K-12/North Carolina

North Carolina · NC DPI

K-12 accounting software built for North Carolina districts.

Spire Ledgers ships pre-configured for North Carolina Department of Public Instructioncompliance — the Uniform Education Reporting System (UERS) — Uniform Chart of Accounts for North Carolina Local Education Agencies (FY 2024-25 (effective July 1, 2024)) chart-of-accounts code structure, fund codes, and every required report. The right configuration loads automatically when you pick North Carolina during onboarding.

Account-code structure (NC DPI)

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

SegmentDigitsDescriptionCitation
Fund2Source of funding. 1st digit = fund type (1 State Public School, 2 Local Current Expense, 3 Federal Grant, 4 Capital Outlay, 5 Multiple Enterprise/Child Nutrition, 6 Trust & Agency, 8 Other Specific Revenue); 2nd digit = Grant Year for Fund 3 federal grants.UERS COA — Fund Codes; G.S. 115C-426
Purpose5Reason for the expenditure (e.g. 5xxxx Instructional Services, 6xxxx Administrative/System-Wide Support, 7xxxx Ancillary Services, 8xxxx Non-programmed Charges, 9xxxx Capital Outlay). Last position defaults to 0.UERS COA — Purpose Codes
Program (PRC)4Program Report Code — funding allotment within a fund source (e.g. PRC 035 Child Nutrition, PRC 050 ESEA Title I, PRC 060 IDEA-VI Handicapped, PRC 701 Before/After School Care). First position defaults to 0.UERS COA — PRC
Object5DPI-defined service or commodity. 1st digit = account type (1 Asset, 2 Liability, 3 Equity, 4 Revenue, 5 Expense); digits 2-5 hold traditional NCES object detail (e.g. 100 Salary). First and last positions default to 0.UERS COA — Object Codes
Location5School/site code from EDDIE plus special site codes (000 Schoolwide, 810 Central Office, 820 Warehouse, 830 Fiscal Agent, 840 Special Programs, 850 Charter School, 860 Non-ADM Student, 888 Workers Comp). Must begin with 0, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 8. Last two positions default to 00.UERS COA — Location
Department (Local Use 1)3PSU-defined budget manager / supervisor code; allows sub-department or federal-coding alignment. Defaults to 000.UERS COA — Department
Level (Local Use 2)2Reserved for future DPI use; indicates school-level, system-wide, or central-office expenditure. Defaults to 00.UERS COA — Level
Cost Center3Tracks program cost across multiple PRCs and Objects. Codes 100-499 reserved for DPI use; PSUs may use 500+ for local use. Defaults to 000.UERS COA — Cost Center
Project5PSU-defined; categorizes expenditures by locally defined programs (e.g. 1-on-1 laptop initiative). Replaced the previous Local Use 2 code.UERS COA — Project Code

Fund registry

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

1GENERAL

State Public School Fund

UERS COA — Fund 1; G.S. 115C-426(c)

2SPECIAL REVENUE

Local Current Expense Fund

UERS COA — Fund 2; G.S. 115C-426(c)

3SPECIAL REVENUE

Federal Grant Fund

UERS COA — Fund 3

4CAPITAL PROJECTS

Capital Outlay Fund

UERS COA — Fund 4

5ENTERPRISE

Multiple Enterprise Fund (incl. PRC 035 Child Nutrition; opt. PRC 701 Before/After Care)

UERS COA — Fund 5

6PRIVATE PURPOSE TRUST

Trust and Agency Funds

UERS COA — Fund 6

7SPECIAL REVENUE

Reserved — LEA / Charter School Local Use

UERS COA — Fund 7

8SPECIAL REVENUE

Other Specific Revenue Fund (indirect cost reimbursements, sales tax distributions, restricted gifts/grants, pre-K)

UERS COA — Fund 8

Required reports

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

UERS Monthly Financial Data Submission

Monthly

Monthly UERS data file transmission containing every transaction tagged with the full UERS budget code; drives the federal cash zero-out and BAAS reporting.

G.S. 115C-12(18); UERS COA Business Rules

Annual Financial Report (AFR) — DPI Submission

Annual

Year-end financial submission to NC DPI School Financial Reporting Section reconciled to the audit.

G.S. 115C-447; NC DPI School Business

Local Government Commission (LGC) Annual Audit

Annual

Independent audit of each LEA filed with the NC State Treasurer's Local Government Commission.

G.S. 159-34; LGC Audit Manual

DPI-3 / DPI-4 / DPI-9 Compliance Supplement Schedules

Annual

State Public School Fund (DPI-3 LEAs / DPI-4 charters) and School Technology Fund (DPI-9) compliance supplements for the Single Audit.

NC State Treasurer SLGFD Compliance Supplements

Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA)

Annual

Single Audit / Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200 Subpart F schedule.

2 CFR 200.510

Budget Resolution Adoption

Annual

Local board of education must adopt a budget resolution at the Fund-Purpose Code level by July 1.

G.S. 115C-426; G.S. 115C-432

Average Daily Membership (ADM) Reports

Monthly

ADM submitted via PowerSchool/UERS used to compute state allotments.

G.S. 115C-301; NC DPI Allotment Section

School Allotment Reconciliations

Annual

Year-end reconciliation of dollar and position allotments by PRC against actual UERS expenditures.

NC DPI Allotment Policy Manual

Indirect Cost Rate Application

Annual

Restricted/unrestricted indirect cost rates negotiated with NC DPI for federal grants.

NC DPI Federal Programs

North Carolina-specific compliance

  • The UERS Budget Code is mandated by N.C.G.S. 115C-12(18). Effective July 1, 2024 every PSU (LEA or charter) must transmit data using the 34-position expanded budget code.
  • Fund 3 (Federal Grants) requires a valid Grant Year digit (0–9) in the second position. A '3X' (X = unfilled) value will be rejected as invalid and may trigger pullback of federal funds during monthly cash zero-out.
  • Most local boards adopt the Budget Resolution at the Fund-Purpose Code level (not the full account string) — a key control under G.S. 115C-432.
  • The PRC and Object codes together identify the funding pot and the type of expenditure; this is the foundation of NC DPI's allotment-based control system.
  • Major Purpose-Code blocks: 5xxxx Instructional Services; 6xxxx Administrative & System-Wide Support; 7xxxx Ancillary Services (Child Nutrition); 8xxxx Non-programmed Charges; 9xxxx Capital Outlay.
  • Object 1st-digit conventions (Munis-style): 1 Assets, 2 Liabilities, 3 Equity, 4 Revenue, 5 Expense — with traditional NCES object detail in digits 2-5 (e.g. salary objects in the 100 series, benefits in 200 series).
  • Location codes must validate against EDDIE or the special-site list (000, 810, 820, 830, 840, 850, 860, 888); invalid Location values are UERS compliance findings.
  • Cost Center codes 100-499 are reserved for DPI use; PSUs may use 500+ locally to track cross-PRC program costs.
  • NC DPI is migrating to the North Carolina Financial System (NCFS) and the School Business Systems Modernization (SBSM) initiative — UERS specifications are subject to ongoing change.
  • NC LEAs use a county-funded model: counties appropriate the Local Current Expense Fund (Fund 2) and the Capital Outlay Fund (Fund 4); the State Public School Fund (Fund 1) flows from DPI allotments.

Related states

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

Other states: Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee. See all 50 states →

North Carolina districts can run on Spire today.

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