SERVICE CENTERS
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Service Center Definition:
A unit that performs specific technical or
administrative services primarily for the
internal operations of the university and
charges users for its services.
A service center can be authorized to provide
services to external customers.
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OMB Circular A-21
• Requires that all costs be reasonable,
allowable, allocable and consistently
treated.
• Contains a list of allowable and
unallowable costs.
• Unallowable costs cannot be budgeted or
expensed on service center accounts.
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Specialized Service Facility
(SSF)
A service center that offers highly complex
or specialized services that are not readily
available from outside sources – for
example, animal care facilities.
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Service Centers
•
•
•
•
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Facilities
Telephone Services
General Stores
Core lab facilities
Electron Microscope Research Ctr
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Billing Rates/User Fees
• Customer Base
• General Guidelines for Rates
• Key Compliance Issues
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Customer Base
• Internal
– University Departments
– Sponsored Programs
• External
– Those who do not have a university account
number
– Industry
– Students, faculty or staff acting in a personal
capacity
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Billing Rates – Internal Users
• All internal customers must be charged
the same rate for the same level of
service under the same circumstances.
• Federal grants or contracts must be
charged a rate equal to or lower than the
rate charged to any other customer.
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Billing Rates – Internal Users
• Rates must be designed to recover the
direct costs of the services or goods.
• Rates cannot be marked up to
accumulate reserves.
• Rates must break even over time.
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Surplus
Must be used to adjust future billing rates.
• Used to purchase equipment? No
• Used to fund salary increases? No
• Transferred to other activities
unrelated to the center?
No
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Billing Rates – External Users
• Recover all costs – and
• Include a surcharge equal to the current
approved F+A rate.
• Rates cannot constitute unfair
competition.
• External customers cannot be charged
less than internal customers or the
Federal government.
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Federal Concerns
• Administrative
– Inadequate policies and procedures.
– Records not retained by the Service Center
for a period of 5 years.
– Fund balance not properly monitored.
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Federal Concerns
• Administrative
– Surplus funds were transferred to other
university accounts.
– Surplus funds were used for purposes
unrelated to center activities.
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Federal Concerns
• Billing Rates
– Cost studies not done to insure that rates
represented actual costs.
– Unallowable costs were included in the
rates.
– Rates not adjusted to eliminate operating
surpluses and deficits.
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Federal Concerns
• Billing Rates
– Some users billed at reduced rates and the
federal programs subsidized the difference.
– Surplus balances not always used to
reduce future rates.
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Administrative Operational
Guidelines
Establishment and Financial Management of
Authorized Service Centers and
Specialized Service Facilities
https://rowdyspace.utsa.edu/xythoswfs/webui/_
xy-86089_1-t_wcQmjthn
Or
https://www.utsa.edu/grants/
March 2008
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