The following is a detailed guide for processing a University invoice. For an easy-to-read list of the steps describing the accounts receivable and collections process, please see
University Invoices--The ARC Process.Getting a New Department Number
Invoice Numbers
Where to Get the Forms
Recording Information About Who Is Being Billed, and For
What
How to Record Income
Accounts Receivable Reports
Understanding Your Outstanding Invoices List
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ARC identifies by a special number each department that issues invoices. This allows us
to properly track your invoices, and to provide you with reports that easily allow you to
separate the various activities of your department. This six-digit department number is
based upon the four-digit departmental codes assigned by Accounting.
For example, let's say your Accounting-assigned department number is 1234, which would make your Campus Billing number 123400--two digits added. If you have two different services for which you bill and you would like to keep track of the income separately, we would assign two department numbers, for example, 123401 and 123402, to provide you with separate collection reports for each service.
In return, you need to supply us with a few things. We need to know your department name, the name and phone number of the contact person who can answer questions about your invoices, and the income account and fund to be credited. Then, to ensure that your reports are properly generated, we need to know the name and address of the person to receive them, and the expense account, fund, sub and object to be charged for the $2.50 collection service charge.
Invoice numbers are 6-digit numbers, such as 234123. A valid invoice number must appear on each invoice issued to ensure correct posting to the General Ledger and to identify the invoice for collection efforts. To obtain invoice numbers, contact General Accounting. Blocks of invoice numbers may be reserved for your department's use.
The assignment of invoice numbers is coordinated through a central point to avoid duplication, which would skew aging of the campus receivables portfolio. For example, an old invoice with a small balance remaining on the books will cause any new activity associated with the same invoice number to be combined as a total and aged at the date of the older invoice. Duplicate invoice numbers also complicate the process of research and proper payment application.
For years the University invoice standard form was a no-carbon-required multiple-part form. If you still have these forms in your department, we will accept them for processing while your supply lasts. Extra copies ("Cashier", "Accounting", and all 3 notices), which are no longer needed, should be discarded (by shredding, if filled in) before forwarding your completed invoices to Campus Billing Services.
Campus Billing Services has an application for creating University invoices using Microsoft Excel. We recommend using our application, as the forms generated conform to University standards. The application features a convenient data entry sheet that automates keying information and printing hard copies. You may also save invoice data to your hard drive, if desired. To obtain our invoice preparation application, contact Campus Billing Services.
If you prefer, you may create your own computer-generated forms, provided they conform to the current University standards:
Use this example of a blank invoice form to assist you in creating a useable form.
Three copies of every invoice must be issued, and labeled as follows:
Actually, let's back up a little, and talk first about you. Be sure to tell us things like your department name and number, as well as the name and phone number of the preparer, and the assigned invoice number. If we need to contact you to decipher an invoice, it will save us all a lot of time if we can find you quickly to obtain additional information in order to get your bill paid.
It is extremely important to provide corporate purchase order, requisition number, or authorization voucher numbers and as much information as possible in the description section of each invoice. These provide documentation for the timely processing of payments and aid in research if an invoice becomes past due.
Please include the name of the individual contracting the services or the person for whom they were provided in the description, but for clarity and to aid in research of general ledger items, the name of the company being billed should precede the contact person's name on the "Charged To" section. This may seem self-explanatory, but it causes confusion, sometimes. The top line in the "Charged To" section is used for alphabetical sorting, so the name on that line should be the organization being billed, not the contact person.
Think for a minute about organizations like the Veteran's Administration. We need to know that it is the VA being billed, and perhaps the division name or number, so that we send the bill to the correct department and address, but the fact that John Smith ordered the services is merely important, not critical. If we were looking for this account or invoice, we need to look under VA, not under Smith; he could quit his job. If you have insufficient room for everything in the "Charged To" section of the invoice, place important information like Smith's name in the "Description of Charge" section of the invoice. Don't leave it out, but it shouldn't be shown as the entity being charged.
