©2008 Procurement Department
The George Washington University
Contact: webmaster: procure@gwu.edu
Last updated: 03/03/2008

Purchases of goods and services are charged to "natural accounts". These are five digit numbers that determine in which natural account the expense is recorded on GW's financial statements.

To properly record the purchase of goods and services, you must have a basic under-standing of GW's accounting structure. If you are unfamiliar with this structure, please contact the Accounting Services Group in the Comptroller's Office.

Generally, purchasers of goods and services will use natural accounts in the following ranges:

      52xxx - General operating expenses
      53xxx - Travel/training/communications
      54xxx - Materials and supplies
      55xxx - Purchased services

 

The Enterprise Accounting System's web pages offer comprehensive descriptions of available natural accounts as well as links to those accounts that may not be used in conjunction with the purchase of goods and services.

If you have any questions regarding the appropriateness of a specifc purchase of goods of services, we urge you to contact the Accounting Services Group in the Comptroller's Office.