Cash Posting Order (CPO) Procedures for
Campus Departments
Background and Purpose
Cash Posting Orders (CPOs) are the tool used to move cash between Sac State and
either another CSU campus or the Chancellor's Office (CO). Any transfer between two
or more CSU campuses or Sac State and the CO should be processed with a CPO. All
CPO transfers should be requested through the Accounting Services Office.
Examples of CPO’s:
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Travel reimbursements from the CO
Payments to another campus for conference registration
Reimbursements by CO or other CSU campus for a portion of salary
Contacts
The first point of contact for a Sac State department should always be the following
Accounting Services Office staff:
Jennifer Barrett (x86019 or barrettj@csus.edu)
Nicole Sharkey (x87438 or sharkeyn@csus.edu)
Chancellor's Office - Financial Services - Accounting
Steps to request a CPO
In general, the campus who will be receiving the cash should initiate the CPO request
as it is assumed that this campus would have most of the information needed.
However, this rule is not hard and fast. As long as communication is very clear on who
will initiate the CPO request, it is ok to have either campus begin the process. The goal
is to do only one CPO. Two CPO's or no CPO would only cause more work for everyone
to correct.
1. Campus department gathers the following information:
a. Contact phone number and email addresses for departmental and accounting
personnel involved from both campuses involved in the agreement.
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b. Any documentation that will provide sufficient details to calculate the dollar
amount to be transferred, the time period covered, and what is being paid
for. This can take the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU),
memos, email string, or other document. Note: A CPO can only be processed
for the current fiscal year. If an agreement spans more than one fiscal year, a
new CPO request will need to be initiated by the Sac State department at the
beginning of the new year.
c. Approval/acceptance of the amount to be charged from the campus that will
be paying. This can take many forms. It can be a signature on an MOU or an
email from an employee authorized to approve expenditures.
d. Chartstring where charges should be posted or where credit should be posted
when the final CPO is received.
Campus department forwards above information and backup documents via email to
the Accounting Services Office. Jennifer Barrett and Nicole Sharkey are the
Accounting Services contacts, as noted above.
Accounting Services Office reviews information and requests more information if
necessary.
Once the information is complete, Accounting Services Office prepares a CPO
request form, attaches the appropriate documents and contact information, and
submits via email to the CO. Accounting will typically copy the Sac State
department when the email request is sent to the CO.
The CO-Accounting Office reviews the documents provided and gets approval from
either the CO-other department or from the other campus using the contact
information provided on the CPO request.
The CO generates the final CPO and distributes to the campuses involved.
Campuses affected by the CPO post to the General Ledger (G/L) using the
chartstring provided earlier in the process.
At Sac State, a CPO journal entry (JE) will always be posted using JE number “9”.
The naming convention is MMMYY0009#. The # equals the next available letter
(starting with A going to Z). The month, year and date will come from the CPO. For
example, if the CPO is dated 2/22/13 then the JE will be FEB130009# dated
2/22/13.
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Examples of CPO’s
Example #1 - Travel Reimbursement Process through CO (or other CSU)
1. Employee gets confirmation that the Chancellor’s Office (CO) will reimburse for
travel. This usually is for the employee to travel to the CO for CO or systemwide
business. The CO will usually provide an email or other document showing preapproval for reimbursement of travel expenses and any conditions/restrictions
that might apply. (e.g. CO will only reimburse up to a certain dollar amount or
for mileage and airfare only)
2. Employee travels to CO to perform work and retains all receipts.
3. Employee submits receipts, approved travel reimbursement form, and any other
required documents to Sac State-A/P for reimbursement. BE SURE TO CHECK
BOX AT BOTTOM OF TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENT FORM THAT SAYS “Dept to be
reimbursed by Chancellor’s Office”
4. Sac State-Accounts Payable (AP) office pays employee claim form and forwards
the claim and supporting documents to Sac State-Accounting Services (to
Jennifer Barrett or Nicole Sharkey.) AP knows to do this because reimbursement
box is checked.
