Tennessee · TDOE
K-12 accounting software built for Tennessee districts.
Spire Ledgers ships pre-configured for Tennessee Department of Educationcompliance — the Internal School Uniform Accounting Policy Manual (Comptroller of the Treasury) + Tennessee County Uniform Chart of Accounts (Internal School Funds Manual — 6th Edition (July 2025); County Chart of Accounts (FYE 2026 / January 2026)) chart-of-accounts code structure, fund codes, and every required report. The right configuration loads automatically when you pick Tennessee during onboarding.
Account-code structure (TDOE)
TDOE requires a specific multi-segment account code on every transaction. Spire builds the right structure for you.
| Segment | Digits | Description | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fund | 3 | LEA-level fund identifier from the County Uniform Chart of Accounts (e.g. 141 General Purpose School, 142 School Federal Projects, 143 Central Cafeteria, 156 Education Debt Service, 177 Education Capital Projects). | TN County Uniform Chart of Accounts — Field 1 Fund/Entity |
| Account | 5 | Five-digit revenue, expenditure, or balance-sheet account (e.g. 11440 Due from Other Funds, 34555 Restricted for Education, 40600 City/School Property Taxes, 43500 Education Charges, 71100 Regular Instruction). | TN County Uniform Chart of Accounts — Field 2 Account |
| Expenditure / Object | var | Object classification appended to expenditure functions (salaries, benefits, contracted services, supplies, capital outlay, debt service). | TN County Uniform Chart of Accounts — Field 3 Expenditure Object |
| Sub-Fund / Project | var | Optional sub-fund or project identifier for grants and multi-year projects. | TN County Uniform Chart of Accounts — Field 4 Sub Fund/Project (optional) |
| Location / Cost Center | var | Optional school/location code identifying the building or department. | TN County Uniform Chart of Accounts — Field 5 Location/Cost Center (optional) |
| Program | var | Optional program identifier (e.g. specific grant or program within a function). | TN County Uniform Chart of Accounts — Field 6 Program (optional) |
Fund registry
Spire ships a complete, audit-ready fund registry for Tennessee — including federal Title programs, state allotments, debt service, capital projects, internal service funds, and GASB 84 student activity custodial funds.
General Purpose School Fund
TN County Uniform Chart of Accounts — Education funds 141-149
School Federal Projects Fund
TN County Uniform Chart of Accounts
Central Cafeteria Fund
TN County Uniform Chart of Accounts
School Transportation Fund
TN County Uniform Chart of Accounts
Other Education Special Revenue Fund
TN County Uniform Chart of Accounts
Extended School Program Fund
TN County Uniform Chart of Accounts
Schoolwide Consolidation Fund
TN County Uniform Chart of Accounts
Other Education Special Revenue Fund #2
TN County Uniform Chart of Accounts
Internal School Fund (LEA-Level Roll-Up)
TN County Uniform Chart of Accounts; reported per Internal School Funds Manual
Education Debt Service Fund
TN County Uniform Chart of Accounts — Debt Service 151-157
School Bond Trust Fund
TN County Uniform Chart of Accounts
Education Capital Projects Fund
TN County Uniform Chart of Accounts — Capital Projects 171-189
Special School District Fund
TN County Uniform Chart of Accounts — Component Unit / Special School District
City School ADA #1 Fund
TN County Uniform Chart of Accounts
City School ADA #2 Fund
TN County Uniform Chart of Accounts
Capital Assets — School Department
TN County Uniform Chart of Accounts — Account Group
Required reports
Every TDOE mandatory financial submission, generated from your live ledger and exported in the format the SEA accepts.
Annual Audit Report
Annual (filed by Dec 31 for June 30 FYE)Independent audit conducted in accordance with the audit contract approved by the Comptroller of the Treasury; submitted to the Comptroller's Division of Local Government Audit.
TCA §49-2-112; §4-3-304
Annual Statistical Report (ASR)
AnnualSelf-reported revenue, expenditure, and per-pupil financial data submitted by LEAs to TDOE; aggregated into the State Annual Statistical and Financial Report.
TDOE Annual Statistical Report instructions
TISA Accountability Report
AnnualTennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA, the new student-based funding formula replacing BEP) accountability report describing how the budget supports student-achievement goals (effective 2024-25).
TCA Title 49 Chapter 3 (TISA, 2022)
ePlan Budget Submission (Federal & State Funds)
AnnualFederal-program and state-program budget submissions through the TDOE ePlan system (Title I, IDEA, ESSER, state grants).
