Your review request may call for an income statement, balance sheet, general ledger and bank records. Each explains a different part of your finances. Start with the requested dates and accounts, then identify the report that answers each question.
This guide explains financial reports and supporting records by name. For the Financial Sampling Tool and incomplete historical expense checks, start with Your CACFP Financial Sampling Tool.
Start with the request and the dates
Use your review letter and document request to identify the reports, accounts and periods requested. Do not assume that every item covers only the test month.
An income statement covers a period; a balance sheet shows a single date. A request may call for a completed program year, the current year through the review date, and specific year-end balances. Give your bookkeeper the actual request before asking for exports.
Which reports explain the program’s finances?
| Requested record | In plain language | How it helps |
|---|---|---|
| General ledger (GL) or financial tracking system | The detailed record of transactions entered into your accounting system. | Lets the reviewer follow a reported amount to individual entries. A total-only report may not provide the transaction detail requested. |
| Chart of accounts | The list of account names or numbers used to organize your bookkeeping, such as food purchases, wages and reimbursement income. | Provides the key to reading your ledger. It explains the categories; it is not a transaction report. |
| Income statement / profit and loss (P&L) | A report of income and expenses over a period. | Shows financial activity and the resulting profit or loss. If it covers the whole organization, ask your bookkeeper how the CACFP activity can be identified. |
| Balance sheet | A report of assets, liabilities and equity or net assets on a particular date. | Shows what the organization owns and owes at that date. It answers a different question from the income statement, which covers activity over time. |
| Bank statements and bank reconciliations | Statements show bank-account activity. Reconciliations explain differences between the bank balance and the balance in your books. | Help connect recorded transactions to account activity and explain outstanding checks, deposits in transit, fees or errors. |
| Credit-card statements and petty cash journals | Credit-card statements show charges, payments and credits. A petty cash journal tracks small cash payments. | Help trace purchases made outside ordinary checking-account payments. Keep itemized receipts too; the statement or journal alone may not identify what was purchased. |
| Year-end closeout adjustments | Entries made when the books are closed, such as correcting a classification or recording an expense in the appropriate period. | Explain changes affecting the food-service accounts. Ask your bookkeeper for the requested adjustment list and the explanation behind each entry. |
What counts as documentation of program income?
Financial review requests can include documentation of reimbursement, advances, donations, interest, adult meal sales and other program income. Identify each source that applies and retain the record explaining it.
Example: a reimbursement payment can be followed from the payment record to the bank deposit and the accounting entry. A transfer between your own accounts is a different kind of transaction; explain it rather than treating every deposit as new income.
Food donations may have no bank deposit. Identify those separately and retain the donation records. Ask for clarification if you are unsure how the requested tool or report handles a particular item.
Which additional records might be on the list?
- Inventory records: show food and supplies on hand and changes in those quantities or values. Keep the count dates, valuation support and explanations of adjustments requested. Buying food and using food are different events.
- Audit records and outstanding issues, if applicable: the audit report and records about unresolved matters. An administrative review and a financial audit are separate processes; follow the request for the audit documents that apply.
- Contracts and renewal addendums: explain the terms of purchased services or other organization costs. Keep them with the related invoices and payment records requested.
- Employee lists, bonuses and payroll tax records: some requests put these under “Financial Information.” They belong with the payroll and labor-cost documentation explained in the separate labor section of this series.
Additional financial records for sponsors
If you are a sponsor and these items appear in your request, they explain money passed to sites and amounts retained for administration:
- Disbursement record, such as H4503 or an alternate: records payments distributed to sponsored sites.
- Monthly reimbursement statement to sites: communicates the payment information provided to the site.
- Year-end administrative fee reconciliation: accounts for administrative amounts retained and related actual expenses for the year.
- Sampled unaffiliated-site records: may include the site’s ledger, expense and labor support, inventory and bank evidence of reimbursement received.
These are sponsor-specific items to check against the request. They are not a document list for every independent center.
How should these records connect?
Practical example: for a food purchase, the itemized receipt identifies the items and cost, payment evidence shows the payment, and the ledger records the transaction. The applicable program report then summarizes that activity. Where a purchase serves more than one activity, supporting calculations explain the CACFP share.
Our recommendation: trace one income item and one expense through the reports before assembling the packet. Check dates, investigate differences and keep explanations. The goal is to make the evidence understandable, not simply to produce matching totals.
What if a report is missing or unfamiliar?
Ask your bookkeeper or accountant whether the record exists under another name and whether it covers the requested dates and accounts. If you propose a substitute, clarify its acceptability with the reviewer. Identify gaps and retrieve legitimate copies rather than reconstructing unsupported transactions.
Next, use the review paperwork organization guide to track the requested records and prepare the submission.
Need help with your financial records?
Review CACFP Solutions’ preparation services and eligibility requirements. Preparation projects are for qualifying existing monthly-service clients. Bookkeeping setup, transaction entry and financial-system cleanup require a separately agreed scope. Your organization remains responsible for accurate records, corrections and review deadlines.
Return to Learn CACFP: Program Reviews & Corrective Action
Sources and scope
Checked October 8, 2026. This guide explains financial-document names appearing in Texas CACFP administrative review requests. The actual request determines applicability and dates.
- TDA CACFP Handbook, Section 5000 (March 2026): §5240 addresses document requests and the FST; §§5220 and 5400 address sponsor financial reviews and audits.
- TDA CACFP Handbook, Section 7000 (March 2026): §7100 addresses financial controls and supporting records.
- TDA policy and handbook updates.
Accounting definitions are plain-language explanations. Examples and preparation suggestions are our practical recommendations.