- Ohio Northern University

Ohio Northern University

Fiscal Administration Procedures

Billing, Collections and Cash Management

Procedure1: Student Billing Procedures

Section 1: Fee Table

Section 2: Registration

Section 3: Bursar Review

Section 4: Student Course Fees

Section 5: Miscellaneous Scholarship Posting Activity

Section 6: Music Major Adjustments

Section 7: Housing and Meal Charges

Section 8: Student Financial Aid Adjustments

Section 9: Remission Postings

Section 10: Generation of Student Bills

Section 11: Monthly Student Billing

Procedure 2: Payments Received (Student and Other)

Section 1: Mailed in Payments

Section 2: Over the Counter Items

Section 3: Electronic Payments

Section 4: Over the Phone

Section 5: Assigned Transactions

Procedure 3: Payment Options and Advance Payment Plans

Section 1: Monthly Tuition Payment Plans

Section 2: Advance Deposits

Procedure 4: Miscellaneous Accounts Receivable / Billing

Procedure 5: Returned Checks

Procedure 6: Housing and Meal Plan Billings

Section 1: General Information

Section 2: Housing

Section 3: Meals

Procedure 7: Polar Card Use and Billing

Procedure 8: Student Refunds

Procedure 9: Late Fees, Finance Charges and Holds

Section 1: Tuition Related

Section 2: Graduate Holds

Section Related Forms

Budgeting and Accounting

Procedure 1: Operational Budget Preparation Process

Procedure 2: Capital Budgeting

Procedure 3: Project and Construction Budgeting

Procedure 4: Tuition and Fee Annual Increases

Procedure 5: Budget Monitoring

Procedure 6: Capital Carryover

Procedure 7: Gift Acceptance and Processing

Section 1: Monetary Gifts

Section 2: Gifts in Kind

Section 3: Day End Processing

Procedure 8: University Investments

Section 1: Investment Types

Section 2: Investment Processing

Procedure 9: Day, Month, Quarter, Semi-Annual and Year End Processing

Section 1: Daily Cashiering Sessions and Cash Drawers

Section 2: Daily Reconciliations and Subsequent Reviews

Section 3: Month End Processes

Section 4: Quarterly Processes

Section 5: Semi Annual Processes

Section 6: Year End Processes


Procurement and Other General Services

Procedure 1: Procurement

Section 1: General Purchasing Process

Section 2: Open Purchase Orders

Section 3: Purchase Under Price Agreement

Section 4: Credit Cards in Purchasing Department

Section 5: Office Supply Purchasing

Section 6: Reference Number System

Procedure 2: Credit Card Administration and Processing

Section 1: Credit Card Administration

Section 2: Credit Card Processing

Procedure 3: Accounts Payable

Section 1: Establishing a New Vendor

Section 2: Processing Requests for Payment

Section 3: Check Runs

Procedure 4: Manual Check Processing

Procedure 5: Petty Cash

Procedure 6: Travel Expenses

Procedure 7: Moving Expenses

Procedure 8: Faculty Enrichment

Procedure 9: Electronic Banking Transactions


Payroll and Human Resources

Procedure 1: Payroll Processing

Section 1: Hourly Employee Time Sheets

Section 2: Student Payroll

Section 3: Monthly Payroll Processes

Procedure 2: Human Resources Processing

Section 1: New Hires

Section 2: Change in Wage Rates, Benefit Status, etc.


Financial Aid

Procedure 1: Scholarships

Section 1:

Dean’s and Invitational Scholarships

Section 2: Outside Scholarships

Procedure 2: FAFSA Review

Procedure 3: Award Letters

Procedure 4: Returning Student Scholarship Review

Procedure 5: Student No-Shows

Procedure 6: Student Course Add/Drops

Procedure 7: Student Withdrawal

Procedure 8: Student Loan Processing

Procedure 9: Parent PLUS Loan Processing

Procedure 10: Perkins and Health Professional Loans

Procedure 11: Partial Student Loan Refunds

Procedure 12: University Loans

Section 1: General University Short Term Loans

Section 2: Pierstorf Loans

Section 3: Schell or Schmidlapp Loans

Section 4: Elzay Loans

Section 5: Bonfiglio and Schertzer Pharmacy Loans

Section 6: Law College Loans

Procedure 13: Other Loans

Procedure 14: School as Lender

Procedure 15: Student Award Draw Downs

Procedure 16: Federal Work Study Monitoring

Procedure 17: Non-Traditional Pharmacy Testing


IT

Procedure 1: Software in Use

Section 1:

Section 2:

Section 3:

Adirondak

CBORD

Banner

Section 4: Touchnet

Billings, Collections and Cash Management

Table of Contents

Procedure 1: Student Billing Procedures .........................................................................

Procedure 2: Payments Received (Student and Other) ....................................................

Procedure 3: Payment Options and Advance Payment Plans ..........................................

Procedure 4: Miscellaneous Accounts Receivable/Billing ..............................................

Procedure 5: Returned Checks .........................................................................................

Procedure 6: Housing and Meal Plan Billings .................................................................

Procedure 7: Polar Card use and Billing ..........................................................................

Procedure 8: Student Refunds ..........................................................................................

Procedure 9: Late Fees, Finance Charges and Holds .......................................................

Section Related Forms……………………………………………………………………

BILLINGS, COLLECTIONS and CASH MANAGEMENT

Procedure 1: Student Billing Procedures

1.

Fee Schedules a.

Ohio Northern University’s tuition and fee schedules are updated annually and are made available to the students through college catalogs and other publications. b.

Once the tuition and fee schedule has been approved by the Board, it is issued to the Bursar. The Bursar submits a request to the Registrar’s Office to update the fee tables with the approved fees for the year.

2.

Registration a.

Students complete and get approval on their course registration form register during a defined two-week period. Traditionally, students are assigned a registration period.



Online registration: Students may register online at any time during the registration period as long as there is not a hold placed on their account.

Online registrations occur in LUMINUS which performs a direct information feed to Banner. Online registrations require no input by the Registrar’s

Office.

 Registrar’s Office registration: Students go to the Registrar’s Office.

Personnel in the Registrar’s Office input the information from the course registration form on to Banner. When registration input has been completed, the student is given the pink copy of the registration form as indication their courses were input into Banner.



Late Registration: Registration that occurs after the two week window has closed and bills have been generated and issued. In the event a late registration occurs, the Registrar’s Office sends the yellow copy of the course registration form to the Bursar to initiate processing of a bill.



Registration for an overbooked course: Students must obtain a registration override form, signed by the course instructor before the Registrar’s Office will place the course on the system.

3.

Bursar Review a.

Upon the completion of the two week student registration process, the Bursar begins obtaining and reviewing the information that is being utilized to generate student billing statements. The Bursar runs the following reports to start the process of building the bill:

Procedure Date: February 2007

Approved by: Vice President of Financial Affairs

NOTE: There are two clear differences in the bills generated. The first billing generated at the end of a defined registration period is generated for and distributed to each and every student enrolled at the University. Subsequent monthly billings are only generated for students with outstanding balances.



Banner report indicating the number of students registered and what their proposed tuition charges are (includes both full time and part time students).

The report remains in ‘audit mode’ throughout the review process. Once the report is received, the Bursar selects three students from each of the colleges

(law, pharmacy, etc) and performs recalculations to ensure tuition based upon their enrollment is calculating correctly. If an error is identified, the Bursar corrects the rate code listed in Banner.



Banner report to obtain a list of all part time students (established as students with less than 12 credit hours). The Bursar selects three students from each of the colleges and performs recalculations to ensure tuition based upon their enrollment is calculating correctly. If an error is identified, the Bursar corrects the rate code listed in Banner.



Banner report (Billed vs. Credit Hour) that indicates all students with differences in their billed hours in comparison to the number of hours they are registered for. The review of this report is critical for subsequent student financial aid processing. The system does not currently consider enrollment in courses such as choir or band as a true credit hour in the billing system – that way, anyone with a heavy full time load of traditional courses, would not be required to pay for ‘overload’ credit hours simply to participate in the choir. On the other hand, in the event a student is enrolled for 11 credit hours of traditional courses and enrollment in choir or some other ‘light’ course were to place the student at the full time 12 credit hour mark, the student will

4.

be enrolled as a full time student, but billed as a part time student. The Bursar accesses this student’s account and alters the account manually to reflect full time student billing status. This process brings the student up to a full time student status on the system and the student would then be automatically eligible for full time student financial aid status. Manual changes to student accounts are subsequently reviewed by personnel in Student Financial Aid.

Student Course Fees a.

The Bursar’s office establishes a table of specific courses and related fees. This table is established prior to the defined two week registration period. As students enroll for courses, student course fees will automatically post to their student account based upon the fee table. b.

The Bursar’s Office forwards any fee table change requests to the Registrar’s

Office. Personnel in the Registrar’s Office update the course fees as requested.

c.

When the enrollment period has ended, the Bursar runs the Batch Fee Assessment in update mode. This process prompts the system to update student accounts with the respective course fees. d.

Once the course fees have been distributed to student accounts, the Bursar compares the total amount of course fees that were identified in the audit mode to the total amount of course fees that exist once updates occur to ensure all fees listed appropriately hit the student accounts. e.

After the fee update has been performed successfully, the Bursar changes the

Banner Fee Indicator to ‘Online’ so that any future student account changes that affect fees for that particular quarter / term will automatically update when the change hits the system.

5.

Miscellaneous Scholarship Posting Activity

NOTE: Scholarship funds generally are not hard posted to student accounts until the funds are received. When the University is aware of an award it is entered into Banner as an expected award and is listed as such (unless received prior to the tuition billing process). a.

Student Financial Aid forwards a copy of each scholarship award notice to the

Controller’s Office. b.

Either Financial Aid or the Controller’s Office will place a comment on the student account indicating the expected award. c.

The award notices are retained in a file in the Controller’s Office and as awards come in, either through the mail or via electronic transfer, they are matched up to the award notice and posted to the respective student account. d.

If payment for the award is received through the mail, a Senior Bookkeeping

Specialist checks to see whether there is a comment on the student account, if the award is expected, the Specialist posts the award to the student account, receipts in the check, and forwards support for receipt of the funds to Financial Aid. If payment was not expected, the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist determines whether the entire payment should be posted to one term (if $1,000 or less) or whether it should be disbursed among all terms for the year ($1,001 and above). The Senior

Bookkeeping Specialist posts to the student account accordingly and receipts in the funds. If the funds were posted to one term, the support is routed to the student file. If the funds are to be posted to multiple terms, the documentation is retained in the Controller’s Office file to ensure subsequent postings occur.

e.

In the event the source of funds requests a bill or an invoice to support payment made or to prompt subsequent payment, the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist creates, prints, and sends invoices / billing statements. f.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist generates an invoice for any expected awards that have not been funded. g.

If a student has received a late fee posting prior to receipt of scholarship money, and would not have experienced that fee if the scholarship payment had been received, the processor will adjust the student’s associated late fees. h.

Types of Scholarships and nuances of processing:



Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation : The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist receives award reports from each county. The report lists the student and the dollar amount of the award the student will receive each quarter. In order to obtain the funds, the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist generates a billing statement after the 6th week of the term. The statement includes a list of students and the courses each is enrolled in. The statement prompts payment from the respective county. When payment is received, the Senior

Bookkeeping Specialist posts the payment to the respective student accounts and retains documentation to prompt subsequent quarterly processing.



Army, Airforce, ROTC, National Guard, VA and Armed Forces Tuition

Assistance: the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist prepares an invoice, along with a description of courses and any other requested information to the appropriate funding party. When funds come in, the Senior Bookkeeping

Specialist posts the funds to the respective student accounts. This information is retained in a notebook in the Bursar’s area for further quarterly processing.



US Embassy: The Controller’s Office receives an authorization from the U.S.

Embassy and posts to the student account based upon the authorization. In the sixth week of the term, the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist prepares an invoice with a list of students, registration information and indicator noting whether the student is involved in a bridge program, and sends the invoice out to the appropriate party. Once payment is received, the Senior Bookkeeping

Specialist posts it to the general ledger account.



Hauss Helms and George J. Records: the Controller’s Office receives a list of eligible students with dollar amounts of their awards. The Senior

Bookkeeping Specialist posts authorized amounts to student accounts. After the sixth week, the Bursar’s area of the Controller’s Office prepares an invoice with registration information and sends it out. Once payment is received, it is posted to the general ledger. Documentation is retained for subsequent quarterly postings.



Church funded portions of church matching grants: the Senior Bookkeeping

Specialist receives the notifications for these matching grants. The notifications are placed in a notebook file and posted to the student account only when payment is received from respective churches. Typically these checks contain payment for one quarter only, so once they are processed, the posting support is sent to the student file. If payment is for multiple quarters, the information is retained in the notebook for future quarterly payments. The most the school will provide for a match in the Church matching grant program is $2,000.



529 plans – after the add/drop period, the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist submits an invoice to each state participating including the student schedules for the quarter. This prompts payment and once the check is received, payment is posted to the student account.



Putnam Investments: the Bursar receives these checks without having to first prepare and submit an invoice. Once the check is received, it is posted to the student account and either forwarded to the student file or held in the Bursar’s area for subsequent quarterly postings.



Ohio Tuition Trust electronic credits: the Controller’s Office receives a fax listing of student names and amounts of Ohio Tuition Trust wire transfers.

After receipt of electronic funds has been verified, the Senior Bookkeeping

Specialist posts the amounts to student accounts.



Ohio Choice, Ohio Instructional Grant, Ohio College Opportunity Grant, Ohio

Academic Scholarship, War Orphans, and Pennsylvania Higher Education

Grant: the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist receives notification that funds are to be expected by wire transfer. Once funds are verified, she posts the wired amounts to the appropriate general ledger accounts. These awards are prefunded to student accounts. Michigan Education Trust – posted to student accounts once funds are received.



Robert Byrd Scholarship – the funds are posted to student accounts as they are received. Support for the awards is then sent to the student file.



Michigan Merit Award – this award is pre-funded to student accounts by

Student Financial Aid, so once the funds are received, the Senior

Bookkeeping Specialist deposits the funds and posts them to the ONU general ledger account.

6.

7.

c.

If errors are identified, the Bursar places a call to Residence Life and requests appropriate changes. d.

The Bursar will not close / clear the cashiering session until all of the housing and meal charges appear to be correct. e.