TDOE ePlan
Single Audit / Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA)
AnnualUniform Guidance 2 CFR 200 Subpart F federal-award compliance audit, included in the annual audit report.
2 CFR 200.510
Internal School Funds Audit
AnnualAudit of school-level activity, cafeteria, and other internal school funds as part of the LEA's annual audit, in accordance with the Internal School Uniform Accounting Policy Manual.
TCA §49-2-110; §49-2-112
Annual Budget Adoption
Annual (by July 1 / before FY)Adopted by the local board of education and approved by the local legislative body (county commission / city council); filed with the Comptroller's Division of Local Government Finance.
TCA §49-2-301; §5-9-401 (counties)
Tax Rate Certification
AnnualCertified property-tax rate for the school district levy filed with the State Board of Equalization and Comptroller.
TCA §67-5-1601 (Truth in Taxation)
Indirect Cost Rate Proposal
AnnualRestricted/unrestricted indirect cost rates negotiated with TDOE for federal grant cost recovery.
2 CFR 200 Subpart E
Charter School Annual Reporting Form (CMOs)
AnnualCharter Management Organizations operating one or more public charter schools file an annual reporting form with the Comptroller of the Treasury.
TCA §49-13-127(a)(2)
Tennessee-specific compliance
- TCA §49-2-110 requires the Tennessee Department of Education to prepare a uniform accounting policy manual for internal school funds, subject to approval of the Comptroller of the Treasury; each local school system must adopt the Manual and maintain internal school fund books per its requirements. The 6th edition of the Internal School Funds Manual was issued July 2025.
- LEA-level (district-wide) accounting follows the Tennessee County Uniform Chart of Accounts maintained by the Comptroller's Division of Local Government Audit; education funds occupy the 141-149 (Special Revenue), 156-157 (Debt Service), and 177 (Capital Projects) ranges, plus 354-356 for Special School Districts and City School ADA components.
- Account-numbering structure (LEA): Fund (3) — Account (5) — Expenditure Object — Sub Fund/Project (optional) — Location/Cost Center (optional) — Program (optional). Account ranges include 11xxx Assets, 21xxx-29xxx Liabilities, 34xxx Fund Balances (e.g. 34555 Restricted for Education), 40xxx Property Taxes, 43xxx Education Charges, 71xxx-72xxx Instruction/Support functions.
- Innovative School District (TCA Title 49, Ch. 8) and Public Charter Schools (TCA Title 49, Ch. 13) are subject to the same Manual and audit requirements; charter-school audits (including internal school activity and cafeteria funds) are required annually under TCA §49-13-127.
- The Internal School Funds Manual prescribes a per-school chart of accounts using account numbers 1-99 Balance Sheet, 101-199 School Nutrition Revenue, 201-299 Nutrition Expenditure, 301-399 General Fund Revenue, 401-499 General Fund Expenditure, 601-999 Restricted Fund Revenue & Expenditure (Athletics 601-699, Class Accounts 701-799, Clubs 801-899).
- Student Support Organizations (SSOs) defined in TCA §49-2-603 are exempt from the Internal School Funds Manual but must maintain financial records for at least four years (TCA §49-2-604) and file with the LEA.
- Tennessee replaced the Basic Education Program (BEP) with the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA), a student-based funding formula, beginning FY 2023-24 (TCA Title 49, Ch. 3); LEAs file an annual TISA Accountability Report describing alignment between budget and student-achievement goals.
- Annual audit contracts use the uniform Contract to Audit Accounts prepared by the Comptroller's Division of Local Government Audit; audits performed by independent CPAs require Comptroller approval and audit reports are due within six months of fiscal year end (TCA §9-2-102 / §49-2-112).
- A deficit balance in a cafeteria fund (143) is prohibited; cafeteria funds must comply with USDA Child Nutrition Program requirements and GAAP.
- Internal control standards under TCA §9-18-102 are mandatory for all schools; Local Government Electronic Technology Act of 2009 (TCA §4-30-103) and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (TCA §47-10-119) govern electronic records and reporting.
- Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) reporting is required for all eligible school employees; reporting cadence is monthly to the TN Treasury Department.
Official Tennessee resources
Related states
K-12 accounting compliance profiles for districts in neighboring states:
Other states: Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas. See all 50 states →
Tennessee districts can run on Spire today.
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