Here are examples of completed invoices, showing both critical and helpful information:
A reminder from General Accounting:
When you prepare invoices, you must specify the account and fund where your department's income will be credited. Accounting procedures require that an income account and fund should be used to record income from invoiced goods and services. Expense accounts, especially salary subs 01 and 02, should never be used to record income, even though that income may serve to offset the expenses of a given project. Your income account should be linked to a specially designated expense account and/or sub to record expenses of a given project.List the name of your income account to indicate where you want your credit to go. Also fill in the account and fund number information, making certain to fill in the sub and object slots if they are applicable to the account you are using. What you place in this section of your invoice will dictate which of your general ledger accounts will be credited for the income from your invoice. Source and project fields are optional in most cases, and may be used at your discretion.
You will not receive reports during those months when your department has no new activity or unpaid invoices. When there is monthly activity, your designated contact person will receive a bill for the $2.50-per-invoice charges, plus a list of invoices for which you are being billed, and a list of any unpaid invoices for your department. During periods of write-off review, special notes on your regular reports will advise you of potential candidates for write-off, and allow you to do budget planning for the inevitable debit reversing the income for these items.
The contact person listed on monthly reports is the person last designated by your department to receive this information. The account and fund used to cover the collection service charges should be a general expense account, and is specified by you when we set up your department number. Any changes of contact person and account/fund, or questions about the reports should be directed to Campus Billing Services.
The Outstanding Invoices list in an effective tool for your department, telling you who pays on time and who does not. It might "tickle" an inquiry on your part by pointing out the fact that an old invoice should have been canceled, or may have been paid at the department, without the Central Cashier's office being notified. It serves as a check and balance for your billings, and provides an excellent means to identify patrons or clients who should be denied services for non-payment, and thereby head off future collection problems. It also serves as a planning tool, advising you of impending drains on your income due to write-offs.
The two-digit BILLSTAT (billing status) column is a key to aging. Most invoices are due upon presentation, and age to past-due status based upon the document date. Invoices with a BS [billing status] from "00" (not yet due) to "22" (in default) fall within the statement period. Three statements are sent during this period, as each invoice ages from 30 to 60 to 90 days past due, with increasingly larger collection charges added with each billing, (total late charges not to exceed the invoiced amount).
Billstat"13" indicates a records hold, placed and released at the discretion of departments. These are notations almost always related to a financial obligation and place a kind of "negative credit status" on the account, to gain a student's attention. Until he contacts the department and fulfills the necessary requirements, he cannot pay fees, obtain transcripts or receive his diploma.
Billstat"30"indicates statements are no longer automatically issued for a particular invoice, although newer invoices on the account may still generate a consolidated statement showing older invoices. Any billstat over "10" typically renders a negative credit status, and student services are withheld. Periodic statements are created for billstat "30" items, with occasional follow-up calls or letters, as well.
A billstat of"37", "38" or "39"are in the review and write-off process, and these deserve your special attention. Any assistance or information you can provide to expedite collection will be appreciated. These are the billstats to watch for; they are scheduled for write-off and have a potential to become income drains when they are charged back to your department.
A billstat in the"40+" range indicates that a special payment agreement has been negotiated by Campus Billing Services for this invoice. Depending on the arrangement, student services may or may not be withheld until payments are completed.
"50+"
indicates special handling, including disputed items. An invoice coded for special handling will not produce a routine billing statement; these are suppressed.Invoices coded in the"80+" series are amounts covered by pending bankruptcies. Campus policy calls for these to be carried on the books until the bankruptcy action is dismissed or the debts are discharged, at which time they are written off and the department is debited for the loss.
The last column of the report represents the due date, which may not be the same as the original document date, using emergency loans as an example. If these dates differ, the due date is the date on which the aging (past due status) is calculated in the ARC system.
Once bills are written off they no longer appear on your outstanding invoices list, as they are no longer carried on the campus general ledger. We continue to carry them in the accounts receivable system, and continue our efforts to collect on them. If these items are paid after being written off, the recovered income goes directly into your department's income account, less any applicable collection agency commissions.
Campus Billing Services is pleased to assist you with a variety of billing concerns.
