What is a FOP?

Auburn University uses a hierarchical accounting structure called FOAPAL.

FOAPAL is an acronym for Fund, Organization, Account, Program, Activity, and Location.  This acronym is often seen in a shortened form - FOP. The FOAPAL structure is Auburn's financial Chart of Accounts.

How are FOPs used in ServiceNow?

The Fund-Organization-Program (FOP) combination is used on various request forms in ServiceNow to capture accounting information used for billing purposes.

• FOPs are available on forms as a drop down selection of approved and active accounts.
• The list of FOPs previously used for OIT Billing purposes can be searched by entering the FOP. As you type the FOP, the search results will display.
  • Pro Tip: Beginning any search entry with an asterisk (*) can improve search results by returning any entry that contains the entered value. For example *98765 will return the FOP 1234567-987654-a2b4
• FOPs are periodically updated in ServiceNow to represent changes to active accounts.

What if my FOP isn't listed?

If you have an active Auburn account, you have the ability to create a FOP combination from valid Funds, Organizations, and Programs. Use the Billing Change Request form to add a FOP into the ServiceNow system for immediate use.

Note: If your initial request form was kept open while you registered a new FOP, the page will need to be refreshed for the new FOP to be available for selection.