief Business Officials and Charter School Administrators:

2023–24 Unaudited Actual Financial Reporting

The 2023–24 unaudited actual financial reports, including both the Standardized Account Code Structure (SACS) reporting and the Charter School Unaudited Actuals Financial Report—Alternative Form (Charter School Alternative Form), are now available in the California Department of Education (CDE) SACS Web-based Financial Reporting System at https://sacs-cde.org/security/login.

SACS WEB SYSTEM

For a detailed description of the changes implemented for the 2023–24 unaudited actuals reporting, please refer to the following documents posted on the CDE Financial Reporting web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/sf/fr/, under “Web Application Resources:”

• What's New: 2023–24 Unaudited Actuals Reporting
• What’s New: 2023–24 Charter School Alternative Form

California School Accounting Manual

Information and guidance on using SACS codes is available in the California School Accounting Manual (CSAM). The CSAM is available to be viewed, printed, or downloaded from the CDE Accounting Definitions, Instructions, & Procedures web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/ac/sa/. In addition, descriptions and other relevant information on new resource codes added since the last CSAM update can be obtained from the CDE SACS web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/ac/ac/ under “Program Codes.”

Preloaded Data

Prior year ending balances from 2022–23 unaudited actual data (including funds, assets, debt, and lottery), Gann data, Every Student Succeeds Act Maintenance of Effort data, and first and second prior year indirect cost rate information have been preloaded into the SACS Web System.

Validation Tables

The 2023–24 unaudited actuals release of the SACS Web System contains the most current validation tables, dated June 4, 2024, which are the same as those posted on the CDE SACS Valid Codes and Combinations web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/ac/ac/validcodes.asp.

Charter School Beginning Balances

The prior year ending fund balances from the Charter School Alternative Form have been cross walked to the equivalent SACS fund and object codes and included with the prior year ending fund balances from the SACS submissions, to ensure consistency of the data by ascertaining that current year beginning balances match prior year ending balances. This only affects charter schools that reported 2022–23 unaudited actuals in the Charter School Alternative Form and that are preparing a 2023–24 unaudited actual data using the SACS format.

User Guide and Reporting Calendars

The SACS Web System User Guide 2024.2 is available on the Financial Reporting web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/sf/fr/, under “Web Application Resources.” The user guide is also accessible in the SACS Web System by selecting the help icon (question mark) located next to a screen heading within most forms and processes.

A link to the financial reporting calendars is also available on the Financial Reporting web page under “Financial Reporting Resources” at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/sf/fr/#financialreportingresources.

Known Issues and Workarounds

The CDE will communicate known system issues and their fixes or workarounds, if applicable, in the SACS Web System Problems and Fixes announcements section.

CHARTER SCHOOL REPORTING

Pursuant to Education Code Section 42100, each charter school must prepare an annual statement of all receipts and expenditures for the preceding fiscal year. For those charter schools not using SACS, the 2023–24 Charter School Unaudited Actuals Financial Report—Alternative Form is available in the SACS Web System. The related Charter School Alternative Form User Guide is available on the Financial Reporting web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/sf/fr/ under "Web Application Resources." The user guide is also accessible in the SACS Web System. For information about using the Charter School Alternative Form, please refer to the user guide.

Charter School Financial Reporting Status Form

Each County Office of Education (COE) will complete the "Charter School Financial Reporting Status" form and submit the form to the CDE by September 15, 2024. This form will be transmitted by each COE to the CDE through the SACS Web System. The CDE will provide additional information and instructions regarding completing the form once it is available in the system.

The form is used to identify whether the charter school 2023–24 unaudited actual financial information is being reported: (1) within the authorizing agency’s unaudited actual SACS submission; (2) as a separate SACS submission; or (3) in the Charter School Alternative Form. Please be sure that the reporting status form addresses the status of each charter school’s 2023–24 unaudited actual data, not the 2024–25 budget data.

SUBMISSION OF FINANCIAL DATA TO THE CDE

Pursuant to Education Code sections 1628 and 42100, unaudited actual data for COEs, school districts, joint powers agencies (JPAs), and charter schools is due to the CDE by October 15, 2024. School district and JPA data must be submitted via the COE; charter school data must be submitted via the charter authorizing agency and the COE. The financial data is due to COEs and authorizing agencies (for charter schools) by September 15, 2024.

Submission via the SACS Web System

COEs must electronically certify and transmit their county's 2023–24 unaudited actual SACS and Charter School Alternative Form submissions to the CDE via the SACS Web System.

COEs will complete the "Request for Unaudited Actuals Promoter Role" form through the SACS Web System. The CDE will provide additional information and instructions regarding completing the form once it is available in the system.

Official Submission Status

Only "Official" status unaudited actual SACS and Charter School Alternative Form submissions are accepted by the CDE unless prior approval is granted. For additional information and instructions, contact unauditedactuals@cde.ca.gov.

Please distribute this information to the appropriate staff within your agency. If you need assistance with the SACS Web System, please email sacsweb@cde.ca.gov. Accounting questions should be emailed to sacsinfo@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

/s/

Masha Lutsuk, Administrator
Financial Accountability and Information Services Office

ML:ka
2024-2101