When the cashiering session is closed, the housing and meal charges are automatically posted to the general ledger.

8.

Student Financial Aid Adjustments a.

Student Financial Aid contacts the Bursar when financial award postings have been made to student accounts. b.

The Bursar reviews the cashiering report for this activity and performs a broad review to ensure all aid codes have been included in the report.

Music Major Adjustments a.

Prior to the final bill generation process, the Bursar obtains a list of all current music majors. Each person on the list is manually assessed a $75.00 term fee. b.

Once the music majors have been assessed a fee, the Bursar runs a student list for every student enrolled in individual music lessons. Each non-music major enrolled in each course is identified. The Bursar then accesses each of the nonmusic major’s accounts and assesses a $150 fee for each music lesson identified in the review.

Housing and Meal charges a.

The Bursar is notified of housing and meal charges when the cashiering session titled ‘Housing Manager’ is received. b.

The Bursar reviews the session by scrolling down through the information to be sure the rates appear correct and correspond to the rates published by the

University. The Bursar also reviews the session total to ensure it is a round figure. In the event there is anything but a round dollar total, further review of the file is performed to identify any small rounding errors. c.

If a code is missing, the Bursar phones Financial Aid to follow-up. d.

When the Bursar is confident all of the awards are included in the cashiering session, the session will be closed and all of the awards will be automatically fed to the general ledger.

9.

Remission Postings a.

ONU offers a tuition assistance package to employees and their dependants. b.

Each employee or dependant who intends on taking classes fills out a form to request remission. c.

The request is sent to the Bursar who reviews and approves the form. d.

Once the request is approved, the form is forwarded to the Senior Bookkeeping

Specialist who calculates the total amount due the student – which is $25.00

(2006-2007) per credit hour in tuition, plus any related fees. e.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist also posts the remission amount to the student account to adjust what they owe based on their credit hours. f.

Remission students are only allowed a refund of tuition for dropping a class on of the first day of classes, no refund is provided after that time. g.

Employees may add classes during the established add period and would then be assessed the $25 per credit hour tuition fee.

10.

Generation of Student Bills a.

The Bursar accesses the Billing Control Form on Banner. This form allows message entries. Any information included on the form will appear on each one of the student bills. For example: ‘This is your statement for Winter Quarter.

Payments are due on X/XX/XXXX.’ The Bursar updates the message and reviews it for accuracy. b.

The Bursar accesses the Billing Form and runs bills for the respective term; this process creates all student tuition billing statements. The Bursar performs a review of the bills that were generated by scrolling through the file. Two primary functions of the review include ensuring all student loan totals appear in the

‘anticipated’ credit column as these are subject to change and to ensure the number of bills created corresponds to the number of students with fees to ensure a bill exists for everyone. c.

The Bursar uploads the billing file to the Touchnet E-Bill system. If there is an error in the process, the Bursar receives an error notification stating ‘bill is not loaded’. Research is performed and the process is re-run. d.

When all of the bills have completed uploading, the Bursar ties the number of bills successfully uploaded from the E-Bill system to the total number of bills on the billing form report.

e.

While bills are uploading, students receive an email stating their bill is available for viewing. All students are given a primary ONU email account – where the messages are sent. Students access their billing statement by logging onto their

ONU Luminus account and clicking on the e-bill tab. Students may also include additional accounts for receipt of billing statements, but the ONU account must remain the primary account. f.

The return email for these email messages is established as Controller@ONU.edu

.

Both the Controller and the Bursar receive all auto-replies, account bounce backs, and inquiries from the email process. Messages that require response are delegated staff in the Bursar’s area for follow up.

11.

Monthly Tuition Billings a.

Monthly tuition billings are only sent to students with existing account balances. b.

After late payment, finance charges, or other miscellaneous manually fee postings are processed, the Bursar generates a billing file, reviews it for reasonableness and loads the file to Touchnet. (See initial tuition billing process as well.) c.

Once the file has fully uploaded to Touchnet, the Bursar ensures the number of bills recognized by Touchnet corresponds to the number listed in the Banner billing file. d.

Billing notifications are then submitted via email as stated previously.


Procedure 2: Payments Received (Student and Other)

Payments may come in to the University in one of four ways: mail, over the counter, electronically or over the phone.

1.

Mailed In Payments a.

Mail is first received by the Mail Room. b.

The received items are either routed to the Controller’s Office or to University

Advancement for primary processing. c.

Mail received by University Advancement is processed and input by that department before it is routed to the Controller’s office for final processing and ultimate deposit. d.

The Administrative Assistant in the Controller’s Office receives mail three times each day from the Mail Room and is sorted.

 All student payments are forwarded to a Cashier in the Bursar’s area of the

Controller’s Office.



Financial related items such as investment proceeds are forwarded to the

Controller.



Invoices are forwarded to Accounts Payable.



University credit / procurement card information is forwarded to the Senior

Bookkeeping Specialist or the Accountant. e.

Items sent to the Cashier

 The Cashier sorts the mail received from the Controller’s Office.



Scholarship information is forwarded to a Senior Bookkeeping

Specialist for processing.



Perkins Loan, Heath Professional Loan and short term loan information is also forwarded to a Senior Bookkeeping Specialist for processing.



The Accounting Assistant retains all items that should be posted to student accounts.





Investment transactions, budget information, grant related items, some gifts and other general miscellaneous items are forwarded to the Controller.

2.



In the event the Cashier receives payments related to University Advancement activities, they are sent directly to the University Advancement Office for initial processing.

Over the Counter Items a.

These are payments, made in person. All in-person transactions are collected by

Cashiers in the Bursar’s area of the Controller’s Office. b.

Each item is receipted in as it is received; funds are placed in a cash drawer with supporting documentation.



There are two cash drawers located at the over the counter area (miscellaneous and banner-student tuition).



One of the drawers is for Banner related cash and the other is for all other cash related items.



As payments are received, they are receipted, dated and the cash is placed in the respective cash drawer. c.

If checks are received, the transaction is receipted, and the checks along with the supporting documentation are placed in the cash drawer. d.

Cash drawers are balanced the following morning. e.

Once balanced, supporting documentation is routed for processing. Student payment related support is issued to the staff member who is primarily responsible for that item.

3.

f.

All other miscellaneous collections are processed by any cashier that is available.

Electronic Payments a.

Electronic payments are received daily via Touchnet. Touchnet is a third party service provider that accepts electronic based payments online and routes them to

ONU. b.

Touchnet payments automatically post to Banner daily. On a daily basis, the

Accounting Assistant receives the Touchnet electronic file each day, reviews the file information and balances the electronic Touchnet activity to Banner.

c.

A Senior Bookkeeping Specialist receives notifications for electronic funds transfers – typically wire transfers. If the transfer is for a student payment, the

Bookkeeper verifies funds have been received by the bank, posts the payment to the student account and forwards the wire support to the Accounting Assistant for daily balancing purposes.

4.

5.

d.

If notification of a wire transfer is related to University Advancement, the Senior

Bookkeeping Specialist verifies the transfer has been received by the bank, contacts University Advancement to obtain the appropriate posting information, posts the transaction and forwards posting information to the University

Advancement Office. A copy of the wire transfer information is also forwarded to the Accounting Assistant for daily balancing purposes.

Over the Phone a.

In some instances when the Touchnet site is down, a Cashier in the Bursar’s area will accept credit card payment over the phone. The caller provides their credit card information and the cashier runs it through the credit card terminal in the

Controller’s Office manually, posts the payment to the appropriate account and retains the support for daily balancing purposes.

Assigned Transactions a.

The Accounting Assistant manually receipts and posts the following payments to either Banner or Quick Books:



Student tuition



Advance Deposit payments



Northern Commitment options



Student fees



Rent for University Owned property



Retiree monthly insurance premium payments



Catering (Sodexo)



Facility rental



Child Development Center (CDC)



Student parking ticket payments – Banner b.

The Advanced Accounting Assistant posts the following items in Banner:



Student loans from various lenders to student accounts



Parent PLUS loans from various lenders to the general ledger c.

A Senior Bookkeeping Specialist manually receipts, tracks and posts the following items to student accounts:



Foreign wires for tuition payments



Parent PLUS loan funds to student accounts



Gifts and donations received that are related to student accounts are posted to an account that is directed by University Advancement

2.


Procedure 3: Payment Options and Advance Payment Plans

1.

Monthly tuition payment plans: a.

Students and families are given an opportunity to select a monthly tuition payment plan. The University offers two plans, a 10-month plan and a quarterly plan. Families are able to set up monthly payments to hit their credit cards or may opt to remit payment to the University monthly by check or Touchnet transfer. b.

In the event a family requests monthly payments to be assessed to their credit card, the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist retains a copy of their request at her desk.

Each month, credit card payments are manually input into a credit card terminal and payments are posted to the respective student accounts. c.

Payments received by check are posted and processed in the usual manner. (see above) d.

Payments received through Touchnet are processed in the usual manner. (see above)

Advance Deposits: a.

Students provide ONU with an advance deposit which is used to reserve their place in their college. b.

When student’s come in to make a $200 Advance Deposit, the Advanced

Accounting Assistant is responsible for creating a four part form with the payment information.



One form goes to the student, along with a receipt for payment



One form is sent along with the payment to the Accounting Assistant for input



One is sent to admissions to notify them of the commitment



One is sent to the college the student is entering



5.

3.

4.


Procedure 4: Miscellaneous Accounts Receivable / Billing

1.

Generally miscellaneous monthly billings are generated from information housed in

Banner, Quick Books or information received from various University departments.

2.

The miscellaneous billing process generally occurs on a monthly basis, but not all bills are prepared on the same day of the month.

Most miscellaneous billing information is retained in a bill book and on Quick Books.

Invoices for most items listed are generated in Quick Books.

Miscellaneous receivable billings are generated in the Controller’s Office. a.

Advanced Accounting Assistants are responsible for the following miscellaneous billings:



Unpaid parking tickets : any ticket that is five or more days old is delivered to the Advanced Accounting Assistant from Campus Security. The Advanced

Accounting Assistant posts the ticket to the student account based on the information posted on the ticket and adds an additional $5.00 late fee.



Ticket recipients may appeal a ticket. If an appeal is filed, the

Advanced Accounting Assistant reverses the ticket from the student account until a decision is made.



If the appeal is denied, the Advanced Accounting Assistant places the ticket charges back on the student account.



Voided unpaid parking tickets : if a student brings a void slip for a parking violation that is signed by Campus Security, the Advanced Accounting

Assistant reverses the charge from the student’s account.



W-Coil internet services: internet service charges for off campus users are posted to student accounts quarterly for undergrad and other quarter based students and twice per year for students running under the semester system.

Service is terminated after 3 months of non-payment. The University holds the account in QuickBooks for 3 additional months – assessing a 1.5% per month finance charge on the outstanding balance. If at the end of the 6 th month, the receivable is not being paid down, the account is charged off of

QuickBooks and is sent to Collections (outsourced).





Student insurance premiums : charges are posted to student accounts with the fall quarter batch billing, and any changes in the insurance assessments are posted each quarter or semester after the enrollment period has expired.



Students may opt out of participation in student insurance if they fill out the Student Medical Plan waiver form and send it back with the policy number of their current insurance and a statement that they are currently insured.



As the Advanced Accounting Assistant receives insurance waivers, she manually removes the charges from student accounts.



Acordia billings – ONU receives health care charges from MediLab, the lab that processes results for the campus based Health Center. ONU pays

MediLab for the lab charges. After the Accounting Assistant pays the

MediLab bill, she prepares a bill for Acordia (ONU insurance provider) for reimbursement. b.

The Accounting Assistant is responsible for preparing and sending out bills for the following:



Child Development Center (CDC) – charges are based upon a report received from the CDC indicating the students and attendance for the month. These bills are generated in Quick Books on the 20 th

of each month and are due within 30 days. If not paid timely, a 1.5% finance charge on the outstanding balance is applied. If the balance is outstanding past the second billing period, the Accounting Assistant prepares a written notice to the party indicating attendance is no longer available to them. The Accounting Assistant routes a copy of this notice to the CDC. Receivables stay in aging until they are between 90-180 days past due. They are then charged off in QuickBooks and sent to Collections (outsourced).



Retiree Health Insurance Monthly Premiums – most participants do not receive monthly billing statements. There is a list of retirees who have requested monthly billing statements. The Accounting Assistant prepares invoices for the individuals who have requested them. In the event any retiree’s monthly health insurance premium payment is 15 days past due, the

Accounting Assistant prepares and sends out payment reminders.



Monthly rental payments – are established based upon a rental contract. No monthly statements are sent to renters. Monthly receivable aging reports are sent to Human Resources for tracking.



Miscellaneous small billings: the documentation for these items is retained in a bill book on the Accounting Assistant’s desk. At the end of each month, the

Accounting Assistant obtains the information from the bill book and bills for all items included. Items that are billed include: catering charges, facility

rentals, long distance telephone bills, camp fees and parking tickets for non students . These are due within 15 days or will be assessed a 1.5% finance charge on the outstanding balance. If the receivable ages to between 90-180 days, it is charged off and sent to Collections (outsourced). c.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist is responsible for:



Shared faculty salary : a quarterly billing statement is generated for a portion of a shared faculty member’s salary. Academic Affairs provides the necessary information for bill preparation. The bill is prepared and sent to Lima

Memorial Hospital. d.

All recipients of miscellaneous billings are subject to the 1.5% finance charge if their bill becomes past due more than 30 days. The Controller is made aware of past due accounts once they hit the 3 to 4 month outstanding time frame. At that point, the Controller prepares and issues a last chance letter with an expected ‘pay by’ date. If payment is not made by that date, the Bookkeeper places the account with a third party collection agency.


Procedure 5: Returned Checks

1.

The Administrative Assistant receives returned check notifications from the

Accountant.

2.

From the notification, the Administrative Assistant prepares a notification letter to the remitter of the check.

3.

Personnel with access and ability to waive a returned item fee include the Bursar and the Controller.

4.

Any fee waiver is included in the daily cashiering sessions and each cashiering session is reviewed by the Bursar on a daily basis.



2.


Procedure 6: Housing and Meal Plan Billings

1.

General Information a.

Residence Life is primarily responsible for student room and board related assessments. Data is input and retained in the Housing Director (Adorondak software tool). b.

There are fee tables within Housing Director that are automatically assessed based on the room and board combination code. c.

The Bursar contacts Residence Life and informs them of any changes to the fee schedule that need to be made. d.

