Definitions, Instructions, & Procedures

CALIFORNIA SCHOOL ACCOUNTING MANUAL (CSAM) 2019 Edition

We are pleased to announce the availability of the 2019 edition of the California School Accounting Manual (CSAM). Updated procedures were approved by the California State Board of Education on January 9, 2019.

CSAM Highlights:

The 2019 edition of the CSAM includes thirty-one updated procedures and has been reformatted to comply with applicable federal accessibility standards. The changes included in CSAM 2019 are summarized in the following:

2019 Summary of Changes to CSAM

Ordering CSAM:

This publication is available to be viewed, printed, or downloaded from this website at no charge.

Viewing CSAM:

California School Accounting Manual (CSAM) - 2019 Complete (PDF; 4MB) PDF format for online viewing, searching, and printing of the complete manual. This file is formatted for printing double-sided. It contains the blank pages necessary between some sections to ensure that when the file is printed, all sections begin on the correct page. NOTE: The entire manual is quite large and may take longer than expected to load into a browser or to print.

The following is a 2019 CSAM spine label suitable for inserting into the clear pocket available on the spine of many three ring binders: 2019 CSAM Spine Label (PDF)

California School Accounting Manual (CSAM) - 2019 Updates (PDF format for online viewing, searching, and printing of only the updated sections) [not available for CSAM 2019]. Because nearly every section in the 2019 edition was updated and the headers and footers in every section were modified, the customary "updates only" file is not provided.

Downloading CSAM:

Download instructions for the 2019 Complete PDF version: Use the link above, then use the "File/Save As" command to save CSAM to your desktop for viewing, searching, and printing.

© California Department of Education CSAM Copyright Information. Permission is granted in advance for reproduction and use of these CSAM resources for school fiscal management purposes. To obtain permission to reproduce the information (text or graphics) contained on this website for any commercial purpose, visit the CDE Copyright Statement web page and submit the specifics of your request in writing to the Copyright Program Office, California Department of Education, CDE Press, 1430 N Street, Suite 3207, Sacramento, CA 95814. Email: cdepress@cde.ca.gov.