This handbook is intended to assist the School Food Authority and those responsible for recording and reporting on the various financial activities of a school food service fund. It describes in a completely detailed form uniform accounting systems suitable for use by all school food authorities. The material, oriented toward the average-to-larger school system, contains (1) an introduction to the principle of accounting; (2) an overview of the small school food service fund accounting system; (3) charts and explanations of the different types of accounts used in the system; (4) procedures for preparing and using reports; (5) an expanded chart of accounts; (6) detailed school food service revenue accounting procedures; (7) payroll procedures; (8) expenditure accounting for food, supplies, equipment, and services; and (9) definitions of terms used. The procedure described has been designed to provide a system that (1) combines simplicity with all the required information according to generally accepted accounting principles; (2) provides all types of internal information (for cafeteria, school, and school district managers) and external information for all other interested parties, e.g., local, State, and Federal Government officials; (3) demands accuracy and internal control; and (4) possesses consistency and uniformity although it crosses cafeteria and district lines. To meet these criteria, the system features (1) accrual accounting; (2) double entry bookkeeping; and (3) a set of procedures for recording revenue and expenditures, and for allocating costs. (Author/EA)