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1 Apr 2015: University Payment System (UPS) Payments These are payments made to adjudicators, examiners, and lecturers etc who are not on the University Payroll. These payments are made online through UPS, and should be input by one person and authorised by an

23 Jul 2015: There are four common reasons why actual expenditure or income will show a variance against the budget. 1. The cost is more (or less) than budgeted Budgets are prepared in advance and can only ever estimate income and expenditure. There are usually

12 Aug 2015: The VAT treatment of research income will differ depending on the nature of the arrangements and the parties involved. The Research Operations Office will determine the appropriate VAT rate for each grant as the VAT status impacts both the research

10 Aug 2015: Module closes at 5pm on Friday 30 August ON THIS PAGE Summary of tasks Key dates CUEF sales/purchases Process and reconcile petty cash Credit card expenditure Budget Freeze Chest Allocation Holdback Mechanism Monies on deposit Accruals Unearned

2 Apr 2015: The Development and Alumni Relations office (CUDAR) is the University's designated office equipped to deal with donations, including donations destined for individual departments. For this reason, donations should always wherever possible be

2 Apr 2015: Donation income For the purposes of these procedures, "donation income" can include any of: gifts benefactions bequests legacies grants made by charitable trusts grants made by Government departments and agencies This does not include HEFCE inco

4 Sep 2015: Principally EZXX for transfer of expenditure and LXBB for transfer of income. Transfer codes Use with caution Refer to Best Practice Guide 3 or your Finance Adviser Latest version 01 May 2024

5 Aug 2015: Some departments operate a single card for online and overseas purchases.

5 Aug 2015: The Accounts Payable Team, Finance Division arranges payment. Statements are sent directly to the cardholders’ home address, as provided on the application form, from the credit card service provider.

2 Apr 2015: Financial Regulation 14.2 Heads of Department must ensure that: donation accounts and trust funds are maintained in credit; funds are applied for the public benefit for charitable, educational or research purposes only; and any Ordinances or

10 Aug 2015: Module closes at 5 pm on Tuesday 27 August Essential Tasks Final date for completion Review Fixed Asset Register Mon 12 Aug Physically verify assets Mon 12 Aug Notify FA Helpdesk of disposals or amendments Mon 12 Aug Return FA register to Fixed

18 Aug 2015: The University’s STCs and the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 allow us to charge interest and fees on overdue debt. In deciding whether to charge interest, consider the relationship with the customer and the reason for

2 Apr 2015: To be classed as a donation or grant, a receipt of funds or assets must have been freely given, with no consequent obligation on the University to provide goods or services to the benefit of the donor.

5 Aug 2015: Expenditure without supporting receipts/vouchers may be considered by HM Revenue & Customs as a taxable benefit and therefore details should be submitted to the Payroll Section at the end of May for the previous tax year (ending 5 April) as part of

18 Aug 2015: Any decision to take legal action should only be made as a last resort having fully considered the appropriateness, reputational and cost implications to your institution and the University.

23 Jul 2015: Income and expenditure on Trust Funds can be monitored using the Cognos General Ledger reports. However, there is a specific report for Trust Funds which summarises the purpose, performance, and activity of each Trust Fund.

6 Aug 2015: An overview The University’s financial year end is 31 July, the date being set by the Office for Students (OfS) and it applies to all higher education institutions.

4 Sep 2015: These are only allocated with permission from the Finance Division. They are specific reserves that arise from budget allocations for specific large projects, e.g. CAMSIS. They are sometimes referred to as sinking funds.

17 Aug 2015: It is recommended the Incomplete Invoices report is run regularly, but the following procedures must be completed by month-end: Run the Incomplete Invoices Report which lists all transactions that have not been completed and require further action (i

17 Aug 2015: Customer receipts The UFS system is not capable of producing receipts for customers. Therefore, if a customer requests a receipt, you can provide written confirmation of receipt by email, pre-printed duplicate receipt pad or printed document.

12 Aug 2015: The costs detailed below are either imported into CUFS or generated with a grants process by Research Accounting. This is done at month end (usually during the last week of the month) before the Grants module closes. The monthly timetable is updated

23 Jul 2015: In some instances, accrued surpluses may be utilised to resolve accounts that have gone into deficit. It is critical to identify how the surplus has arisen and whether there are rules concerning how those funds may be used (e.g. specific donations

18 Aug 2015: Customers who do not, or cannot, make full payment by the due date may request an extension to the agreed credit terms. The most common proposal is to make payment by instalments.

23 Jul 2015: If a budget is overspent the first thing to do is investigate the reasons for the over-spend. If the over-spend is the consequence solely of a timing difference, then no immediate action is likely to be required.