Ann Niese makes the change in the system.

Housing a.

Students are required to access their LUMINIS account where they have access to their housing choices. b.

All eligible housing and meal choices are listed for them. The student then makes their selections based upon the options provided. c.

LUMINIS information directly feeds to Housing Director. d.

Housing Director ties the respective selections to a code and ties the related fees to the code. e.

When the Controller’s Office needs the information for billing purposes, Ann

Niese phones IT and asks them to export the information to Banner, where it may be accessed by the Controller’s Office. f.

Once the traditional two week enrollment period has ended and initial bills have bee sent out, any changes to the Housing Director software appear in real time on

Banner with no review or holding periods. g.

Residence Life also actively tracks for students who are not going to show up for the semester (no-shows).



Thee department obtains expected student rosters at least weekly prior to the expected final check in date, typically the Saturday before classes begin for the term/semester.





The department generates a final roster prior to the Saturday mandatory check in. Packets sent to students indicate the check in is to be performed by

Saturday afternoon, so the department has a relatively good idea of who is on the no-show list by Saturday afternoon.



At that point, the department begins phoning missing students to check on their safety and determine whether they are late or not planning on attending and then the list is updated.



A list of no-shows is then prepared and sent out to Admissions, Registrars,

Deans, VPs, etc.

 When the Controller’s office is made aware of student no-shows, the Senior

Bookkeeping Specialist pulls up each student account to determine whether federal (and all other) aid has been applied to the account balance. In the event it has, the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist in the Controller’s Office performs the no-show return of all funds to their origins. h.

Residence Assistants, Senior Residence Assistants and Head Residents are required to maintain contact with all residents in their assigned housing locations on a weekly basis. i.

Information for any identified check-out is forwarded to the department administration, Justin Courtney and Ann Niese.

3.

j.

The department then emails notification of early check-outs to necessary departments.

Meals a.

Students access their LUMINIS account at the two week registration period to select their meal plan. b.

Meal plans are available to all students in University housing, even if it is an offcampus apartment. c.

Freshmen are required to have the 19 meal plan for their first quarter/term. Meal plans may be changed between quarters. d.

LUMINIS directly feeds the information to Banner and Banner will automatically change the rate to correspond with the meal plan selection made. e.

If there are changes during the year to a student’s meal plan, the department forwards an email notification to the Advanced Accounting Assistant in the

Controller’s Office so she may adjust the information that is housed on CBORD.


Procedure 7: Polar Card Use and Billing

1.

Polar Card Processing a.

The Polar Card is a pre-paid card system that allows students or University departments to make purchases in the campus book store and in dining services. b.

The Advanced Accounting Assistant is responsible for Polar Card processing.

All Polar Card activity is handled on the CBORD system. c.

Students may add to the balance of their card by making check or cash payments at the counter in the Controller’s Office, or may phone in an increase to their card by charging it to a credit card. d.

University departments may enhance their card balance with a cash transfer, credit card posting or with a charge to their departmental account. e.

Regardless of how the transaction is received, each transaction is documented on a triplicate receipt.



One receipt is placed in the cash drawer



One is submitted to the student or department



One is forwarded to the Advanced Accounting Assistant f.

The Advanced Accounting Assistant posts the amount of the received funds to the appropriate account on CBORD; the posting automatically increases the balance of the respective Polar Card. g.

As purchases are made, the CBORD system allows an automated information feed from the point of sale that decreases the balance on the card used for the amount of the purchase. h.

On a weekly basis, the Advanced Accounting Assistant obtains a report that indicates the week’s card activity by location and retains the report. i.

The Advanced Accounting Assistant also receives a weekly invoice from

Sodexo (dining service provider). j.

The Advanced Accounting Assistant matches the amount of the invoice to the amount listed on the CBORD report. k.

Once balances are verified, the Advanced Accounting Assistant prepares a check request for the outstanding balance, and forwards it to Accounts

Payable for processing. Payment is made to Sodexo.




Procedure 8: Student Refunds

1.

2.

Refunds of credit balances are performed weekly.

Banner performs an automated run of the ‘Applications of Payments’ report every day at 5 p.m. This process takes all information from cashiering sessions and other inputs that have been closed out for the day, applies the information to the respective accounts.

3.

On a weekly basis, the Bursar implements the ‘Applications of Payment’ prior to 5:00 p.m.

4.

This process subsequently generates a report that indicates all students with an outstanding application of payments – meaning a payment has been made, but has not been applied to a specific charge on the student account.

5.

The Bursar then initiates a process in Banner that removes the tie between the charges on the account and the quarter/term it is tied to. a.

This is only performed on student accounts that have payments that have not been applied to account charges. b.

It ties all accounts receivable in a student account to all payments received. Prior to this process Banner ties winter quarter charges to winter quarter payments, etc.

The process performed by the Bursar ties charges in the academic year to payments made in the academic year.

6.

c.

This process nets all receivables against all payments made and reflects a current balance in each student account.

The Bursar then runs two separate reports: a.

All students with credit balances b.

All students with ‘No Refund’ holds placed on their accounts (those who should not receive a refund for a variety of reasons – students on payment plans, in the advance payment plan, or who have requested to retain their ONU credit)

7.

The Bursar merges the two reports to obtain a list of students with credit balances that can actually receive a refund.

8.

The Bursar enters the name of this file into Banner in audit mode, reviews it, and then places it in update mode.

9.

Banner then automatically posts refunds to the student accounts and the Bursar issues a report to Accounts Payable for processing.



2.


Procedure 9: Late Fees, Finance Charges and Holds

1.

Tuition related: a.

Tuition payments have an established due date, but the University also allows a

10 day grace period, fee free, beyond the due date. b.

On the 11 th

day after the tuition due date, the Bursar runs a report to list the students with outstanding balances. The Bursar then runs a late fee assessment in

Banner that will automatically post the established $10.00 late fee to all students that appear on the outstanding balances listing. c.

On the 31 st

day from the due date, the Bursar runs the outstanding balances listing again. d.

The Bursar then opens the late fee assessment form in Banner and changes the charge field to reflect a 1.5% finance charge (on the outstanding balance) and the charge is automatically applied to all listed student accounts. The fee assessment process is performed prior to sending out the monthly billing statements. e.

This process is repeated on the 61 st and 91 st day.

Graduate holds: a.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist periodically receives a graduation listing. b.

She reviews student accounts for all individuals listed to determine whether they have any outstanding obligations to the University including loan exit interviews, outstanding tuition or fees balances, library fines or parking tickets. c.

In the event the student has an obligation to the University, the Senior

Bookkeeping Specialist places a hold on the student account and creates a list of the students for whom holds were placed. d.

This list is forwarded to the Registrar’s Office so they can pull the student’s diploma. The student will not receive their diploma until the hold has been removed from their student account.



Billing, Collection and Cash Management

Section Related Forms

Table of Contents

1.

Course Request Form

2.

Application for Remission of Tuition and General Fee

3.

Sodexho Marriott Corporation Tuition Discount agreement

4.

Barnes & Noble Bookstore Employee Tuition Discount agreement

5.

Advance Payment Discount form

6.

Monthly Payment Plan form

7.

Violations of Motor Vehicle Regulations form

8.

Traffic Control Fine Adjustment form

9.

Traffic Control Declaration of Appeal

10.

Student Medical Plan brochure

11.

Student Account Internet Sign-up Form

12.

Child Development Center weekly Registration Form

13.

Refund Request Form

14.

Request to Mail Refund Check Form

15.

Request to Retain Credit on Account Form


Table of Contents

Procedure 1: Operational Budget Preparation Process ....................................................

Procedure 2: Capital Budgeting .......................................................................................

Procedure 3: Project and Construction Budgeting ...........................................................

Procedure 4: Tuition and Fee Annual Increases...............................................................

Procedure 5: Budget Monitoring ......................................................................................

Procedure 6: Capital Carryover ........................................................................................

Procedure 7: Gift Acceptance and Processing .................................................................

Procedure 8: University Investments ...............................................................................

Procedure 9: Day, Month, Quarter, Semi-Annual and Year End Processing ..................


BUDGETING AND ACCOUNTING

Procedure 1: Operational Budget Preparation Process

1.

The budgeting process each year is based primarily on the strategic plan and the established planning parameters. a.

The parameters are obtained through review of historical expenses and earnings figures and expected enrollment data that is obtained from Admissions, the

Registrar and the Bursar. b.

The expected enrollment data is utilized to estimate the number of students that will be in attendance and project the tuition increase for the upcoming year.

2.

The VP of Financial Affairs instructs the Controller to apply the parameters to the salary and fringe benefit lines of the budget. a.

This portion of the budget is not created by the individual areas, but by the

Controller. b.

Once the Controller has completed this process, the budgeted total salaries – including expected new positions, along with fringe benefits, and insurance expenses are established.

3.

Non discretionary items are input at the Controller’s level and are not editable by departments – non-discretionary items include insurance costs, utility charges, telephone charges, etc.

4.

Departments are then required to complete an estimate of their discretionary budget line items. a.

Once the parameters have been established by the VP of Financial Affairs and the

Budget Advisory Committee, budget packets are prepared and sent out to each department. b.

The budget planning process for operational budgeting starts in October

(establishing parameters) and the Controller’s Office rolls the packages out to departments sometime in January. c.

Budget packets that are sent out to each department contain 4 years of actual information, current year’s budget, and current years spending to date. The packages also contain the written parameters that they are required to follow while addressing their discretionary spending account budget line items.



d.

Department’s prepare their budgets on paper and interoffice them back to the VP of Financial Affairs who sends them to the Controller’s Office for input.

5.

The Accountant in the Controller’s office manually loads all budget information by account number and department into Banner.

6.

Once all budgets are loaded, the Controller analyses the data to ensure it meets the established parameters and includes all necessary budget lines.

7.

The Controller’s Office posts any necessary budget adjustments. Departments are not notified of the budget adjustments made during this process, but departments may pull up the budget information on Banner to see if adjustments were made.

8.

The Controller then populates the Appendix A and B documents. a.

Appendix A contains prior and current year budget and actual operating revenues and expenses. b.

Appendix B contains enrollment, total revenue and expense information by category. It contains 4 years of historical data and current year budget and year to

9.

date figures along with the percentage of the current budget that has been realized or utilized by category.

The Controller then forwards Appendix A and B to the VP of Financial Affairs for review.

10.

Once the annual operating budget and appendices have been reviewed, they are presented to the Board of Trustees for review and approval. This typically occurs during the May Board meeting.

11.

Once the University is comfortable with the upcoming fall enrollment numbers and related tuition revenue, budgets may be revised if numbers are more favorable than were utilized in the projection.


Procedure 2: Capital Budgeting

1.

The Capital budget process is initiated by the VP of Financial Affairs who sends out a request to the Dean’s of departments for their capital plans for the year.

2.

Each department with capital spending plans submits a written plan to their respective

Vice President and the Vice President of Financial Affairs. The departmental plans contain the types of items they wish to purchase, the reason for the purchase and the estimated cost.

3.

The VP of Financial Affairs and the President’s Cabinet prioritize the requested items and create a list of capital projects that will fit into the capital project spending parameters for the upcoming year.

4.

The prioritized list is submitted to the Board of trustees for approval at the February meeting.

5.

Once budgets are revised, they are submitted to the October Board of Trustees meeting for approval.

6.

Once approved, the capital budget is loaded into Banner by the Accountant in the


7.

The capital budget stands alone and is not combined with the operating budget.



2.

3.


Procedure 3: Project and Construction Budgeting

1.

Project and construction budgets are based primarily on planned projects and construction in progress projections.

The VP of Financial Affairs prepares this information and updates it over time.

All major construction projects are well-planned and are approved by the Board of

Trustees prior to initiation.

4.

Budgets are established by the Board on a project by project basis.


Procedure 4: Tuition and Fee Annual Increases

1.

Annual tuition and course fee increases are established through review of the following: a.

Estimated enrollment figures b.

Estimated capital needs c.

Estimated increase to non-discretionary items d.

Estimated increase to discretionary spending

2.

e.

Estimate of total operating expenses.

Proposed tuition and fees are submitted to the Board of Trustees for approval at the

February meeting – along with the capital budget.

3.

Approved tuition and fees are forwarded to the Controller’s Office so Banner may be updated.



5.

3.


Procedure 5: Budget monitoring

1.

The VP of Financial Affairs performs a monthly budget monitoring process. a.

He receives a report from the Controller each month and reviews it for income and expense by organization for month to date actual figures and budget figures. b.

He compares the information to the information obtained for the same period during the prior year. c.

This information is provided to him monthly from the Controller’s office and is included in the monthly Board packet of fiscal information. (This information is reviewed through the use of Appendix A and B of the Board packet.) d.

Financial Affairs is not concerned about a department’s budget unless it has been overspent in total. e.

If budget overspending does occur, either the department that incurred the overspending or the Controller contacts the VP of Financial Affairs and requests a budget override.

2.

Financial Affairs relies on departments to manage and monitor their own discretionary spending. University departments are expected to review the budget to actual spending, but it is not a formal process prompted by the Controller’s Office.

Departments have incentive to actively monitor their discretionary accounts. a.

In the event a department encounters an unspent balance of discretionary funds at the end of the year, they would be able to roll those funds into a capital surplus account. b.

Capital surplus may be retained and held by a department until it is needed. c.

All funds held in capital surplus must be used for future capital purchases. d.

Any budget surplus identified at year end must be offset by any capital project overspending in their department during the same year. The net amount is placed in their capital surplus account.

4.

The Accountant in the Controller’s Office reviews budget information on Banner monthly to identify deficits.

The Accountant informs Accounts Payable of any existing deficits.



6.

Accounts Payable contacts departments to notify them that they will need to submit a request for budget transfer.

7.

Departments may not make budget transfers from their salary and related fringe accounts.

8.

Overages in budget line spending are also automatically identified by Banner as accounts payable processing occurs. a.

Accounts payable personnel are required to override the system when a deficit occurs. b.

The Banner identification of deficits also prompts Accounts Payable to contact the department.


Procedure 6: Capital Carryover

1.

As a part of the year-end closing process, the Controller performs a review of budget to actual spending in discretionary accounts.

2.

Remaining balances are netted against any overspending that occurred in the department’s capital budget and any remaining balance is placed in the department’s capital carryover.

3.

Departments may build up their capital carryover balances and utilize it for a future capital purchase.




