The new budget and accounting system for the California community colleges uses an activity-centered approach to expenditure reporting which describes real resource requirements (faculty, supporting staff, supplies, etc.), their costs (objects of expenditures), and relative use in each of the major activities which describe community college operations. The system describes direct costs in activities, but does not attampt to define indirect costs. It is designed to provide adequately for state level decision-making needs. It also provides the basis for decisions about programs and objectives. The activity structure provides the district with a base for comparative fiscal analyses, use of new fiscal management tools, and future development of program budgeting and other decision-making techniques. The activity structure also provides for state level reporting and federal fiscal reporting, if this should occur in the future. (Author)