What is a FOAPAL?

Q:  What is a FOAPAL?

A:  A FOAPAL is chart code associated with an account.  It tells accounting which account to move money to or from.  The FOAPAL is the account numbers you will need to use for purchases and reimbursements.  Technical information about FOAPALs may be found here.

The basic parts of a FOAPAL are as follows:

 
FUND: Source of Funding.  5 digit code, numbers only (always required).
ORGANIZATION: Unit of budgetary responsibility.  6 digit code, numbers only (always required).
ACCOUNT: Type of transaction.  6 digit code, numbers only (always required).
ACTIVITY: User defined for organization.  6 digit code, mix of numbers and characters (not always applicable).