NCCS | Unified Chart of Accounts

UCOA, the Unified Chart of Accounts for nonprofit organizations, is a chart of accounts freely available on this site to any nonprofit organization, accountant, or consultant. The system is designed so that nonprofits can can quickly and reliably translate their financial statements into the categories required by the IRS Form 990, the federal Office of Management and Budget, and into other standard reporting formats. UCOA also seeks to promote uniform accounting practices throughout the nonprofit sector.

The UCOA is sponsored by a number of major nonprofit support organizations in addition to NCCS:

The California Association of Nonprofits (CAN)
CompassPoint Nonprofit Services
The California Society of CPAs

The UCOA was featured in a recent article in the Nonprofit Quarterly.

In June 2007, the IRS proposed major revisions to the Form 990. There are few changes, however, to the basic financial line items in IRS' draft Form 990, but the line numbers have been changed. As soon as IRS finalizes the new 990, we will be updating UCOA. We will be keeping the same UCOA accounts and account numbers, splitting accounts where necessary to accommodate additional detail in the new 990. And, we will be changing the line-item numbers for the cross-reference to the 990. We will not be issuing a revised UCOA until IRS issues their final revise 990 for 2008, but you can use the existing UCOA accounts and account numbers for now and plan to make minor adjustments for split accounts when we issue an update.

Complete information on UCOA, as well as a printed copy of the chart, is available in a new book from Jossey-Bass: Unified Financial Reporting System for Not-for-Profit Organizations: A Comprehensive Guide to Unifying GAAP, IRS Form 990 And Other Financial Reports Using a Unified Chart of Accounts

UCOA QuickBooks Files

These files provide you with a template for implementing the UCOA in QuickBooks. The file with the .MAC.qbmd file extension is for MacIntosh versions of QuickBooks.

File: UCOA 3.QBB
File: UCOA 3.IIF
File: UCOA 3.MAC.qbmd

UCOA Toolkit

A zipped file containing the QuickBooks chart of accounts files and Excel spreadsheets for working with UCOA.

File: UCOA version 3 .zip

UCOA User Agreement

Please read this two-page agreement before you implement the UCOA.

File: UCOA PUBLIC LICENSE v. 1.1.pdf

UCOA ver.3 Keyword Lookup Spreadsheet

This file lists common account names and their UCOA account numbers -- useful if you are in the process of converting your accounts to the UCOA.

File: UCOA version 3 Content-Key word list.xls

UCOA ver.3 spreadsheet

This spreadsheet lists all of the UCOA accounts and their relationships to the IRS Form 990, OMB A-122 cost principles, and United Way of America reporting requirements.

File: UCOA-version 3.xls



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Home About NCCS Find an Organization US Nonprofit Sector Overview Data Analysis Tools Download Data Classification NCCS Projects Electronic Filing Project Nonprofit Fundraising & Administrative Costs State Charity Officials Unified Chart of Accounts Register External Resources FAQ		NCCS > Projects > Unified Chart of Accounts Unified Chart of Accounts UCOA, the Unified Chart of Accounts for nonprofit organizations, is a chart of accounts freely available on this site to any nonprofit organization, accountant, or consultant. The system is designed so that nonprofits can can quickly and reliably translate their financial statements into the categories required by the IRS Form 990, the federal Office of Management and Budget, and into other standard reporting formats. UCOA also seeks to promote uniform accounting practices throughout the nonprofit sector. The UCOA is sponsored by a number of major nonprofit support organizations in addition to NCCS: The California Association of Nonprofits (CAN) CompassPoint Nonprofit Services The California Society of CPAs The UCOA was featured in a recent article in the Nonprofit Quarterly. In June 2007, the IRS proposed major revisions to the Form 990. There are few changes, however, to the basic financial line items in IRS' draft Form 990, but the line numbers have been changed. As soon as IRS finalizes the new 990, we will be updating UCOA. We will be keeping the same UCOA accounts and account numbers, splitting accounts where necessary to accommodate additional detail in the new 990. And, we will be changing the line-item numbers for the cross-reference to the 990. We will not be issuing a revised UCOA until IRS issues their final revise 990 for 2008, but you can use the existing UCOA accounts and account numbers for now and plan to make minor adjustments for split accounts when we issue an update. Complete information on UCOA, as well as a printed copy of the chart, is available in a new book from Jossey-Bass: Unified Financial Reporting System for Not-for-Profit Organizations: A Comprehensive Guide to Unifying GAAP, IRS Form 990 And Other Financial Reports Using a Unified Chart of Accounts GET UCOA FILES: UCOA QuickBooks Files UCOA Toolkit UCOA User Agreement UCOA ver.3 Keyword Lookup Spreadsheet UCOA ver.3 spreadsheet UCOA QuickBooks Files These files provide you with a template for implementing the UCOA in QuickBooks. The file with the .MAC.qbmd file extension is for MacIntosh versions of QuickBooks. File: UCOA 3.QBB File: UCOA 3.IIF File: UCOA 3.MAC.qbmd UCOA Toolkit A zipped file containing the QuickBooks chart of accounts files and Excel spreadsheets for working with UCOA. File: UCOA version 3 .zip UCOA User Agreement Please read this two-page agreement before you implement the UCOA. File: UCOA PUBLIC LICENSE v. 1.1.pdf UCOA ver.3 Keyword Lookup Spreadsheet This file lists common account names and their UCOA account numbers -- useful if you are in the process of converting your accounts to the UCOA. File: UCOA version 3 Content-Key word list.xls UCOA ver.3 spreadsheet This spreadsheet lists all of the UCOA accounts and their relationships to the IRS Form 990, OMB A-122 cost principles, and United Way of America reporting requirements. File: UCOA-version 3.xls Back to Top


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