Following up on our May newsletter announcement, we are pleased to announce the transition from a single main depository bank account to four distinct bank accounts specific to business functions. This strategic change will aid in the identification, management, and oversight of unapplied cash, supporting units in handling accounts receivable more efficiently.
Streamlined Accounts
Academic departments will use a single “Department Accounts Receivable” bank account (GL Account 10101) exclusively for all receivables. The three bank accounts for Contracts and Grants Accounting, Auxiliary and Administrative Services, and Student Accounting are now managed by their respective administrative units.
|
Business Area |
Department Accounts Receivable |
Contracts and Grants Accounting |
Auxiliary and Administrative Services |
Student Accounting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Account Purpose |
For services provided by specific departments, such as medical services, laboratory tests, and other professional services. |
Non-patient payments related to sponsored projects such as grants, contracts, etc.; includes petty cash funds for payments to Human Research subjects and related expenditures. |
For services rendered by central administrative units to students, faculty, staff, and visitors such as housing, dining, transportation, events, parking, police, and childcare; includes change funds used by cash handling stations. |
For tuition and tuition-related fees. |
New Lockboxes
Each bank account is tied to a unique lockbox to streamline the processing of paper check payments and can be found at the following pages:
Creating and Sending Invoices
All departments tasked with disseminating remittance information or issuing invoices directly to customers and other payers must update their invoice templates and related forms to include the updated remittance information for their business area. Payers should be directed to the appropriate lockbox address or provided with the new wire/ACH account information.
For Department Accounts Receivable invoices managed through the Controller’s Office Dept A/R process (formerly Sundry Debtor), the Department Accounts Receivable bank information is already included on all invoices. Departments that choose to maintain their own accounts receivable and do not submit their invoices to the Controller's Office (for recording in the University's financial system and distribution of the invoice to the external customer) must transition payments from the main depository bank account to the department receivables bank account and lockbox. Receivables related cash not recorded by the Controller's Office through the Dept A/R process must continue to be recorded by the department via journal entry.
Kindly inform your customers about the new bank account details to ensure prompt and accurate payments and mitigate any potential disruptions or misunderstandings. Existing payments in transit will remain unaffected, and payers are not obligated to re-submit any payments.
Depositing Cash and Cash Equivalents
Cash handlers must adhere to all documented procedures outlined on the Controller’s Office website. The Handling Cash and Checks how-to guide has been recently revised.
Academic Departments
Academic departments must direct all paper check payments to the Department A/R lockbox and provide the corresponding Department A/R bank account routing information for ACH/wire payments. Follow the Identifying and Handling Unclaimed Payments process to claim and process all payments once received by the bank.
Sponsored project procedures for payment remittance and handling checks remain unchanged. Petty cash procedures for payments to Human Research subjects and related expenditures are also unchanged.
Central Administrative Departments
Cash handlers for central administrative departments must request new bank deposit slips immediately, following the process documented on the “Requesting UCSF Deposit Supplies” resource page.
Central administrative departments may continue using existing drop locations and scanners for deposits. Additionally, these departments now have the option to direct their customers to send checks directly to the new Auxiliary and Administrative lockbox.
- For wire transfers or ACH payments, it is critical that departments provide external customers with the updated ACH/wire information to ensure payments are routed correctly
- Should central administrative units opt for their customers to send payments directly to the lockbox, they must then diligently follow the unapplied cash list process. This is essential to accurately identify and claim payments, maintaining accountability and financial accuracy.
Deposits for change funds used by cash handling stations funds will now be associated with the general ledger account 10102, and departments must adhere to the updated procedures outlined in Administering Petty Cash and Change Funds.
Identifying and Handling Unclaimed Payments
Cash handlers and financial managers responsible for reviewing and claiming unapplied cash will soon observe transactions being recorded in the new bank accounts. Due to the potential delay in some payers updating their systems with the new remittance information, departments may continue see unapplied cash deposited in the main depository account.
The Cash Operations team will maintain the practice of recording all unapplied cash in the Unclaimed Payments List in Box. However, starting in July, the structure of the Unclaimed Payments List will change. The new structure will be organized into separate tabs corresponding to each specific bank account. This change will simplify transaction review for departments and provide the ability to focus only on transactions relevant to their respective accounts.
More detailed information and guidance will be provided in July when this report structure goes live.
For additional guidance, please refer to Identifying and Handling Unclaimed Payments page.
Preparing Journal Entries
Deposits made to each of the bank accounts will be recorded in the general ledger utilizing the corresponding account code in UCSF’s chart of accounts.
Academic Department journal preparers are required to accurately reference the appropriate account(s) when preparing cash journals:
- Department accounts receivable: Account 10101 - Cash-BofA Accounts Receivable
- Cash-BofA campus depository: 10110 (old bank account)
Central Administrative Department journal preparers are required to accurately reference the appropriate account(s) when preparing cash journals:
- Account 10102 - Cash-BofA Auxiliary Activity
- Account 10103 - Cash-BofA Student Activity
- Cash-BofA campus depository: 10110 (old bank account)
For additional details, follow the procedures outlined in How to Prepare, Edit, and Submit Cash Journals in PeopleSoft (Source Code 320).
Contact the Controller’s Office if you have additional questions about remittance information and journal ledger accounts at [email protected].
The Cash Operations Team will continue to reach out to all financial administrators involved in invoicing and cash handling with more information specific to their business area(s). Outreach will include templates to help departments communicate remittance changes when sending out invoices. If you have questions, contact [email protected].