Open Setup Coding
Click the Academy/School menu, then click Account Coding.
Select Setup Coding.
What you can do next depends on the message shown at the top of the screen.
When Account Coding Is Read-Only
If you see one of the following messages:
All Account Coding is read-only due to the Access Education Finance link being activeAll Account Coding is read-only due to a Third Party Account Coding Link being active.
this means:
Your Budgets site is linked to either Access Education Finance or a third-party finance system such as FMS / Civica (Corero) / PSF.
Your chart of accounts is controlled by the finance system, not directly in Budgets.
In this case:
You must add or amend account codes in your finance software.
Then re-import the chart of accounts into Access Education Budgets using the relevant finance link/import process.
You will not be able to edit the chart of accounts directly in Setup Coding while the link is active.
Manually Edit the Chart of Accounts
If, at the top of the screen, you see:
'''/' is an invalid character, please do not apply this when creating your account code structure.
this means Setup Coding is editable and you can manually amend your chart of accounts.
Add account codes
In Setup Coding, click the blue plus icon to add a new account code.
Enter the Account Code Name.
Enter a Description.
Click Save.
Add secondary codes (for example, Ledger or Department codes)
When adding secondary codes (such as Ledger or Department codes), you can also:
Allocate them as Income or Expenditure, or
Assign them to a specific Budget Line, using the options provided.
Click Save after entering all details.
Change Default Code Header Names
You can rename the default Ref 1 and Ref 2 code headers (for example, to “Cost Centre”, “Account”, “Department”, etc.).
Click the Academy/School menu.
Under Settings, click Other Settings.
You should now be on the School Settings page.
In the Ref 1* and Ref 2* fields, enter the new account code names you want to use.
Click Save.
These changes update the labels used for your first and second code levels across the software.
Add a Third Code Level
If you need a third level of coding (Ref 3):
On the School Settings page (Academy/School > Other Settings):
Tick the Use Ref 3 checkbox.
Click Save.
In the Ref 3* field, enter the new name you want to use for the third code level.
Click Save again.
To confirm the new code headers:
Open a budget section such as Non-GAG or Section 251.
Check that the new Ref 1, Ref 2 and (if enabled) Ref 3 names appear as expected.
📌Note: Changes to code header names might not take effect immediately. If you do not see them straight away, log out of Access Education Budgets and log back in to refresh the display.