Procedure 7: Gift Acceptance and Processing

1.

Monetary Gifts: a.

University Advancement is responsible for generating and subsequently receiving gifts and donations to the University. b.

The department performs two annual telephone drives primarily for the Northern

Fund.



The telephone drive will lead to either a pledge (promise for a future contribution) or a gift.



Gifts, in the telephone drive process, consist of over the telephone credit card payments.



As each call is made, a pledge form is prepared by the caller indicating either the name of the party and the amount of their pledge; or the name of the party, the amount of the gift, the respective credit card information and any special designation of funds – if for something other than the Northern Fund.



Once this information is obtained by the student workers, it is forwarded to the Annual Giving Secretary. c.

University Advancement also receives gifts through the mail.



The Annual Giving Secretary separates all mailed in gift information into categories.



She receipts in all items received.



She photocopies all of the checks.



Enters all mailed in credit card payments into the credit card terminal and obtains credit card receipts.



She separates the original credit card receipt from the duplicate copy.



She prepares all copies for the Gift Records Clerk to process and retains all originals – including checks.



She then tallies all information for the day.



d.

The Gifts Records Clerk then picks up the information from the Annual Giving

Secretary for processing.



The information includes the check copies and credit card receipt copies as originals are retained by the Annual Giving Secretary until they are ready for deposit.



The Gift Records Clerk tears off the bottom portion of the pledge form, enters the pledge information into Banner, and mails the bottom portion of the pledge form to the proper person requesting payment for the pledge.



If the item is a gift by phone, the Gift Records Clerk takes all credit card payments and enters them into the credit card terminal and obtains an original and a copy of the receipt.



Once payment is accepted by the credit card terminal, she enters the information into Banner to either the Northern Fund or as designated on the form.



Payments by check are entered into banner by the designated fund.



Once payments are entered, the Gift Records Clerk attaches the copy of the credit card slip as receipt or a departmentally prepared receipt to a thank you note and mails it out to the donor. e.

Before the Gift Records Clerk closes out her cashiering session for the day, she obtains a total of the work performed and ensures it corresponds with the Annual

Giving Secretary’s tally sheets. f.

The Gift Records Clerk then closes out her cashiering session and runs the finance feed report. She obtains a printout of this report from the Computer Center. g.

The Gift Records Clerk bundles all checks, cash, and credit card slips along with the finance feed report and brings the package to the Controller’s Office. h.

Once the package gets to the Controller’s Office it is routed to the Accounting

Assistant for further processing. i.

When the package has been processed, the Controller takes the deposit to the bank and returns with the deposit slip. j.

In the event the department was to receive a large gift, instead of holding it for processing the next day, they would remit the check to the Controller for deposit first and then process the information into Banner the following day.

2.

Gifts in Kind: a.

The University receives items such as art, property, books, stocks, bonds and life insurance policies as gifts in kind. b.

Tangible gifts are received by various University departments.



The department is responsible for informing University Advancement of any item received.



The department provides a description of the item and an approximate value of the gift.



The Gift Records Clerk enters this information into Banner and submits a receipt that identifies a description of the gift only, not a value, and a thank you note to the donor.



The donor is responsible for an appraisal of the item for tax purposes. c.

Gifts of property are handled in a similar fashion; however, the deed is held by the

Vice President of Financial Affairs. d.

Gifts of stocks or bonds are handled a bit differently.



A copy of the stock certificate or bond is made and the information is posted to Banner along with the specific date of receipt.



The copy of the certificate is retained by University Advancement and the original is forwarded to the Controller’s Office.



The receipt is generated with the date of transfer, the number of shares outstanding and the market value as of the date of transfer.



It is the University’s practice to liquidate stocks and bonds as they are received if at all possible. Once received, the Controller packages all required information (separated into 2 different packages to make it difficult for someone to conduct the transaction and leave with the money) to A.G.

Edwards and requests a sale transaction.



Stock certificates are held in rare circumstances (not issued for a publicly traded company). b.

These stock certificates are maintained in the safe deposit box at the bank.

c.

The Controller and the VP of Financial Affairs are the only two individuals with access to this particular safe deposit box. d.

Each time the safe deposit box is accessed, the Bank obtains the signature of the party accessing the box on a safe deposit box access log.



Receipt of Life insurance is processed similarly.



The Controller holds the original life insurance policies.



Life insurance premium payments are collected from the donor, deposited, and payment of the premium is made by the University who is listed as the owner of the account.

3.

Day End Processing a.

At the end of each day’s transactions, University Advancement items are placed in their own cashier envelope. b.

University Advancement transactions are balanced by the Accounting Assistant and the Advanced Accounting Assistant. c.

The Accounting assistant also separates the deposit items, and prepares a deposit slip for the University Advancement transactions. d.

The Controller performs secondary review of the cashier envelope. e.

The Controller forwards the information to the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist for posting. f.

The Controller takes the University Advancement deposit to the bank.


Procedure 8: University Investments

1.

Investment Types a.

The University has three types of investment opportunities.



Long term endowment based investments that are managed by a third party broker.



Fixed investments managed in-house with transactions performed by a third party broker.



Annuity trust endowments managed internally, but held by a safekeeping agent.

2.

Investment Processing a.

The University has hired a consultant to oversee and recommend investment direction for the long term endowment investments.

 The consultant makes recommendations based on the University’s established investment guidelines and communications with the Investment Committee

(subset of the Board of Trustees).



The Controller is informed of necessary investment activity and requests the transfers from the broker (A.G. Edwards) and prepares necessary wire transfers or ACH transactions for purchases.



Each year end, the Controller reviews the investment activity to validate net investment income. She then prepares a transfer of 3% of the net investment income to the University’s general operating account – per policy. b.

The Controller is primarily responsible for the fixed income investments.



She prepares a quarterly transfer analysis based upon cash available at the time of the review and forwards the analysis to the VP of Financial Affairs and the investment consultant for review.



Once consensus as to investment direction is obtained, the Controller instructs

AG Edwards to move the invested funds to the appropriate location(s).



Three times each year, the Controller prepares investment breakdown reports listing book and market values for each investment and has the information included in the Board package for review.



c.

The University also maintains investments in the form of UniTrust and Gift

Annuities as well as Life Income.



These are invested through a broker at 5/3 rd

Bank.



All new gift trusts or annuities are established separately with 5/3 rd

.



There are a handful of these that the University prepares annual tax returns for

– approximately four or five.



As new accounts are received, the tax preparation responsibility is that of

5/3 rd

. d.

Negotiable paper (life insurance policies, stock certificates, and related) are housed in a safe deposit box at Liberty Bank.



Typically, stocks are sold immediately.



The VP of Financial Affairs and the Controller are the only two individuals with authority to access the safe deposit box.



The Controller inventories the box alone each year during the month of May.



The Controller retains support of the box contents verification, and will submit it to the VP of Financial Affairs if he requests a copy.



Sometimes this document is also provided to the auditors for review.


Procedure 9: Day, Month, Quarter, Semi-Annual and Year End Processing

1.

Daily Cashiering Sessions and Cash Drawers a.

Miscellaneous Cash drawer:



The Accounting Assistant pulls everything from the Miscellaneous Cash drawer, obtains all supporting receipts and sorts the information based on how it is supposed to be posted.



She then separates all sales tax for separate posting.

 All day’s receipts are placed together based upon the account the transactions are to be posted to and a tally sheet is prepared for bulk entry to the account.



Some accounts require each item to be posted separately and those remain separate.



Once all miscellaneous cash items have been sorted and tallied twice, the

Accounting Assistant reconciles the amount on the tally slip to Advanced

Accounting Assistant’s daily balance.



The daily package is then forwarded to the Controller for review and sign off.



Once the review is performed, the package is forwarded to the Senior

Bookkeeping Specialist for input.



The Advanced Accounting Assistant is responsible for reviewing the individual daily cashiering sessions performed and balancing the activity in the miscellaneous cash drawer.



Once the balancing process is performed, it is forwarded to the Accounting

Assistant for secondary review. b.

General cashiering sessions:



All daily cashiering totals are summarized for the daily cashiering session report.



Once secondary review processes have been completed, the cashiering package is submitted to the Bursar for final review and then to the Senior

Bookkeeping Specialist in the Controller’s Office for input.





The report, along with all support is forwarded to the respective reviewer.



Once the secondary review and verification is performed, the packages are forwarded to the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist for final posting.



The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist ties the package cash totals to the respective bank deposit receipts to ensure all funds made it to the bank.



The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist then pulls together all cashiering package information by department, and makes bulk postings into the Banner system.



Once postings are made, the cash receipt packages and credit card slips are filed.



In the event the bank identifies a returned item for non-sufficient funds (NSF), the bank notifies either the Bursar or the Controller.



If the returned item is related to a Touchnet originated payment, the Bursar posts a return to the student account and posts a $25.00 returned payment fee.



The Bursar then submits an email to the student notifying them of the returned item.

2.



If the returned item was due to an error in the online entry process, the Bursar notifies the student and makes a request for another attempt at posting the payment online.

Daily reconciliations and subsequent reviews a.

The Bursar reviews all daily cashiering sessions, which include detail of all entries processed by cashiers (Bursar support staff). Cashiering sessions primarily include Touchnet, Cashiers, Financial Aid and the Registrar. b.

The Registrar’s session is reviewed for tuition reversals.



When a tuition reversal is identified, the Bursar meets with the Senior

Bookkeeping Specialist to see if a withdrawal slip was received and a R2T4

(return of student financial aid funds) calculation was performed.

 The Bursar then places a hold on the student’s account to ensure no money is refunded to the student until all required information and entries have been processed. c.

Once all cashiering sessions have been reviewed, the sessions are closed. Closure of the session permits automated posting of activity included in the session to the general ledger.

d.

The Bursar then runs a Cashier Review Report to identify any remaining open cashiering sessions for which she did not receive a session package.

3.



If cash is involved in the session, the Bursar leaves the session open and requests a daily balancing sheet from the respective cashier.

Month End Processes a.

The Controller retains a list of accounts and the individuals responsible for the reconciliations. : b.

Bursar month end responsibilities:



Reviews the monthly reconciliations performed by Bursar support staff.



Ensures all cashiering sessions are closed and processed prior to 5:00 p.m. so the 5:00 auto post process will include all data processed for the month.



If any are identified, the Bursar reviews the activity.



If no cash based transactions were included in the session and all transactions appear reasonable, the session is closed.



Generates an accounts receivable aging report and the accounts receivable reconciliation report and ensures the amounts listed on each report match one another.



Reviews the over 90 day column on the receivables report. The Bursar identifies whether the individual listed is still registered or not.



If the individual is not registered and has prior term balances that are over 90 days old, the account is placed on a list for charge off processing.



The list is forwarded to the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist. c.

Controller month end responsibilities:



Reviews reconciliations performed by her support staff.



The Controller is responsible for preparing all financial reports that are requested by the VP of Financial Affairs on a monthly basis including:



Board report preparation



Appendix A and B



Financial ratio analysis



Medical report



Appendix G



Appendix D d.

The Administrative Assistant receives a monthly report from Financial Aid with a report indicating the student workers in the Controller’s Office.



The report indicates the student name with the dollar amount and hours remaining before they exhaust their Federal Work Study Award.



The Administrative Assistant monitors the report to ensure student work hours do not exceed their award.



This process occurs in every department with student workers receiving

Federal Work Study. e.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialists’ month-end processes:



One Specialist receives a list of accounts past due over 90 days from the

Bursar.



From the list, she prepares and sends letters to students that indicate the student has 30 days to pay or to establish payment arrangements.



If the student does not respond, the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist places the student account on a collection listing, sends the collection listing to the

Bursar for review and approval and then submits the listing to collections

(outsourced).



One Specialist is responsible for preparing monthly check requests for lease payments.



Lease payments are made for Northern on Main, a veterinarian and the legal clinic. f.

One Senior Bookkeeping Specialist is responsible for inputting all journal entries. g.

The Accountant is responsible for the following month end processes:



Preparing month end journal entries, including:



American Express fee assessment (information is obtained from the credit card statements)



Discover card fee assessment

 Visa / MasterCard fee assessment (these companies auto debit ONU’s account for payment, this journal entry is simply a transfer to cover the fees)



NSF charges (information obtained from the bank statement)



Student side NSF (clears out the return check account)



Monthly salary accrual for 12 month and 9 month faculty and all other salaried employees (from spreadsheet prepared by Controller at the beginning of the year)



Workers compensation expenses (data is from the workers comp checking account)



Retiree insurance premium (from spreadsheet prepared by the Controller)



Academic remission allocation (the Bursar tracks the remission of ONU funds necessary for employee and related party tuition reimbursements and this journal entry applies the amounts to the employee benefit line)



Fringe benefit allocation (for items such as the Wellness Fair, Medical insurance, Disability Insurance, FICA, Workers compensation, prizes, ONU picnic, Christmas party, etc. – this entry allocates all such expenses to ONU departments based upon department salary as a percentage of total salaries)



Investment purchases, sales, gains and losses (data from a spreadsheet prepared by Kelly Smith (PT Accountant – Controller’s Office)



Electricity allocations to three fraternities on campus (data is derived from monthly electricity bill)



Interest income (from four bank statements)



Child support payment capture



Allocation of various university paid fraternity expenses (expenses identified on billing statements)



Allocation of 1.5% finance fee to outstanding fraternity charges



Allocation of Sodexo fee to the dorms and the physical plant based on square footage of the buildings



Charge off of any balance in the cashier over/short account



JP Morgan Chase auto debits the University for credit card charges, an expense recognition into Banner



Preparing monthly financial reports, including:



Balance sheets – when completed, copies are forwarded to the Controller to include in the monthly report package and all those responsible for performing reconciliations



Revenue statement –used to prepare the activity report



Budget status report – used to reconcile capital expenditures



Organization detail activity report – is reviewed to ensure spending is within budget on a departmental basis



Trial Balance – maintained on a CD and is filed away



Check register – used for reconciliation of monthly payments made to the general fund



Journal Entry Summary report – used to reconcile cash activity to the bank statement



Income Statement – routed to the Controller



Travel report – forwarded to the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist for use in reconciling travel expenses listed on the access database



Capital expense report – detail from the report is used for input to the fixed asset system. The Accountant performs a review of each item listed on this report to ensure it is properly classified as a capital purchase before he routes it to the Accounting Clerk for posting



Activity report – lists revenue and expenses for the month by department and the report is placed in the monthly reporting package that is submitted to the

Board



Overtime report – prepared for monthly Board package



Total payroll by pay category – prepared for monthly Board package



Number of people by pay category – prepared for monthly Board package



Accounts receivable aging report – is obtained from the Bursar and the

Accountant plugs the information into another spreadsheet



Bank Balances report



Total Cash and Total Short Term Investments



Cost Value and Market Value of Investments



Endowment reports – indicate amounts by classification



Capital Expenses by department



Total Capital Expenses and Capital Budget by department



Fixed Income account investments



The Accountant also updates two spreadsheets each month. One contains

UniTrust information and the other contains information for the CBA Fund

(non gifted general investments). This information is then provided to the auditors at year-end.

