Spire Ledgers
K-12/Iowa

Iowa · Iowa DOE

K-12 accounting software built for Iowa districts.

Spire Ledgers ships pre-configured for Iowa Department of Educationcompliance — the Uniform Financial Accounting for Iowa LEAs and AEAs (2009 Edition (with annual Chart of Accounts updates)) chart-of-accounts code structure, fund codes, and every required report. The right configuration loads automatically when you pick Iowa during onboarding.

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Account-code structure (Iowa DOE)

Iowa DOE requires a specific multi-segment account code on every transaction. Spire builds the right structure for you.

SegmentDigitsDescriptionCitation
Fund2Self-balancing fiscal entity (e.g. 10 General, 21 Student Activity, 40 Debt Service, 61 School Nutrition).UFA Iowa Ch. 5; Iowa Code Ch. 298A
Facility / Location3Operational unit (campus, building, or department) where the activity occurred.UFA Iowa Ch. 6
Function4Purpose of the expenditure (1000 Instruction, 2100 Pupil Support, 2200 Instructional Staff Support, 2300 General Admin, 2500 Business, 2600 Operation & Maintenance, 2700 Pupil Transportation, 3000 Non-Instructional, 5000 Other Financing Uses).UFA Iowa Ch. 6 / NCES Handbook
Program3Plan of activities (100 Regular, 200 Special, 300 Vocational/CTE, 400 Other Instructional, 500 Nonpublic, 600 Adult/Continuing, 700 Community Junior College, 800 Community Services, 900 Co-curricular).UFA Iowa Ch. 6
Project / Reporting4Specialized reporting (1000-1999 local, 2000-2999 intermediate, 3000-3999 state, 4000-4999 federal, 0000 noncategorical).UFA Iowa Ch. 6
Object3What was purchased (100 Salaries, 200 Benefits, 300 Purchased Professional/Technical, 400 Purchased Property, 500 Other Purchased, 600 Supplies, 700 Property/Capital, 800 Other Objects, 900 Other Uses).UFA Iowa Ch. 6
Source4Used in revenue accounts (1000 Local, 2000 Intermediate, 3000 State, 4000 Federal, 5000 Other Financing Sources, 6000 Other Items).UFA Iowa Ch. 6
Level of Instruction2Optional NCES dimension (10 Elementary, 11 PreK, 12 K, 19 Other Elem, 20 Middle, 30 Secondary, 37 Combined, 40 Postsecondary, 41 Adult/Continuing, 42 Comm/Jr College, 90 School-wide).UFA Iowa Ch. 6

Fund registry

Spire ships a complete, audit-ready fund registry for Iowa — including federal Title programs, state allotments, debt service, capital projects, internal service funds, and GASB 84 student activity custodial funds.

10GENERAL

General Fund

UFA Iowa Appendix G; Iowa Code 298A.4

21SPECIAL REVENUE

Student Activity Fund

UFA Iowa Appendix G; Iowa Code 298A.8

22SPECIAL REVENUE

Management Fund

UFA Iowa Appendix G; Iowa Code 298A.9

23SPECIAL REVENUE

Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) Fund

UFA Iowa Appendix G; Iowa Code 298.2

24SPECIAL REVENUE

Public Education and Recreation Levy (PERL) Fund

UFA Iowa Appendix G; Iowa Code 300.2

25SPECIAL REVENUE

AEA Special Education Instruction Fund

UFA Iowa Appendix G

27SPECIAL REVENUE

District/AEA Support Trust Fund

UFA Iowa Appendix G

28SPECIAL REVENUE

Schoolhouse 67.5 Cent Levy Fund

UFA Iowa Appendix G

29SPECIAL REVENUE

Library Levy Fund

UFA Iowa Appendix G

33CAPITAL PROJECTS

Local Option Sales & Services Tax / SAVE Capital Projects Fund

UFA Iowa Appendix G; Iowa Code 423E / 423F

40DEBT SERVICE

Debt Service Fund

UFA Iowa Appendix G; Iowa Code 298A.12

50PERMANENT

Permanent Funds

UFA Iowa Appendix G

61ENTERPRISE

School Nutrition Fund

UFA Iowa Appendix G

62ENTERPRISE

Child Care / Before & After School Programs Fund

UFA Iowa Appendix G

71INTERNAL SERVICE

Self-Insurance Internal Service Fund

UFA Iowa Appendix G

72INTERNAL SERVICE

Flex-Benefits (Cafeteria Plan) Internal Service Fund

UFA Iowa Appendix G

73INTERNAL SERVICE

Print Shop Internal Service Fund

UFA Iowa Appendix G

81PRIVATE PURPOSE TRUST

Scholarship Trust Fund

UFA Iowa Appendix G

90CUSTODIAL

Agency / Custodial Fund

UFA Iowa Appendix G (GASB 84)

Required reports

Every Iowa DOE mandatory financial submission, generated from your live ledger and exported in the format the SEA accepts.

