Cash Application Process Improvements Beginning on September 12

As previously announced, on September 12, 2023, the Controller’s Office will implement further improvements to the cash application process to make identifying and claiming deposits and payments easier for departments. These changes do not apply to sponsored research payments or credit card transactions; departments should continue to follow established procedures to identify and record these transaction types.

For other types of payments, the use of a streamlined single list of unclaimed payments and simplified data entry requirements for PeopleSoft journal line descriptions will take effect on September 12.

Streamlined Unclaimed Payments List

Currently, in addition to the unapplied sponsored research payments list, four daily files and an additional monthly file are posted to Box for departments to review and claim payments. These files display information received from our bank, and all but one file includes both claimed and unclaimed payments. The number of files and inclusion of both claimed and unclaimed payments makes analysis by departments time consuming and can lead to confusion as well as duplication of claims.

These files will be replaced with a single file containing ONLY unclaimed payments and will be updated weekly. As a result, departments will only need to regularly review two data sources to find unclaimed or unapplied payments: one for unapplied sponsored research payments and another for unclaimed cash, check, ACH, and wire payments.

The new Unclaimed Payments List will:

  • Support filtering of data for fields including Dept ID description (department name), payer name, amount, date, and BAI code description
  • Include new columns that distribute text information provided by our bank into more easily analyzed segments
  • Allow departments to mark payments they have claimed, or will claim, to avoid duplication
  • Translate deposit location numbers and lockbox numbers to Dept ID description, where available
  • Translate bank account number to general ledger account number
  • Allow viewers to copy the bank reference number to paste into the journal line description field in PeopleSoft

In addition to the Unclaimed Payments List, new Lockbox Detail and Images files will provide additional information about lockbox deposits that were previously unavailable to most departments. The bank provides limited data at a summary level for each lockbox deposit. This summary data is included in the Unclaimed Payments List. When multiple checks are included in a single lockbox deposit, there is insufficient data to claim a payment. The new Lockbox Detail and Images files allow departments to analyze lockbox deposits down to the check level, enabling identification and claiming of specific check payments.

Simplified PeopleSoft Journal Line Description

The journal line description field in UCSF’s PeopleSoft financial system plays a critical role in the cash application process. This field identifies the exact payment being claimed and is used in the reconciliation process to automate matching of bank payment information to PeopleSoft journals. Currently departments must adhere to a strict format that differs depending on the form of payment when creating a cash journal. Beginning on September 12, departments will enter the ‘Bank Reference Number’ into the journal line description field for all payment types. The Bank Reference Number can be copied from the Unclaimed Payments List and pasted into PeopleSoft. This change should make preparing cash journals easier for departments as well as increase successful automated matching used to reconcile accounts and create the Unclaimed Payments List.

Where You Can Get More Information

Beginning on September 12, department administrators, cash handlers, cash Journal Preparers, and Journal Approvers should review and follow details about the key revised procedures on these web pages:

The Cash Operations Team will host two optional webinars to provide an overview of the changes, demonstrate the features of the Unclaimed Payments List, and answer related questions. Complete this one-time registration (opens in new window) to receive the Zoom link to join either session (UCSF authentication required):

  • Wednesday, September 13, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
  • Monday, September 25, from 3 to 4 p.m.

If you have further questions after you review the web pages, contact [email protected].