5 Aug 2015: Cardholders are responsible for ensuring all transactions are processed in Concur by 15th of the month following the transaction. The transactions must be supported by receipts/invoices. HM Revenue & Customs may consider un-receipted transactions to

5 Aug 2015: Departments are responsible for the coding and authorisation of University credit card expenditure in Concur. Additionally, the spend should have the relevant VAT classification selected. This includes VAT and Services Tax in a similar manner to AP

17 Aug 2015: A collections strategy that is appropriate to your institution and customers must be developed and recorded for all your debts. The credit risk sections covered in Pre-sales can be used as a guide, specifically types of customers and types of

23 Jul 2015: It is always important to have a clear picture of financial plans, both income and expenditure. The Financial Regulations state that “Heads of Institutions are authorised to incur expenditure not exceeding the limits of funds available to the

5 Aug 2015: The University’s credit card procedures aim to ensure: • Departments accurately account for their expenditure on credit cards. • Control is maintained over the nature and level of expenditure. • Adherence to the University’s purchasing

2 Apr 2015: Often departmental activities will be funded from a variety of sources that may include one or more donations. Where these costs do not relate to either research grant or trading activity there may be some discretion as to where these are charged.

17 Aug 2015: It is the responsibility of the institution to ensure checks have been made to substantiate customer claims before refunding. Written authorisation from Head of Institution or delegated authority should be received and retained for audit purposes.

5 Aug 2015: Where a University employee is required to incur expenditure on University business, a cash advance may be made to assist in covering this expenditure. Standard forms (which must be used), are available for this purpose. A request for a cash advance

5 Aug 2015: Completed Action Check each transaction has supporting documentation.

31 Mar 2015: Each department should make one or more persons responsible for the fixed assets. Their duties would include: Regular checks to ensure that assets are being correctly maintained. Notification to Fixed Asset Helpdesk of any assets disposals.

17 Aug 2015: Credit control is an important process that establishes controls both pre- and post-sale to ensure the timely recovery of income owed to the University. The objective is to optimise cashflow and minimise the risks of non-settlement, which become

4 Sep 2015: These are for Finance Division use only. These Sources of Funds show fixed asset capitalisation and depreciation movements. University policy is that we only capitalise and depreciate assets over £30,000 in value. Depreciation is calculated and

12 Aug 2015: The following tasks should be undertaken monthly to ensure that expenditure posted and subsequently claimed from the sponsor is correct. Review expenditure posted to your department suspense grants and re-post expenditures to clear the department

17 Aug 2015: Occasionally an institution may make a sale to a customer who operates a self-billing process. This is where the customer generates a sales invoice on our behalf and is typically followed up with a payment. It is common in the agricultural and

17 Aug 2015: Prior to any sale being made, institutions must establish whether VAT needs to be charged for the supply of good or service to this specific customer. To ensure the correct tax treatment is used for a sale, the following information must be

12 Aug 2015: Departments must not transfer funds into a research grant or directly code income from a sponsor to a grant code. Collecting monies due from sponsors is undertaken by the Credit Control team in Research Accounting. However, there may be occasions

1 Apr 2015: As part of the month end procedures, the Finance Division will credit the interest due to any trust fund accounts holding money on deposit. This credit will appear in the trust fund account against the transaction code NBAA, and will be available to

1 Apr 2015: Spendable capital units can be bought and/or sold as required at the end of the following quarters: September December March June Requests must be received by the Trust Funds Assistant at least two weeks before the last working day of the month.

31 Mar 2015: Departments have the responsibility to ensure all new asset purchases are uniquely tagged by a numbered security tag. This should contain a unique number to allow the asset to be tied up to the details on the asset register. It will allow for a

4 Sep 2015: Sometimes departments and trust managers may wish to appropriate (transfer) funds from a trust, for example: where funds need to be appropriated to another department; or where the fund expenditure is large or spread across a number of activities

6 Aug 2015: Gift Aid is a procedure where the University can reclaim from HM Revenue & Customs the basic rate of income tax on a donation given to the University by an individual. Currently the University is able to increase the value of the donation by 25%.

1 Apr 2015: Some trust funds have managers in more than one department. These funds are therefore mapped to Central Administration and are listed under "General" when the Annual Accounts are published in the University Reporter.

17 Aug 2015: As institutions may not receive notification from the customer prior to the payment appearing in the bank account, you must review the twice weekly sterling, dollar and euro electronic payment lists distributed by the Cash Management (CM) Team.

2 Apr 2015: Where departments receive donations directly in the form of cash and/or cheque then these should be forwarded to CUDAR for processing. CUDAR will then take responsibility for the banking of monies and receipting on UFS. If appropriate they will

1 Apr 2015: Overheads are charged on trust funds that have been set up since 1995 where the fund is paying for a specific post or posts if the regulations of the fund permit. Trust funds set up from May 2007 onwards, are charged 30% overheads on staff costs.

10 Aug 2015: Module closes at 5 pm on Monday 19 August On this page: Essential tasks Key dates Clear funds check failures and exceptions Correct VAT errors Clear suspense grants Post EC PI Time journals Finalise and release all Research Grants journals