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5. Accounting Services prepares CPO request, attaches supporting documents, and
forwards to the CO’s Accounting Office. Accounting should copy Sac Statedepartment and CO-department or other CSU to advise that CPO request is
pending.
6. CO Accounting Office secures approval from either another CO department or
from another CSU.
7. CO generates final CPO and sends to appropriate campuses.
8. Sac State-Accounting Services posts the travel reimbursement as abatement to
the same chartstring where the employee was reimbursed from originally. The
net effect of the original travel payment to the employee and the CPO
reimbursement is zero. There should be no net increase or decrease to the
department for a travel reimbursement unless the CO only reimburses a portion
of the expenditure.
a. The CPO journal entry (JE) will always be posted using JE number “9”.
The naming convention is MMMYY0009#. The # equals the next available
letter (starting with A going to Z). The month, year and date will come
from the CPO. For example, if the CPO is dated 2/22/13 then the JE will
be FEB130009# dated 2/22/13.
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Example #2 - Conference Hosted by Sac State and Attended by Other CSU or CO
Employees
1. Sac State department makes all conference arrangements and compiles a final
list of attendees.
2. Sac State department waits until after the registration close date and then
submits to Sac State-Accounting Services a final list of attendees. This can take
the form of copies/scans of the conference registration forms that were
completed by the other campuses or it could be a list of attendees, with campus,
and maybe even a sign in sheet. We are looking for some sort of
agreement/proof that the other campus would attend the conference and pay
the fee. We wait until after close of registration so that we can do one CPO
request rather than multiple requests.
Sac State department also includes a chartstring where expenditures for the
conference were, or will be, posted. When the final CPO is received, the
reimbursement and the expenditures should be matched up in the same
chartstring.
3. Sac State Accounting Services prepares CPO request and forwards to COAccounting along with backup documents. Sac State-Accounting Office should cc
the department when CPO Request is sent.
4. CO generates final CPO and sends to all appropriate campuses.
5. Sac State-Accounting Office posts credit (incoming money) to the chartstring
provided by the department where expenditures for the conference were
originally posted. Sac State-Accounting Office notifies the department that the
final CPO has been posted. Department can find reimbursement on their records
by looking for a journal ID like MMMYY0009# (E.g. DEC120009A or
MAR130009F). The month and year come from the date on the final CPO.
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Example #3 - CO or other CSU Campus reimburses Sac State for a portion of Salary
1. Sac State employee (usually a faculty member) gathers together information on
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reimbursement.
Typical information needed:
a. Employee Name.
b. Employee campus ID.
c. Time frame of work to be provided to CO or other campus.
e.g. Fall 2012, Spring 2013, or specific dates
d. Scope of work to be provided.
e. How much will be reimbursed. The calculations for amounts to be
reimbursed are often provided or assisted by Sac State Budget Office.
f. Documentation of above showing approval by CO or campus
providing the reimbursement. This can take the form of an MOU or
emails or can include a Release Time Calculation Sheet (provided by the
Sac State Budget Office.)
g. Chartstring where employee is paid.
Sac State employee provides above information to their department or college
staff responsible for Human Resources (HR) transactions.
Department/college staff is responsible for collaborating with the HR
and Budget Offices on calculations and securing additional pay for the
employee (if this applies.)
Once all of the details are worked out and documented, the department forwards
the information to Accounting Services. All supporting backup documents should
be attached to an email request to the Accounting staff.
Accounting staff will review the documents and request further information and
backup as needed.
When all information has been received, Accounting will create a CPO request
and send it to the CO Accounting Office for processing. Sac State-Accounting
should cc the department staff when the CPO is sent.
CO reviews CPO request and generates the final CPO. CO sends to appropriate
campuses involved.
Sac State Accounting Services posts the final CPO as an abatement (credit) to
the same chartstring from where employee was originally paid.
Accounting Office notifies the department that the final CPO has been posted.
Department can find reimbursement on their records by looking for a journal ID
like MMMYY0009# (E.g. DEC120009A or MAR130009F). The month and year
come from the date on the final CPO.
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