Quarterly Processes: 4.

6.

a.

Unitrust payments The Controller prepares the Unitrust payment calculation and submits it to the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist quarterly. b.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist prepares a check request and submits it to

Accounts Payable for processing.

5.

Semi-Annual Processes: a.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist tracks real estate payment requirements on a spreadsheet. b.

Twice each year, the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist prepares a check request from the spreadsheet and submits it to the Controller for review. c.

Once reviewed it is forwarded to Accounts Payable for processing.

Year End Processes: a.

The Accountant prepares the annual college operating report in June or July.



The totals in the report include all indirect costs that have been allocated to the department – indirect cost allocations occur for the Physical Plant,

Controller’s Office, Gifts, Admissions, Student Financial Aid, Registrar,

Human Resources, Payroll, etc.



The report is a summary of all revenue and expenses by college and is sent out to College Deans, the President and Vice Presidents. b.

The Accountant is also responsible for the general administration of annual camps put on by the University such as Basketball, Football, Soccer and Chemistry camps.



The Accountant receives attendance information from each of the camp directors, Sodexo and Residence Life.



With this information, billing statements are prepared and submitted.



All other camp expenses are billed to the respective camp account via journal entry.



All camps submit final attendance figures to the Accountant who then prepares a report that lists all revenues and expenses for the camp.



The final reports are then sent to each camp director, the Controller, VP of

Academic Affairs, VP of Financial Affairs and the Athletic Director. c.

The Accountant is responsible for preparing the NCAA compliance report.



He receives information from Payroll and the Athletic Department to compile the NCAA compliance report.



Information received is broken down into segments as required for the reporting process. d.

The Controller works with the auditors through the annual audit and prepares the financial statements. e.

The Controller prepares a more detailed internal financial report.



She utilizes the audited financial statement and creates additional supporting schedules that provide more detail for the Board.



The packages created include trial balances by department, historical information and other general information.



These expanded reports are only utilized inside the University and are not distributed to the public while the audited reports would be made available to anyone who requests them.



The Controller performs seven annual informational returns on benefit plans.

The information that is generally requested is not financial in nature, but is typically personnel related statistics.



The Controller is responsible for preparing the annual financial statement, coordinating work with the auditors and fielding questions.



The Accountant, Bursar and Controller prepare the schedules requested by the auditors.



The Controller gathers information necessary to complete the 990 and forwards it to the auditors for completion. f.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist in the Controller’s Office is responsible for ensuring 1099’s are prepared for independent contractors, pharmacies and hospitals in the event the qualified party received $600 or more in payments throughout the year.



On an annual basis, the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist runs a report of all

1099 vendors, reviews it for accuracy, and prepares changes to the report (if necessary).



Once the listing meets her approval, the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist runs another report that actually prints out the 1099s.



She electronically submits an electronic file of 1099 information to the IRS.



All 1099s are packaged and mailed out.



Table of Contents

1.

Budget Transfer Form

2.

Schedule of Fund Assets – example of investment quarterly report

3.

Student Loan Funds receipt

4.

Miscellaneous Item receipt

5.

Student Account Transaction receipt

6.

Polar Card Transaction receipt

7.

Tapes receipt

8.

Special Exam for Credit receipt

9.

Refresher Course receipt

10.

Northern Commitment Option receipt

11.

Advance Deposit receipt

12.

Miscellaneous Cash Receipts Daily Cash Balancing Form

13.

Miscellaneous Cash Receipts Credit Card Detail Form

14.

Banner Daily Cash Balancing Form

15.

Perkins/HPL Cash Receipts Daily Cash Balancing Form


Table of Contents

Procedure 1: Procurement ................................................................................................

Procedure 2: Credit Card Administration and Processing ...............................................

Procedure 3: Accounts Payable ........................................................................................

Procedure 4: Manual Check Processing ...........................................................................

Procedure 5: Petty Cash ...................................................................................................

Procedure 6: Travel Expenses ..........................................................................................

Procedure 7: Moving Expenses ........................................................................................

Procedure 8: Faculty Enrichment .....................................................................................

Procedure 9: Electronic Banking Transactions ................................................................

Section Related Forms…………………………………………………………………….

PROCUREMENT AND OTHER GENERAL SERVICES

Procedure 1: Purchasing

1.

General purchasing process: a.

Purchasing requires a purchase request for most purchases. Some purchase requests are carried to a purchase order and some are not, depending on the dollar value of the purchase. b.

Purchases that are performed by agents of the Purchasing Department’s accounts,

Student Housing, Physical Plant purchases of less than $1,000 and capital project furniture purchases (under the control of the Purchasing Department) are not made via purchasing requests. Purchasing initiates these purchases and retains invoices as supporting documentation, so this procedure is intended to reduce processing costs of items under the Purchasing Department’s control. c.

Smaller purchases are not placed on a purchase order with the intent that the purchase request and corresponding invoice are sufficient support. This method also eliminates the purchase order processing and tracking time and expense. d.

Purchasing receives a purchase request, typically with support for the cost of the item(s).



All purchasing requests of $10,000 or more should be supported by 3 quotes.



In the event 3 quotes are not attached to the request, Purchasing contacts the department and informs them of the need for completed quotes.



Prior to processing a purchase order over $10,000, the documentation must be forwarded to the Vice President of Financial Affairs for review and approval. e.

Once proper approvals and documentation is obtained on a purchase request form,

Purchasing prepares a purchase order in triplicate.



One copy is retained in Purchasing



One is forwarded to Accounts Payable



One is sent to the requesting department f.

Purchasing also generates a receiving report that is forwarded to the requesting department along with their purchase order. g.

When the requesting department receives the product or service indicated on their purchase order, they are to complete the receiving report and attach the invoice to



2.

it and forward it to Accounts Payable for payment processing. Receiving reports are only completed for items that are referenced on a purchase order.

Open Purchase Orders a.

These are simply broad based purchase orders with an unlimited annual dollar amount. b.

These purchase orders are maintained for toner, custodial items, etc. All of these items are maintained in the stock room and are inventoried periodically. c.

Open purchase orders are good for the entire fiscal year. d.

Accounts Payable brings invoices from open purchase orders to purchasing so

Purchasing can ensure the invoice corresponds to the order information.

3.

e.

The purchase support is then returned to Accounts Payable for processing.

Purchase Under Price Agreement

4.

a.

If a purchase order is established based upon a contractual price agreement, the negotiated rates and prices of goods and services are detailed on the cover of the purchase order. Accounts Payable depends on individual departments to ensure prices assessed on invoices received correspond with any University established price agreements.

Credit Cards issued to Purchasing a.

There are three individuals in ONU’s Purchasing Department and each has been supplied with a credit card.



Each card issued has its own, unique number.



Purchasing utilizes the credit cards to pay for all items that are received via purchase request forms, unless the vendor listed will not accept a credit card payment.



Each month, an individual credit card statement is obtained by each person, all supporting documentation is attached and the package is forwarded to the

Purchasing manager for approval.

5.

Office Supply Purchasing:

 The packages are then forwarded to the Controller’s Office for review and payment processing.

a.

Most office supply purchases are made online. b.

ONU has established a relationship with Roby (a local office supply retailer). c.

A summary of online purchases is created daily.

6.

d.

Purchasing reviews the purchases at the end of each day, provides approval for the purchases.

Reference Number System: a.

There are various local merchants ONU utilizes for various purchases. These local merchants include restaurants, flower shops, etc. There are individuals across campus (RAs, etc.) that have purchasing authority, but have not been issued a credit card. b.

The reference number system enables the purchaser to provide a reference number to the local merchant, make a purchase, and the merchant will be paid for it at a later date. c.

Merchants accept the reference numbers to validate making the sale and the individual making the purchase does not have to use personal funds to complete the transaction. d.

Purchasing tracks reference numbers on excel, in serial number order. e.

A department will call Purchasing and request a reference number for a purchase. f.

Purchasing issues the number, accesses the excel file and inputs the name of the party issued the reference number. g.

Once the individual makes the purchase, they obtain a receipt and complete a corresponding check request form. h.

This information is submitted to Accounts Payable for payment processing.


Procedure 2: Credit Card Administration and Processing

1.

Credit Card Administration a.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist is the established credit card administrator.



She is responsible for ordering cards, closing accounts, changing credit limits and changing allowable SIC codes.



All information is retained in a locked filing cabinet with access limited to the

Senior Bookkeeping Specialist and the Controller. b.

There are two types of credit cards currently being held by individuals across campus:



American Express Corporate: held by two people, the President and the

Director of Communication Arts. Both of these cards are unrestricted.

 Master Card Corporate: used as the University’s procurement card. There are five levels of the card issued:



Travel only



Procurement only



Travel and procurement



Unrestricted – 3 in Purchasing, 1 Accounts Payable, President and the Director of Alumni Affairs



Communication Arts – used to purchase props for productions and is the only Department card issued, meaning one credit card may be used by anyone in the Department, including students.



Each Master Card, except Communication Arts, is controlled in three ways:



Cards are issued to specific users



Contain balance and point of sale limits



Are limited to a defined set of usable Merchant codes.



The Communication Arts card is maintained by the Secretary in that department. Anyone who needs to use the card must sign it out from the



2.

Secretary and return the card, along with all supporting documentation for the purchase made to the Secretary when the purchase is completed.

Credit Card Processing a.

On a monthly basis, the holder of the credit card accesses their account on Smart

Data Online (managed by JP Morgan Chase).



The cardholder enters the Banner account number to charge and a purpose for each line item.



The screen data is then printed out.



A request for payment is prepared by the card holder.



All supporting documentation (receipts, etc.) are attached to the request for payment.



The package is forwarded to the individual’s direct supervisor for review and approval.

 Once approved, the packages are forwarded to the Controller’s office for subsequent review and data input. b.

The VP of Financial Affairs is responsible for providing approval for the

President’s executive credit card account statement and travel expenditures; while the President is responsible for the review and approval of the VP of Financial

Affair’s credit card and travel expenditures. c.

Every credit card package received by the Controller’s Office is fully reviewed by either the Accountant or the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist.



The review includes ensuring there is adequate supporting documentation for each purchase listed.



Ensuring the proper account number is being assessed the charge.



Ensuring the statement balance corresponds to the request for payment. d.

In the event an individual made a personal purchase with the university issued credit card, which is not allowable per policy, the Controller’s Office treats the incident as an accidental purchase.



The individual is required to submit personal payment in the form of check or cash for the purchase.



The personal payment is processed through the miscellaneous cash drawer in the Bursar’s area of the Controller’s Office and the remainder of the bill balance is assessed to the respective departmental accounts. e.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist obtains a full credit card statement for the

University from the website and ensures each of the Departments that have made purchases have submitted an approved credit card package for processing. f.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist also maintains an excel file to track statement summaries by cardholder. g.

Cardholder account statement detail is manually input into this excel file and once again into Banner when account posting occurs. h.

The Senior Accounts Payable Specialist is responsible for performing monthly audits of credit card statements to ensure adequate invoices or documentation is included to support the purchase.



Twenty random credit card statements are selected for review along with 5 executive statements.



Each statement reviewed is either designated satisfactory or unsatisfactory.



If it is satisfactory, it is stamped as such and filed.



If it is unsatisfactory, it is returned to either the Accountant or the Senior

Bookkeeping Specialist for follow-up.



The Senior Accounts Payable Specialist then prepares a summary of results and forwards it to the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist or the Accountant when the audit procedures have been completed.

2.


Procedure 3: Accounts Payable

1.

Establishing a New Vendor a.

Vendors may be established on Banner or QuickBooks by:



Purchasing employees

 Controller’s Administrative Assistant

 Controller’s Senior Bookkeeping Specialist



Senior Accounts Payable Specialist



Accountant



Controller b.

Vendors may be established on QuickBooks by anyone with access to

QuickBooks in the Controller’s Office including:



Senior Bookkeeping Specialists



Advanced Accounting Assistant



Controller



Bursar



Accounting Assistant.

Processing Requests for Payment: a.

As Purchasing generates purchase orders, a copy is forwarded to Account’s

Payable where it is retained until a corresponding receipt and receiving report are received. b.

Requests for payment come in two general ways, a purchase order or a check request form. c.

The Administrative Assistant receives invoices through the mail or personal delivery.



The Administrative Assistant matches the invoice with the purchase order.





If she receives an invoice that does not have a corresponding purchase order on file, she will return the invoice to the appropriate department.



All invoices are routed to Accounts Payable for processing.



Check requests come through the mail and by personal delivery as well and require no further processing from the Administrative Assistant prior to being sent to Accounts Payable. d.

Once a full or partial purchase is performed against a purchase order and all necessary documentation is obtained, the Senior Accounts Payable Specialist

(primarily, with assistance from the Administrative Assistant) posts the information against the purchase order on Banner. Each item is posted with the next accounts payable check run date to prompt a payment by check.



Purchase orders that are expended and paid in full are filed by check processing date after they have been input.



If a partial expense / payment is processed for a purchase order, the Accounts

Payable Specialist manually places a note on the purchase order that a partial payment has been applied, photocopies the purchase order, retains the original, attaches the photocopy to the supporting invoice and receiving report and files it by check processing date after the input occurs. e.

Accounts Payable ensures an invoice or receipt is stapled to the check request form when it is received.



When required documentation is on hand, Accounts Payable reviews the request to ensure the account number is correct, the check request form matches the invoice in dollar amount and purchase type, that correct descriptions are used and that the proper authorized signature based on department and dollar amount of the purchase have been obtained.



These are retained in a folder until there are enough on hand to warrant posting (typically occurs daily).



Upon posting to Banner, Accounts Payable enters the invoice information, account number (blended fund, org, account and program code), a description of the purchase and the next check run date. f.