Certified Annual Report (CAR)

Annual (Sep 15)

Audited financial data uploaded to the Iowa Education Portal — the primary state submission for all districts and AEAs.

Iowa DOE CAR Instructions

Certified Budget

Annual (Apr 15)

Adopted budget filed with the Iowa Department of Management on Form S-AB through the Local Government Budget System.

Iowa Code 24.17

Certified Enrollment

Annual (Oct)

October 1 student count that drives the school finance formula state cost per pupil entitlement.

Iowa Code 257.6

Project EASIER / Iowa Education Portal Submissions

Multiple

Successor environment to the original Project EASIER (Electronic Access System for Iowa Education Records) — student-, staff-, and finance-level uploads.

Iowa DOE School Level Reporting

Annual Audit Report

Annual

Required GAAP audit by an independent CPA or the Auditor of State; includes Single Audit when federal expenditures meet the threshold.

Iowa Code 11.6; 2 CFR 200.510

Special Education Supplement (SES)

Annual

Special education expenditures and weighted enrollment supplement to the CAR for Iowa Code Ch. 256B / IDEA reporting.

Iowa Code 256B; CAR SES Schedule

Transportation Report

Annual

Pupil transportation costs and ridership submitted to support transportation equity payments.

Iowa Code 285.1

School Nutrition Program Annual Financial Report

Annual

Fund 61 revenues/expenditures; supports USDA NSLP/SBP claim reconciliation.

7 CFR 210

Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA)

Annual

Single Audit federal award schedule.

2 CFR 200.510

Iowa-specific compliance

  • Iowa adopts the NCES 'Financial Accounting for Local and State School Systems' handbook as its conceptual base, with Iowa-specific fund codes layered on per Iowa Code Chapter 298A.
  • PPEL (Fund 23) — regular PPEL up to $0.33 per $1,000 assessed valuation; voted PPEL up to $1.34 per $1,000 for periods up to 10 years; restricted to physical plant and equipment uses.
  • PERL (Fund 24) — Public Education and Recreation Levy used to establish/maintain public recreation places, playgrounds, and community education on school grounds.
  • SAVE / Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (Fund 33) — district share of the statewide 1¢ local-option sales tax (Iowa Code 423E/423F) restricted to infrastructure, property tax relief, and other allowable capital uses.
  • Student Activity Fund (Fund 21) is required for any district receiving money from student-related cocurricular/extracurricular activities (admissions, dues, fundraisers).
  • Management Fund (Fund 22) is a special revenue fund for early retirement, judgments, insurance premiums, and unemployment — funded by a separate management levy.
  • Fund 27 is reserved for District/AEA Support Trust (NOT the same as Wisconsin Fund 27 special education) — Iowa special education expenditures stay in Fund 10 with weighted-enrollment programs.
  • Iowa AEAs (Area Education Agencies) report through the same UFA framework as LEAs but use additional AEA-specific fund codes (e.g. Fund 25 AEA Special Education Instruction).
  • Audit oversight is split: smaller districts may be audited by the Auditor of State (Iowa Code 11.6); larger districts engage independent CPAs whose work is subject to Auditor of State review.
  • GAAP modified accrual basis is required for governmental funds; full accrual for proprietary and fiduciary funds.

Official Iowa resources

Iowa DOE Uniform Financial Accounting →Iowa Chart of Account Coding (Appendix G) →Certified Annual Report (CAR) →Iowa DOE School Finance Resources →Iowa ASBO →Iowa Code (Legislature) →

Related states

K-12 accounting compliance profiles for districts in neighboring states:

Other states: Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska. See all 50 states →

Iowa districts can run on Spire today.

Start a 30-day free trial of the K-12 TEA tier, fully configured for Iowa DOE compliance. Or schedule a 30-minute demo for your business office.

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