Colorado · CDE
K-12 accounting software built for Colorado districts.
Spire Ledgers ships pre-configured for Colorado Department of Educationcompliance — the Financial Policies and Procedures (FPP) Handbook & Chart of Accounts (Effective July 1, 2025 (FY2025-26)) chart-of-accounts code structure, fund codes, and every required report. The right configuration loads automatically when you pick Colorado during onboarding.
Account-code structure (CDE)
CDE requires a specific multi-segment account code on every transaction. Spire builds the right structure for you.
| Segment | Digits | Description | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fund | 2 | Self-balancing fiscal entity (e.g. 10 General, 21 Food Service, 31 Bond Redemption, 43 Capital Reserve). | FPP Handbook — Fund Structure |
| Location | 3 | Specific school or district location. Required (non-zero) for revenue, expenditure and balance-sheet records when associated with a school site; codes 100-599 and 900-969 are school sites. | FPP Chart of Accounts — Location |
| SRE (Special Reporting Element) | 3 | Captures activities that span funds (e.g. transportation, athletics) for state and federal reporting. | FPP Chart of Accounts — SRE |
| Program | 4 | Educational program/activity (0001 Regular, 1700-2099 Special Ed, 2200 CTE, 2700 Gifted, 3100 Pupil Support, 4000 Operations & Maintenance). | FPP Chart of Accounts — Program |
| Source/Object/Balance Sheet | 4 | 0xxx Source (Revenue), 0100-0900 Object (Expenditure), 8xxx Assets, 7xxx Liabilities/Fund Balance. | FPP Chart of Accounts — Object/Source |
| Job Class | 3 | Salary/benefit job-class detail (e.g. 100 Officials/Administrators, 200 Teachers, 300 Other Professional, 400 Para-professional). | FPP Chart of Accounts — Job Class |
| Grant | 4 | Federal/state grant identifier required for all federal-grant transactions (e.g. 4010 Title I-A, 3897 UPK, 3141 CPP). | FPP Chart of Accounts — Grant Code |
Fund registry
Spire ships a complete, audit-ready fund registry for Colorado — including federal Title programs, state allotments, debt service, capital projects, internal service funds, and GASB 84 student activity custodial funds.
General Fund
§22-45-103(1)(a)(I), C.R.S.
Charter School Fund
§22-30.5-104(2), C.R.S.
Risk Management Sub-fund of General Fund
§22-54-105(2)(a), C.R.S.
Universal Preschool / Colorado Preschool Program (UPK/CPP) Sub-fund
Supplemental Capital Construction, Technology & Maintenance (Special Revenue)
§22-45-103(1)(j), C.R.S.
Food Service Fund
1 CCR 301-11-3.05(1)
Governmental Designated-Purpose Grants Fund
Pupil Activity Fund (Special Revenue)
Transportation Fund
§22-45-103(1)(f), C.R.S.
Mill Levy Override Programs Fund
Other Special Revenue Fund
Bond Redemption Fund (Debt Service)
§22-45-103(1)(b), C.R.S.
Certificates of Participation (COP) Debt Fund
Building Fund (Capital Projects)
§22-42-102(2)(a), C.R.S.
Special Building and Technology Fund
§22-45-103(1)(d), C.R.S.
Capital Reserve Capital Projects Fund
§22-45-103(1)(c), C.R.S.
Supplemental Capital Construction, Technology & Maintenance (Capital Projects)
Risk Management Internal Service Fund
1 CCR 301-11-3.06
Other Internal Service Fund
Private-Purpose Trust Fund
Custodial Fund
1 CCR 301-11-3.07
Pupil Activity Custodial Fund
GASB 84
Permanent Fund
Foundations / Component Unit Fund
District Reporting Element (Long-Term Debt / MLO)
Required reports
Every CDE mandatory financial submission, generated from your live ledger and exported in the format the SEA accepts.
Audited Financial Statements
Annual (due Dec 31)Independent audit submitted to the Office of the State Auditor and CDE School Finance; GASB 34 government-wide + fund statements + MD&A.
§22-44-204, C.R.S.
Data Pipeline Financial Submission
Annual (due Dec 31)Detailed COA-coded financial data uploaded to CDE Data Pipeline; collection opens August for prior fiscal year ended June 30.
FPP Handbook — CDE Reporting Requirements
Adopted Budget
Annual (proposed Jun 1; adopted by Jun 30)Proposed budget posted ≥30 days before adoption; final budget adopted before fiscal year start.
§22-44-110, C.R.S.
Uniform Budget Summary
AnnualStandardized summary required to be filed with the budget showing revenues, expenditures, and reserves by fund.
§22-44-105, C.R.S.
Financial Transparency Posting
Annual (by Jul 1)Adopted budget, audit, salary schedule, accounts-payable check register, and credit-card transactions posted on district website and CDE SchoolView.
HB14-1292; §22-44-304, C.R.S.
Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA)
AnnualSingle Audit / Uniform Guidance schedule required when federal expenditures exceed the 2 CFR 200 threshold.
2 CFR 200.510
TABOR Compliance Report
AnnualReserve for TABOR Emergency (3% of fiscal year spending) reported in audit and budget.
Colo. Const. art. X, §20
Mill Levy Certification
Annual (by Dec 15)District certifies the mill levy to county commissioners after assessed valuation is received.
§22-40-102, C.R.S.
Bolts Indirect Cost Rate Proposal
AnnualCDE-approved restricted/unrestricted indirect-cost rates for federal grant draw-downs.
CDE Indirect Cost Rate Procedures
ESSA Per-Pupil Expenditure (PPE) Report
AnnualSchool-level per-pupil expenditures derived from Data Pipeline submission.
ESSA §1111(h)(1)(C)(x)
Colorado-specific compliance
- Use of the FPP Handbook and Chart of Accounts is mandatory for every school district, charter school, charter school institute (CSI), charter school network and BOCES under §22-44-204, C.R.S.
- Audited financials and the Data Pipeline submission are both due to the Office of the State Auditor and CDE by December 31 each year (60-day extension available with State Auditor approval).
- TABOR (Colo. Const. art. X, §20) requires a 3% Emergency Reserve and limits revenue/spending growth; all districts present a TABOR reconciliation in the budget and audit.
- Pupil Activity money is reported as a Special Revenue fund (Fund 23) when the district has administrative involvement (sponsor/coach), and as a Custodial fund (Fund 74) when activities are self-supporting under GASB 84.
- Transfers TO and FROM the Transportation Fund (25), Bond Redemption Fund (31), and Supplemental Capital Construction Fund (06/46) are NOT allowed (§22-44-112(2)(a), C.R.S.).
- Charter school revenues, expenditures and balance-sheet accounts must be included in the authorizing district's Data Pipeline submission; charter location codes must be unique (i.e. not 0000).
- Fund 90 (District Reporting Element) is for data-collection only — long-term debt balances and Mill Levy Override (MLO) reporting flow through Fund 90; debt values must tie to the audit.
- Federal grants require use of a 4-digit grant code on every transaction; transfers between federal grants must NOT use a federal grant code (use a non-federal code instead).
Related states
K-12 accounting compliance profiles for districts in neighboring states:
Other states: New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Kansas. See all 50 states →
Colorado districts can run on Spire today.
Start a 30-day free trial of the K-12 TEA tier, fully configured for CDE compliance. Or schedule a 30-minute demo for your business office.