In the event a payment request comes in on a check request and Accounts Payable knows the payment may be made with a phone initiated credit card payment, the

Accounts Payable Specialist will telephone in and make the payment with her

University credit card. When she phones in the payment, she retains the check

request package as support for the charge, which would then be included in her monthly credit card statement package. g.

Check processing occurs weekly on Wednesday or Thursday.

3.

 Accounts Payable has established a Tuesday noon cutoff time for that week’s check requests.



Accounts Payable checks will be available on Friday morning of each week.

Check runs: a.

On the check run date, either the Senior Accounts Payable Specialist or the

Administrative Assistant will generate a check register and print it.



The register is then forwarded to a student worker who will ensure all items listed are supported by and correspond with an invoice.



Once all items have been verified, accounts payable is cleared to print the checks. b.

The first check run is generated on plain paper.



This provides the department with the number of checks they need to obtain from the check stock.



The paper copy is then attached to the invoice package for support. c.

Check stock is maintained in a general cabinet, accessible to anyone in the department. The Administrative Assistant is in control over access to the check stock as she is issued the key for the cabinet.



Someone obtains the number of checks required to perform the check run and logs it out of the check supply.



The check stock is placed in the printer and all checks are printed with the payee and the dollar amount of the check.



Once the checks are printed with the first batch of information, they are placed back in the printer.



A key needs to be inserted into the printer to access the electronic signature.



The Senior Accounts Payable Specialist obtains this key from the check stock cabinet, inserts it into the printer and sends the checks through for signature.



Once completed, the Accounts Payable Specialist removes the printed, signed checks and returns the key to the cabinet. d.

Accounts Payable then generates a post check run check register and compares it to the one generated prior to the check run to ensure they match. e.

Accounts Payable then accesses Banner and initiates automated posting of all transactions related to the check run. f.

The Accounts Payable Specialist then obtains the post check run check register and manually marks each item that is over $25,000.

 These items require the Controller’s signature.



All checks and the check register are then submitted to the Controller so her signature may be obtained on required checks. g.

While this is occurring, the Administrative Assistant matches the paper (not check stock) copy of the check to the respective invoice to determine where the check is supposed to be mailed, the checks are packaged for mailing and they are issued. h.

Some checks are held at the front counter in the Controller’s Office for pick up.


Procedure 4: Manual Check Processing

1.

There are four types of manual checks available for use: a.

General b.

HPL c.

Perkins d.

Payroll

2.

Each type has its own specific color code and serial number series. Movement of checks out of check stock is logged.

3.

Either the Senior Accounts Payable Specialist or the Advanced Administrative

Assistant receives the request for a manual check through interoffice mail or from walk-in requestors.

4.

When a request is received, the processor ensures the request is supported by a check request form with proper approval.

5.

Once supporting documentation is reviewed, the processor obtains a manual check, logs it out, fills in the required data by typing it on the check, obtains the key to the check signing machine, and stamps the check with the signature stamp.

6.

The processor then takes the check for secondary signature to the Controller, the

Bursar or the Vice President of Financial Affairs. Note: there is only one signature line printed on the check. University policy requires the printed signature along with the signature from an authorized signer.

7.

Once the check is completed, the processor enters the information into Banner with a Friday payment processing date. Entering a Friday date ensures a check will not be generated for this item during the weekly check run as checks are not printed on Fridays.

8.

A copy of the manual check and supporting documentation are filed by the accounts payable processing period.




Procedure 5: Petty Cash

1.

The Accounting Assistant is primarily responsible for petty cash in the Controller’s

Office. She reconciles the petty cash box at the end of each month and prepares a request for reimbursement from all receipts located in the petty cash drawer.

2.

The Bursar reviews and approves the request for reimbursement and the request is sent to Accounts Payable for processing.

3.

4.

When the check is cut, it is cut to ONU-Petty Cash. The Controller takes the check to the bank, cashes it, and brings the cash to the Accounting Assistant.

Multiple people have access to this petty cash including: a.

Accounting Assistant b.

Advanced Accounting Assistant

5.

c.

Senior Bookkeeping Specialist.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist accesses the petty cash fund to prepare cash boxes for football games, basketball games, alumni events, etc. a.

When cash boxes are prepared, the department’s account is charged for the amount of the cash, cash is obtained from the petty cash box, removal of cash is noted in the petty cash box, and the department signs for the cash. b.

When funds are returned, the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist reimburses the petty cash box for the initial funds, removes the note and deposits the remaining balance (earnings from the event) in the miscellaneous cash drawer. c.

Then a posting is made to the department account to reflect the petty cash return and earnings. If the funds were issued for a ticketed event, the Senior

Bookkeeping Specialist reconciles the cash box to the number of tickets sold.




Procedure 6: Travel Expenses

1.

Requests for travel reimbursements are either mailed or hand delivered to the


2.

The Administrative Assistant places a date stamp on travel reimbursement requests

3.

and forwards them to the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist for processing.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist reviews all travel reimbursement requests received. a.

She reviews each line item on a travel reimbursement request form for compliance with the established travel policy. b.

She traces each item to its corresponding receipt, if required and follows up on any item that is not supported by a receipt. c.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist then checks the math on the request form to ensure things tally appropriately.

4.

5.

d.

She adjusts the reimbursement request for any disallowed expenses or errors in calculations, stamps her approval on the request and forwards it to Accounts

Payable for processing.

Travel expenses may also come in on credit card statements. The Senior

Bookkeeping Specialist is responsible for reviewing credit card statements and travel expenses, she reviews each credit card statement received for travel related expenses and processes it as stated above.

The University also allows travel (and other miscellaneous) advances. a.

Accounts Payable is responsible for tracking advances for everyone except faculty. b.

Travel advances are tracked on a spreadsheet with the individual’s name, the date of the advance, dollar amount and description. c.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist is responsible for tracking faculty travel advances. d.

All travel advances are reduced from the next travel reimbursement request received from the traveler. e.

In the event the traveler is required to return unused funds, they would be received by cash or check and would be processed through the miscellaneous cash drawer in the Controller’s Office.



f.

Funding of travel advances is handled just like a check request. See the Accounts

Payable section for a full description of check request processing. g.

In the event a travel advance has been issued and travel reimbursement form has not been received by the Senior Bookkeeping Clerk, she would follow up by:



Sending an email to the individual on the 60 th

day



Sending an email to the individual and their supervisor on the 90 th

day



Send a letter to the individual and all levels of superiors on the 120 th

day notifying them there will be a payroll deduction to cover the advance.



A copy of that letter is forwarded to Payroll so an assessment will be placed against the individual’s subsequent pay.

2.

3.


Procedure 7: Moving Expenses

1.

The Controller’s Office receives a list of any new professors and their moving allocation from Academic Affairs.

She tracks the use of moving expense allocations throughout the year.

At year end, the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist reviews her file to determine which professors had used their moving expense allocation, prepares a tax document and sends it to the respective professors.

4.

Only those who have used all or a portion of their moving allocations receive the tax statement.

5.

Copies of the tax forms are maintained in the Controller’s Office.



2.

3.


Procedure 8: Faculty Enrichment

1.

Each year, all members of faculty are allotted $1,100 for professional development.

This allotment is included within travel for budgeting purposes.

Faculty members are able to hold the $1,100 annual allotment and carry it forward up to an amount of $3,300.

4.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist maintains an Access file to track the balances available to each faculty member. a.

As travel expenses come in for each faculty member, she adjusts their enrichment balance, if required. b.

On an annual basis in June, the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist runs an outstanding balance report and forwards it to the Dean of each college who is then responsible for distributing it to the faculty members in their college. c.

In the event faculty members build up their enrichment balance to the $3,300 level and utilize it all at once, actual travel costs would be able to exceed the budgeted travel dollars.



3.


Procedure 9: Electronic Bank Transactions

1.

The Controller is responsible for performing all ACH/Wire transfers through the bank as she is the only individual who may access accounts and initiate transactions. a.

Bank account transactions include HSA funds, payroll, investment transactions, service contract payments, etc.

2.

The Controller also performs month end inter-bank-account transfers to capture student electronic payments and any recoveries obtained from the third party collection agency.

The Controller also funds the medical premium payments with a bank transfer.

4.

In the event a foreign transaction is required, the Controller uses the Travelex website to covert to the appropriate currency and submit the electronic transfer.





Table of Contents

1.

Purchase Request

2.

Purchase Order

3.

Receiving Report

4.

Check Request

5.

W-9 – Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification

6.

Blanket Certificate Exemption (tax exemption)

7.

Credit Card Expense Form

8.

Credit Card Audit Form

9.

Petty Cash Receipt

10.

Travel Advance Request

11.

Travel Voucher Form

12.

Lost Missing Receipt Form


Table of Contents

Procedure 1: Payroll Processing .......................................................................................

Procedure 2: Human Resources Processing .....................................................................


PAYROLL AND HUMAN RESOURCES

Procedure 1: Payroll Processing

1.

Hourly Employee Time Sheets: a.

Employees paid hourly are required to log on to Luminis and complete their timesheet by the established cutoff. b.

After the employee time data entry period has expired, the approving manager accesses Luminis to approve their respective employee timesheets. c.

Payroll accesses Luminis and obtains information by pay period and pay type

(hourly) to ensure all time sheets have received approval.



If there are any unapproved time postings, Payroll will contact the appropriate approver and remind them to access Luminis and provide approval. d.

Payroll will then upload the Luminis information based upon identification numbers and the payroll number. e.

Once Payroll has verified all eligible payees are included and pay related changes made by Human Resources have been captured, they run and obtain a data file from Luminis. f.

Payroll then uploads the information the Luminis data file to Banner, this process also carries individual time sheet information and drops it in information fields within Banner. g.

Once the data file has been uploaded to Banner, any subsequent edits or late time sheet entry must be made directly to the time entry data screen in Banner. h.

Once all information for that particular payroll has been captured in Banner,

Payroll runs a data merge to obtain a final payroll data file. i.

This file is then downloaded to diskette and Payroll hand delivers it to the

Controller’s Office. j.

Payroll then creates a file to obtain the direct deposit register tape and related supporting data.

 This file is saved to diskette and is hand delivered to the Controller’s Office.

 The Controller’s office emails this information to the Bank for direct deposit processing.





The file is sent to the Bank at least two days in advance of the pay date. k.

Payroll also accesses and prints tax liability information for each pay date.

 This information is delivered to the Controller’s Office where Accounts

Payable personnel process a payment for the tax liability. l.

Once the current pay date information has been distributed, Payroll runs a process that will include the current payroll information in the year to date figures. m.

Payroll also runs an extraction of finance control totals for general ledger entry purposes.



This data is then sent to the finance sector of Banner.



The control totals automatically post to the general ledger at the 5:00 p.m. feed.



Payroll saves finance information and retains it with the payroll run information to support to postings made. n.

Throughout the process, Payroll performs control total verifications to ensure all records make it from the start of the process to the final posting. o.

The Controller emails a zipped, password protected payroll file to the bank for processing. (direct deposit)



The bank will only accept the file from the Controller, the VP of Financial

Affairs or the Bursar. p.

Once the electronic file is sent, the Controller also faxes a payroll register to the

Bank. (direct deposit)



The Bank matches the register to the electronic file and processes the transactions. q.

When the Controller’s Office receives the payroll disks, either the Accountant or the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist is responsible for pulling the checks for the check run. (physical checks)



The checks are logged out and placed in the printer, then printed.



As with the general accounts payable processing, the checks are re-entered into the printer, the printer signature keys are obtained and the checks are run through to obtain a signature.



Checks are then forwarded to the Accounting Assistant is who responsible for stuffing and mailing paychecks to the personal address of employees.



Paychecks are mailed to employees two days prior to the actual pay date.



The Accounting Assistant stuffs and holds designated paychecks for pick-up at the counter.

2.



Personnel are required to show their student identification card prior to receiving their check. r.

Payroll delivers a check register, direct deposit register and a salary advance deduction register to the Controller’s Office.

 These reports are retained in a locked filing cabinet in the Accountant’s office.

Student Payroll: a.

Processing of student payroll occurs monthly during the school year and biweekly during the summer months. b.

Students are required to enter their time into Luminis as well and after the information is input, all the remaining processes stated above occur in the same manner.

3.

c.

Student payroll processing simply takes longer as there is more follow up time to track down Luminis entry and approvals. There are also a lot more manually prepared time sheets that require manual input by Payroll personnel.

Monthly Payroll Processes: a.

At month-end, Human Resources obtains a print out of all general deduction and insurance related information (insurance, flex, etc.). b.

Human Resources then prepares required payment information for health, disability and life insurance as well as the insurance related administrative fee. c.

Human Resources completes a check request and attaches report information as support, then forwards it to Accounts Payable for processing. d.

Payroll prepares check requests necessary for other various deductions such as

United Way and W-Coil. These check requests are sent to Accounts Payable for processing.

e.

Payroll also sends an email to the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist in the

Controller’s office indicating the number and dollar amount of ONU Pledges that resulted from payroll deductions. f.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist performs an entry on Banner to capture the funds. g.

Payroll also prepares a data file to for TIAA CREF payments. This data file is sent to the Controller who processes the financial transaction. h.

Payroll makes copies of the flex spending transactions for the period and forwards them to EBMC, the third party administrator.



At the end of each month, Payroll prints the total of flex spending transactions and forwards them to the Controller who also sends the information to the third party administrator.



At year-end, the Controller compiles the necessary data and forwards it to

EBMC so they may have a 990 performed. i.

Payroll tracks HSA transactions in an excel file.



Payroll prepares a file with HSA transactions for the period, forwards it to multiple service providers and provides updates to the Controller who distributes funds to the listed HSAs. j.

The University also maintains a retirement fund for very few participants. Payroll prepares a check request for submission of funds and forwards it to Accounts

Payable for processing. k.

Employees may also complete a payroll check request for an advance payment of payroll.

 The request is sent to the Controller’s Office where it is either approved or denied by the Controller.



If approved, a check is processed and if denied, the requesting party is notified.

PAYROLL AND HUMAN RESOURCES

Procedure 2: Human Resources Processing

1.

New hires: a.

Employment Contracts – new salaried employees:



Academic Affairs generates employment contracts for faculty members.



When the contract is developed, an unsigned copy is sent to Human Resources and one unsigned copy is sent to the prospective faculty member.



