Submitting Department Accounts Receivable Invoices

Submitting Department Accounts Receivable Invoices

Department accounts receivable (Dept A/R, also known as Sundry Debtor) invoices are provided to external customers (customers not affiliated with the University of California) who use UCSF property or receive goods or services and do not make payment at the time of service. External customers must first be established in the University’s financial system and the department providing the goods or services must be associated with the external customer in the system before invoices can be submitted for recording and distribution to the external customer.

Key Concepts

University departments may allow external customers (customers not affiliated with the University of California) to use UCSF property or receive goods or services. By policy (opens in new window) University departments should accept payment before or upon delivery of the good or service. When this is not possible (see policy for example situations), a good or service may be provided prior to receiving payment. Department accounts receivable (Dept A/R, also known as ‘sundry debtor’ receivable) is the amount due to the University from an external customer for payment of goods supplied and/or services already rendered. Dept A/R excludes sponsored projects, student/employee and UCSF Health related receivables. Dept A/R is not applicable to business conducted with other campuses or with the Office of the President (UCOP); see Handling ITF and IOC for procedures related to Interlocation Transfer of Funds (ITFs) and Intercampus Orders & Charges (IOCs).

The University provides an invoice to the external customer outlining the goods and services rendered that serves as an official demand for payment. The receivable and associated revenue must be reflected accurately and timely in the University’s financial records. Upon the delivery of a product or service, the revenue is considered to have been earned. Invoices must be recorded on an accrual basis to record accounts receivable (debit) and revenue (credit) at the time of billing. When payment for an invoice is received, transactions are recorded in the University’s financial system to credit accounts receivable and debit cash. Invoices processed by the Controller’s Office that remain uncollected six months past the invoice billing date will be written-off and charged to the respective department (credit to accounts receivable and debit to expense).

Establishing an External Customer and Linking Your Department

Before a department can create and request invoices be sent to its external customer, the external customer must be established in the University’s financial system and the department providing the good or service must be linked to the customer. To accomplish this, provide the following information to [email protected]:

  • External customer information:
    • Customer Name
    • Customer Address
  • Department contact person (preparer) information:
    • Employee Name
    • Employee ID
    • Email Address
    • Phone Number
    • Dept ID

The Controller’s Office will notify the department contact when the customer and department have been established. Setup normally takes two working days.

Creating and Submitting Dept A/R Invoices

Invoice requests should be created and submitted within two days of providing goods or services to an outside customer. Invoices should not be held to be submitted only once per month. For recording in the current month, Dept A/R Invoice requests must be received by the last business day of each month. Invoice requests are processed within three business days of receipt except during the first week of each month due to system batch processing for the prior month's closing, and during fiscal year-end close. At fiscal year-end close, the University’s financial system will open for July processing after the interim close cutoff.

Departments should:

  • Download and complete the Department A/R Invoice following the instructions in the link.
    • TIP: download a new invoice form for each invoice rather than reusing an existing invoice to ensure you are using the current form and to avoid potential delays or processing issues.
  • Email the completed invoice along with any supporting documentation as attachments to: [email protected].

The Controller’s Office will:

  • Review the request
  • Enter the billing date and assign an invoice number
  • Send the invoice to the customer and a copy to the department invoice requester via email.
  • Record the receivable and associated revenue in the University’s financial records upon generation of the invoice

If changes to an existing invoice are needed, email details to [email protected] for instructions.