January 22, 2019
Sent by electronic mail

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

2019 Edition of the California School Accounting Manual

We are pleased to announce the release of the 2019 edition of the California School Accounting Manual (CSAM), which was approved by the State Board of Education on January 9, 2019. California Education Code Section 41010 requires that school districts use systems to record their financial affairs that comply with the definitions, instructions, and procedures published in this manual.

Summary of Changes

In addition to routine updates to account codes and clarifications to existing guidance, key revisions contained in CSAM 2019 include:

• Web content accessibility standards. The entire manual was reformatted to comply with the applicable standards.
• Recent accounting pronouncements, primarily Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement75.
• Changes to federal and state program requirements, primarily the Every Student Succeeds Act, which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and replaced the prior version of ESEA, the No Child Left Behind Act.

A complete summary of all changes is attached.

Obtaining CSAM

CSAM 2019 is available to be viewed, printed, or downloaded from the California Department of Education’s Accounting Definitions, Instructions, & Procedures web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/ac/sa/.

Should you have any questions or need assistance with the information contained in CSAM, please contact the Office of Financial Accountability and Information Services by phone at 916-322‑1770 or by email at sacsinfo@cde.ca.gov.

Caryn Moore, Director
School Fiscal Services Division

CM:cd
Attachment 22-Jan-2019
2019-1201