The prospective faculty member also receives a written notification to contact

Human Resources and complete the required paperwork, in the event they intend on accepting the employment contract.



If the prospective hire signs the employment contract, they return the contract to Academic Affairs who subsequently forwards a copy to Human Resources.



When Human Resources receives the signed copy, the unsigned copy is destroyed.



The prospect must then schedule a meeting with Human Resources.

 During the meeting, HR obtains a copy of the driver’s license, social security number, obtains completed forms (I9, W4, IT4, direct deposit, benefits selections, flex, etc.), and prepares an identification form and parking pass for the new hire.



Once all of the necessary information has been obtained, Human Resources personnel enter the information on the payroll screen in Banner. b.

Administrative Salaried contracts – are processed in the same manner as above, but originate in the President’s office. c.

Wage Rate Notifications – hourly workers:

2.



Openings for hourly workers are posted and filled through Human Resources.

Otherwise, processing occurs as stated above.

Changes in wage rates, benefit status, etc.: a.

Changes are communicated to Human Resources, and once they are supported with all required documentation, changes are made to the Payroll screen on

Banner. b.

Changes are made as required and any changes are updated to Banner prior to each pay date to ensure changes are captured.





Table of Contents

1.

Notice of Appointment

2.

Administrative Contract

3.

Wage Rate Notification

4.

Classification 5 – Notice of Appointment

5.

Group Medicare Supplement New Business Form

6.

Group Insurance Enrollment / Change Form Disability

7.

Application for Group Life Insurance

8.

Benefits Enrollment / Change Form

9.

Web Time Entry Payroll Approval Form

10.

Ohio Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate

11.

W-4 Form – IRS Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate

12.

Agreement for Salary Reduction – Voluntary Contributions

13.

Personnel Change Form

14.

Direct Deposit Authorization Form – Faculty and Staff

15.

Student Authorization for Direct Deposit

16.

Health Savings Account – Agreement for Salary Reduction

17.

Flexible Spending Plan Election Form

18.

Flexible Spending Request for Reimbursement Form

19.

Payroll Check Request form

Financial Aid

Table of Contents

Procedure 1: Scholarships ................................................................................................

Procedure 2: FAFSA Review ...........................................................................................

Procedure 3: Award Letters..............................................................................................

Procedure 4: Returning Student Scholarship Review ......................................................

Procedure 5: Student No-Shows ......................................................................................

Procedure 6: Student Course Add/Drop ...........................................................................

Procedure 7: Student Withdrawal ....................................................................................

Procedure 8: Student Loan Processing .............................................................................

Procedure 9: Parent PLUS Loan Processing ....................................................................

Procedure 10: Perkins and health Professional Loans .......................................................

Procedure 11: Partial Student Loan Refunds .....................................................................

Procedure 12: University Loans .........................................................................................

Procedure 13: Other Loans .................................................................................................

Procedure 14: School as Lender .........................................................................................

Procedure 15: Student Award Draw Downs ......................................................................

Procedure 16: Federal Work-Study Monitoring.................................................................

Procedure 17: Non-Traditional Pharmacy Testing .............................................................

Section Related Forms…………………………………………………………………….

1.

FINANCIAL AID

Procedure 1: Dean’s, Invitational and Outside Scholarships

Dean’s and Invitational Scholarships: a.

Once the Admissions office has entered a student’s information on the system and identified the student as admitted, Dean Scholarship eligible or other scholarship eligible they prepare and provide a listing of students to Student Financial Aid

(SFA). b.

The first thing SFA does is assess Dean’s Scholarships to students listed.



SFA prepares a letter for each recipient and sends it to them.



Along with the letter, the student may also receive an invitation to one of the four invitational scholarship days.



If the student attends a scholarship day, they have the opportunity to obtain additional / or different scholarship awards – depending upon the dollar amount of any additional scholarships earned at the invitational. c.

Students are required to mail an acceptance of scholarship funding to the

Admissions office.



The Admissions Office tracks this information and reports it to SFA at least twice per week until all information has been obtained.



Refused scholarship money will not be re-awarded to other students but is placed back in the scholarship pool of funds for continual awarding. It will be used if necessary to attract additional students or to enhance packages for students they would like to attract, based upon their major or other established criteria for the year. d.

When SFA receives detailed information on the scholarships awarded at the four invitational events, they adjust student awards with the appropriate information.



If the student received a significant scholarship, SFA would remove the

Dean’s Scholarship and replace it with the new award amount.



If the student received a moderate or smaller scholarship, SFA may allow the student to retain the Dean’s scholarship and the additional scholarships earned.



2.



All entries are input and verified by a second party by the end of February each year.

Outside Scholarships: a.

SFA also receives scholarship award notices from outside entities. b.

When scholarship award information is obtained, SFA places a memorandum entry on the student’s account and revises the remainder of their award packages. c.

SFA then sends the student an updated award letter (if necessary). d.

SFA then forwards scholarship award notices to the Senior Bookkeeping

Specialist in the Controller’s Office so she may track receipt of or bill for scholarship funds that are expected from outside sources.

6.

FINANCIAL AID

Procedure 2: FAFSA Review

1.

Starting in January each year, SFA personnel draw down completed FAFSA’s on a daily basis. a.

Complete SFA packaging is processed by all Counseling staff. b.

Counselors obtain each student’s FAFSA results (ISIR), scholarship award information and ONU Aid Applications (Not for freshmen).



In the event the ISIR indicates the student has been selected for verification, the verification process is performed before the packaging process starts. c.

The assigned SFA counselor determines the student’s estimated family contribution and expected cost of attendance based upon enrollment status and housing requirements.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Aid is then awarded as follows: Pell, FSEOG, Ohio Grants, Scholarships and other institutional aid. If the student still has need, the counselor will award subsidized

Stafford, FPL or HPL (if applicable), work study, unsubsidized Stafford, and parent

PLUS loan funds in that order.

Each package receives a secondary review.

At the end of the award process, some award enhancements may be made to promote enrollment in specific colleges. The enhancement would occur in institutional aid.

Packages are then reviewed to ensure that the need (cost of attendance) less the estimated family contribution less the total award package does not render a result of less than 0.

At that point the packaging is over and the information is uploaded to Banner.



2.

3.

FINANCIAL AID

Procedure 3: Award Letters

1.

SFA generates an award letter for each freshman processed and sends it out to the student.

All award letters are issued by the end of March.

Freshmen are required to send back signed copies of their award letters and they are asked to send them back within two weeks of receipt.

4.

Award notifications sent to all other students are performed electronically to their campus email account.



FINANCIAL AID

Procedure 4: Returning Student Scholarship Review

1.

Once each year, right after the end of the spring quarter / semester, Financial Aid obtains the year end grade point average of all scholarship recipients.

2.

3.

For University based scholarships, counselors compare the grade point average to the

University policy statement and manually adjust the award if required.

Students may utilize an appeals process to retain their entire award if there is a special circumstance that may have caused their fall in grade point.



FINANCIAL AID

Procedure 5 : Student No-Shows

1.

2.

The Admissions office tracks potential student no-shows. As they become aware of a no-show, the information is forwarded to the Registrar, Residence Life and SFA.

Prior to the quarter/semester start date, the Registrar’s Office sends a letter requesting a report of no-show students along with a class list to all instructors.

3.

The same list and request is sent to instructors after the 10 day (add/drop) period has expired. a.

From the information received, the Registrar’s Office prepares a letter to each student with the intention of determining whether their registration should be cancelled.

4.

5.

Residence Life also actively tracks for students who are not going to show up for the semester.

All no show data collected by Admissions, the Registrar and Residence Life is combined and routed to all concerned parties. a.

The department obtains expected student rosters at least weekly prior to the expected final check in date, typically the Saturday before classes begin for the term/semester. b.

The department generates a final roster prior to the Saturday mandatory check in. c.

Packets sent to students indicate the check in is to be performed by Saturday afternoon, so the department has a relatively good idea of who is on the no-show list by Saturday afternoon. d.

At that point, the department begins phoning missing students to check on their safety and determine whether they are late or not planning on attending and then the list is updated.

6.

e.

A list of no-shows is then prepared and sent out to Admissions, the Registrar,

SFA, the Deans, VPs, etc.

When the Controller’s office is made aware of student no-shows, the Senior

Bookkeeping Specialist pulls up each student account to determine whether federal

(and all other) aid has been applied to the account balance. a.

In the event it has, the Controller’s Office performs the no-show return of all funds to their origins.



7.

The Financial Aid department receives a no-show list which prompts personnel in the department to remove the aid awards from the respective student account and return the awarded funds, issue Stafford Loan exit interview letters, and cancel future disbursements or draws of loan monies from the Sallie Mae system.

FINANCIAL AID

Procedure 6 : Student Course Add / Drops

1.

The University allows a 5 day add period and a 10 day drop period at the beginning of each quarter/term/semester.

2.

3.

Add / Drop forms originate with the student and are submitted to the Registrar, who forwards the yellow copy of the form to the Controller’s Office.

For each form received, the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist reviews the student

Banner account to ensure the number of credits on Banner corresponds to the form. a.

In the event a student falls below full time status, the tuition charges and related fees are adjusted. b.

If a student increases their credit hours and creeps into the overload category, the

Senior Bookkeeping Specialist will adjust their student tuition and fees accordingly. c.

In the event an Add/Drop form is completed for an existing student and the form contains entries for their entire course schedule, indicating the student missed the registration period, the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist will assess a $50 late registration fee to the student’s Banner account.



FINANCIAL AID

Procedure 7 : Student Withdrawal

1.

In the event a student withdraws from a class or their entire schedule during a quarter or semester, the student must obtain a withdrawal slip and have it signed by their advisor, their academic Dean, Residence Life (if they have University sponsored housing) and the Controller’s Office.

2.

3.

ONU utilizes the ‘Course Request Form’ to document withdrawals.

Once a withdrawal form has been signed by the Controller’s Office, the student is responsible for taking the entire form to the Registrar’s office.

4.

The Registrar’s Office utilizes the form to remove the class schedule from the student’s account.

5.

6.

The Registrar’s Office retains the white portion of the form, routes the yellow copy to the Controller’s Office and provides the student with the pink copy of the form. The

Registrar retains and files their copy of the withdrawal slip.

The Controller’s Office copy is forwarded to the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist in the


7.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist is responsible for performing the return of funds calculation for any student who has been awarded Federal financial aid – this includes

PELL, FSEOG, Stafford and PLUS monies.

8.

This calculation is currently performed manually and is based on the date the

Controller’s Office signed off on the withdrawal slip, unless the Controller’s Office has received written direction otherwise.

9.

Once the calculation of the earned percentage is performed, it is forwarded to the

Bursar who reviews it and returns it to the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist.

10.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist fills out a two part form that indicates the earned percentage and applies that to all student awards and fees – tuition, fees, loans, grants, scholarships, meal plans, etc.

11.

Once the form has been completed, entries are posted to the student accounts to adjust tuition, fees, outside scholarship and loan data.

12.

The entries performed are documented on the two part form. The second copy of the form is then forwarded to Financial Aid who is responsible for adjusting grant – both outside and ONU sponsored -- award totals on the student’s Banner account.



13.

The Controller is responsible for the return of Pell and FSEOG funds. a.

The University pre-funds these awards to student accounts, and does not generally draw down funds until later in the quarter / term. b.

As the funds are pre-funded by ONU, the Controller simply reduces the draw request by the amount stated on the return of funds calculation to ensure she draws down the appropriate amount of money and that any calculated return of funds would not ever be drawn down.

14.

Before a student’s account is finalized, the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist ensures the student housing charges have been applied to the student’s account balance. a.

Residence Life prepares this entry because the last day in student housing does not necessarily correlate with the last date of attendance and student housing fees need to be assessed through the last day of residence. b.

Residence Assistants, Senior Residence Assistants and Head Residents are required to maintain contact with all residents in their assigned housing locations on a weekly basis. c.

Information for any identified check-out is forwarded to the department administration, Justin Courtney and Ann Niese. The department then emails notification of early check-outs to necessary departments.

15.

Once this information is obtained, the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist verifies total tuition, fees and awards are properly stated on the student account.

16.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist also determines whether the final housing costs have been assessed appropriately.

17.

If the remaining balance (CR or DB) on the student account appears accurate, either a bill will be generated or a check request for a credit balance will be forwarded to

Account’s Payable.

18.

On the day after a return of funds has been performed, the Senior Bookkeeping

Specialist accesses the online roster from the online lender access point and prepares a journal entry for the total of return of funds listed on the roster.

19.

The journal entry is forwarded to another Senior Bookkeeping Specialist for input.

FINANCIAL AID

Procedure 8: Student Loan Processing

1.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist accesses Sallie Mae, Great Lakes, and Access

Group websites each morning and retrieves the loan rosters.

2.

From the loan rosters, loan totals are posted to the general fund and the roster is

3.

4.

forwarded to Financial Aid.

SFA posts loan funds to student accounts if the information is received via electronic funds transfer.

The Advanced Accounting Assistant posts receipt of the loan funds that come in check form to Banner.

5.

6.

She copies the check and places the original at the counter so the student may come in to sign the check.

Once the Advanced Accounting Assistant has prepared the information on Banner, the detail is forwarded to the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist who is responsible for posting the individual loan transactions to student accounts. a.

Student loan funds are not posted to the student account until the student comes in to sign the check.



FINANCIAL AID

Procedure 9: Parent Plus Loan Processing

1.

The Advanced Accounting Assistant receives checks from lenders for Parent Plus

Loans.

2.

She sends the check to the respective parent via certified mail along with a letter requesting signature and return of the check to the University.

3.

She tracks checks in the parent signing process and if the check hasn’t been returned to the University within one week, the parent is contacted to request return of the check.

4.

Follow-up continues until the check has been returned to the University.



FINANCIAL AID

Procedure 10: Perkins and Health Professional Loans

1.

The University utilizes a third party service provider (University Accounting Services

– UAS) as the primary processor and tracker of outstanding Perkins and Health

Professional Loans (HPL), receivables, deferments, and past dues.

2.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist reconciles the University’s Perkins and HPL accounts to UAS statements every other month.

3.

4.

Financial Aid submits an electronic new loan and loan advance report to the Bursar, who reports the respective information to UAS.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist is responsible for tracking borrower interviews online. a.

She accesses a website and generates a report that indicates which students have completed a borrower interview. b.

Interviews are performed at www.signmyloan.com

c.

She prints the report and sends it to Financial Aid.

5.

d.

Financial Aid is responsible for funding the student account.

When students terminate their education, either through the graduation or withdrawal process, the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist sends notification to UAS who then establishes an online exit meeting site for the individual. a.

For students who have not completed an exit meeting, UAS will forward a paper copy of the exit information to ONU.

6.

b.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist sends necessary packages to students via certified mail, and retains proof of mailing in the student file.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist obtains past due reports for Perkins and HPL students on a monthly basis. a.

From the listing, she prepares past due letters and submits them to the students that are between 1 and 8 months past due. b.

Once the borrower becomes 8 months past due, UAS automatically places the account with a collection agency.



c.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist places a system hold on any Perkins and HPL accounts that are past due.

7.

8.

d.

The system hold will automatically decline or disallow additional charges to the account or stop an academic transcript request.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist also pulls a paid in full report on a monthly basis, for each individual on the list she generates a paid off letter and sends it out.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist then pulls a credit balance report each month to identify whether there are any refunds due to borrowers. a.

In the event a credit balance is identified, she prepares a check request and submits it to Accounts Payable for processing.

2.

3.

FINANCIAL AID

Procedure 11: Partial Student Loan Refunds

1.

In the event a student finds that they do not need the entire amount of a student loan, they are given the option to decline a portion of the loan.

If the student declines a portion of the loan, it is documented on a University form.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist will adjust a student’s account and complete a request for the return of funds or adjustment to a future draw of funds.

4.

If the return of funds needs to be made by check, a check request form is prepared and forwarded to Accounts Payable for processing.



FINANCIAL AID

Procedure 12: University Short Term Loans

1.

General University Short Term Loans: a.

The University provides short term loan options to students as long as the funds are going to be used for educational purposes such as books, tuition, fees, housing, etc. b.

This type of loan may be awarded up to an amount of $1,500 and may not exceed a 6 month term. c.

To obtain a University short term loan, a student must complete a loan application stating their need.



The application is reviewed by personnel in Financial Aid and is approved or denied by Financial Aid.



Financial Aid also determines whether the student has any other outstanding short term loans before the loan is approved or denied. d.

Financial Aid routes approved promissory notes to the Controller’s Office where they are retained by the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist and routes the check request to Accounts Payable for funding. e.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist determines whether the loan document contains the proper signatures. f.

Loans of $300 or less only require a student’s signature, while loans over $300 require the signature of the student and the parent or guardian as a co-signer. g.

Accounts Payable processes the check and forwards it to the Senior Bookkeeping

Specialist for further processing and distribution. h.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist inputs each short term loan funding along with a $25 processing fee into Banner and then places the check at the front desk for student pick up. i.

Banner will automatically place the principal loan amount and fee on the student account at the due date. j.

If the loan is not covered at the due date, the system will automatically apply a

1.5% finance charge to the outstanding balance of the loan monthly.



k.

Billings for these occur along with the monthly student tuition statement billing process.

2.

Pierstorf Loans: a.

Pierstorf loans are funded by donors and are strictly for Pharmacy students. b.

Approved loan funds are applied directly to a student’s account to offset any existing balance. c.

Pierstorf loan recipients are also assessed a $25.00 loan processing fee when the loan is applied to their student account. d.

These loan funds are not distributed as manual checks to students. e.

Pierstorf loans are similar to other more traditional Stafford based student loans, but are funded by a trust. f.

Requests for these loans are submitted to the Pharmacy Dean who is responsible for loan approval. g.

These loans have 0% interest and no principal payments due while the student is in college. h.

If the loan is paid back within 5 years of graduation or college exit, it remains a

0% loan. i.

There is a gradual repayment schedule of 10% due the first year out of school,

15% the second year, 20% the third year, 25% the fourth year and 30% the fifth year. j.

If a portion of the loan balance is outstanding beyond that time frame, interest will be assessed.

3.

k.

These loans are tracked on QuickBooks.

Schell or Schmidlapp Loans: a.

These are donor funded loans available to any student. b.

Schell loans are for male students and Schmidlapp loans are for female students. c.

Loan funds are applied directly to a student’s account to offset any existing balance.

d.

Loan recipients are also assessed a $25.00 loan processing fee when the loan is applied to their student account. e.

Loan funds are not distributed as manual checks to students. f.

Schell and Schmidlapp loans are similar to other more traditional Stafford based student loans, but are funded by a trust. g.

Requests for these loans are submitted to the Financial Aid department for approval. h.

These loans have 0% interest while the student is in college and up to 6 months after the student has completed their education or otherwise left the University. i.

The loan is due at 6 months after the graduation date. j.

If not fully paid at the 6 month point, the borrower is assessed 1% interest per month on the outstanding balance. k.

This type of loan may be issued at up to $1,500 in a given year and multiple loans to one individual over the course of their education may not exceed $3,000.

4.

l.

The student must have a parent co-signer for any loan over $300.

Elzay Loans: a.

This loan type is available for Arts & Science students with a need and a means to repay. b.

The loan proceeds must be used for educational expenses and are applied directly to a students account to offset any existing balance. c.

Loan recipients are also assessed a $25.00 loan processing fee when the loan is applied to their student account. d.

The maximum loan amount per student is $1,500 per year and no more than

$3,000 may be borrowed in total. e.

The borrower must have a parent co-signer for any amount over $300. f.

Requests for these loans are submitted to the Financial Aid department for approval. g.

This loan type requires repayment to begin within 6 months of the loan date.

h.

The loan accrued interest at 3% each year while the student is enrolled but increases to 6% per year if the student withdraws.

5.

i.

A finance charge of 1% per month is applied to the account each month for any past due balances.

Bonfiglio and Schertzer Pharmacy Loan: a.

This loan type is funded by donors. b.

These loans are strictly for Pharmacy students and are applied directly to a student’s account to offset any existing balance. c.

Loan recipients are also assessed a $25.00 loan processing fee when the loan is applied to their student account. d.

These are not distributed as manual checks to students. e.

These act similarly to student loans, but are funded by a trust. f.

Requests for these loans are submitted to Financial Aid for approval. g.

There is no loan maximum established. h.

The loan amount in any given year may not exceed a student’s unmet need as determined by taking the cost of attendance, less the estimated family contribution, less existing awards. i.

These loans have 0% interest and no principal payments due while the student is in college and for one year after the student leaves the University. j.

There is a gradual repayment schedule of 10% due the first year, 20% the second year, 30% the third year, and 40% the fourth year.

6.

k.

If the loan becomes past due, finance charges will be assessed at 1% per month on any past due balance.

Law College Loan (Carl L. and Glenna L. Miller Loan Fund): a.

This loan type is funded by donors. b.

These loans are strictly for Law students and are applied directly to a student’s account to offset any existing balance. c.

Loan recipients are also assessed a $25.00 loan processing fee when the loan is applied to their student account.

d.

These are not distributed as manual checks to students. e.

These act similarly to student loans, but are funded by a trust. f.

Requests for these loans are submitted to Financial Aid for approval. g.

There is no loan maximum established for this loan type. h.

These loans have 0% interest and no principal payments due while the student is in college and for 6 months after the student leaves the University. i.

Payment is due at the 6 month post graduation date.

7.

j.

An interest rate of 6% per year is applied on any outstanding balance due.

University Loan Tracking a.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist prepares and sends monthly statements for loans that are tracked in QuickBooks – for loans with terms of greater than 6 months. b.

In the event payment for a short term loan is past due, the Senior Bookkeeping

Specialist performs the following:



At 90 days past due, she sends a collection letter to the borrower.



At 120 days, a collection letter is sent to the cosigner.



At 150 days with no response or payment, she enters a charge off into either

Banner and sends the account information to collections.

FINANCIAL AID

Procedure 14: School as Lender

1.

The Controller is responsible for recording the funds advanced to students under the

School as Lender (SAL) program.

2.

The Controller is also responsible for signing off on loan sales that are performed.

3.

4.

The Accounting Clerk performs a monthly reconciliation of the receivable and payable accounts related to SAL.

The SAL program allows graduate students to complete a loan application online.

Students are permitted their choice of lenders, but the University encourages the use of the SAL program.



FINANCIAL AID

Procedure 15: Student Award and Grant Draw Downs

1.

On a monthly basis, the Controller receives a report that indicates the monthly student payroll amount.

2.

3.

The Controller calculates the amount of federal work study funds that the University is eligible to receive for the one-month period, determines the amount that may be drawn down for the period, and performs the draw down.

The Controller also performs periodic draw downs of federal grants (PELL and

FSEOG).

4.

a.

The University practices the reimbursement method in their draw downs of these funds. b.

The University funds each student recipient up front and toward the end of the quarter/term/semester completes the draw down from the fed to cover the funds actually applied.

At year end, the Controller obtains the total amount of funds applied for Health

Professional Disadvantaged Scholar awards during the year and performs a draw of funds from the Department of Health and Human Services. a.

The Controller also prepares a quarterly report that she sends to the DHHS indicating the amounts drawn year-to-date.

5.

The Controller is responsible for performing traditional grant administration procedures. a.

The Controller establishes the grant accounts on Banner and assigns each account a number, prepares any required fiscal reports and sends them to the grantors, and draws on grants throughout the year. b.

The Controller tracks the expenses processed against grants and performs draws based on actual expenditures. c.

In the event the University is a sub-participant on a grant, the Controller tracks the

University’s participation on Banner and generates invoices on excel quarterly, submitting them to the primary party to the grant.



FINANCIAL AID

Procedure 16: Federal Work Study Monitoring

1.

Payroll prepares and maintains a list of student workers who are receiving federal

2.

work study monies.

During the more traditional segment of the academic year, student payroll is processed monthly.

3.

4.

Once student payroll information is obtained, Payroll prepares a report for SFA that indicates the name of the student, other student vital information, the amount of their federal work study award, the dollar amount remaining for their award and the hours of work left under the award.

SFA breaks this report up and sends each department a list of the individuals who work for them and their related balances.

5.

Departments are responsible for reviewing the report and ensuring the student does not earn more than the work study amount awarded.



FINANCIAL AID

Procedure 17: Non Traditional Pharmacy Testing

1.

2.

The Pharmacy College allows students to test out of certain classes.

If a student attempts to test out of a class, they remit a $25 fee to the Controller’s

Office.

3.

Once the test fee has been paid, the Controller’s Office sends proof of payment to the

Pharmacy College.

4.

5.

The Student then takes respective tests at the Pharmacy College.

Once tests are taken, the Pharmacy College will send a list of students who have successfully tested out of a class to the Registrar’s Office.

6.

The Registrar prepares a memo that indicates the student has tested out of the course and obtains the student signature, which indicates the student would like to receive credit for the class.

7.

8.

The memo is sent to the Senior Bookkeeping Specialist in the Controller’s Office.

The Senior Bookkeeping Specialist prepares an invoice for the class and mails it to the student.

9.

Students are assessed 50% of the traditional tuition cost for the class.

10.

When the student remits payment, it is receipted in at the Controller’s Office.

11.

The Controller’s Office forwards a copy of the receipt for payment to the Registrar, who is responsible for applying the earned credits to the student.



Financial Aid


Table of Contents

1.

Return of Student Loan Funds to Lender form

2.

Changes from Controller’s Office for Financial Aid form

3.

Withdraw Calculation Sheet

4.

Exit Interview Packet letter

5.

Student Loan Exit Counseling Website

6.

Letter Sent After 45 Days Without an Exit Interview

7.

Request to Return Loan Funds form

8.

Application for Ohio Northern University Short Term Loan

9.

Promissory Note General University Loan

10.

Pierstorf Loan Application

11.

Promissory Note Pierstorf Loan Fund

12.

Promissory Note Charles E. Schell Loan Fund

13.

Promissory Note Schmidlapp Loan Fund

14.

Promissory Note Bonfiglio and Schertzer Pharmacy Loan Fund

15.

Promissory Note Law College Loan

16.

Student Internet Based Loan Signing Site

17.

Special Institutional Examination Form, Non-Traditional Doctor of Pharmacy

Program

18.

Receipt Format for Special Examination Credit – Non-Traditional Doctor of

Pharmacy Program

19.

Special Institutional Examination- Registrar’s Office Memorandum

IT

Table of Contents

Procedure 1: Software in Use ...........................................................................................

IT

Procedure 1: Software in Use

There are four software packages that affect financial operations throughout the

University: Banner (second segment is Luminis), Adirondack (Housing Director),

Touchnet (electronic payments) and CBORD.

1.

Adirondack a.

This software supports Housing Director. b.

Housing Director captures and tracks all housing and meal options. c.

This software package was supposed to directly connect and automatically feed information to Banner, but currently does not.

2.

d.

Information from Adirondack is submitted to IT, who then ensures the data reaches Banner.

CBORD a.

This software package was established solely to track purchases from Sodexo – ie: meal plans and Polar Card purchases from food service. b.

CBORD does not speak to Banner or to Adirondack.

3.

c.

It does readily obtain information from the third party food service provider –

Sodexo.

Banner a.

Primary software utilized for all primary University financial and student data processing. b.

Banner user access:



Each position at the University has been assigned a unique position number.



Banner permissions have been assigned to a position number and not necessarily an individual.



There are only a handful of people across campus that may request a change in Banner permissions including:





Stacey Neeley (Financial related changes)



Marcia Prater (Admissions related changes)



Dave Smittel (Development related changes)



Richard Carpenter (Registration/Student Data related changes)



Chad Shepherd (housing related changes).



IT receives a written request for change from one of the above individuals and changes user permissions based upon the request.



In the event an individual is terminated from the University, IT is made aware of it through a notification from HR.



When the notification is received, IT will change the individuals Banner password.



All access is tied to a position number, not the name or id of an employee.

Therefore, the account will remain available on Banner, but IT would be the only ones with the password.



When a new individual was transferred or hired into the position, IT would simply provide them with a new password for that position.

4.



The University allows remote access to Banner through a VPN.

Touchnet a.

Software used to capture electronic payments to the University. b.

Directly interfaces with Banner. c.

Is accessed and reconciled to Banner daily.

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Ohio Northern University

Fiscal Administration Procedures

Billings, Collections and Cash Management

Billing, Collection and Cash Management

Budgeting and Accounting

Budgeting and Accounting

Procurement and Other General Services

Procurement and Other General Services

Payroll and Human Resources

Payroll and Human Resources

Financial Aid

Financial Aid

IT

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