Recharges

Recharge centers, or specialized service centers, are units that provide specific, ongoing services to a number of campus units or projects, and recover the cost of these services from the units served. Recharge centers should not be set up to provide goods or services that are readily available from outside sources. However, a recharge center may be established if there are overriding economic, ethical or other institutional issues to support the need for UC Berkeley to provide this service. UC Berkeley recharge policy can be found at http://controller.berkeley.edu/recharge/Policies/Rechargepolicy.pdf.

All recharge centers must complete the Self Certification Checklist form (http://controller.berkeley.edu/recharge/Forms/FormsIndex.htm) annually. The recharge centers are expected to break even; a deficit/surplus reduction plan must be submitted to the Recharge Committee if a large deficit or surplus is accumulated. The recharge unit is responsible for posting recharges to the General Ledger for goods and services provided in a timely manner, as defined in the current recharge billing policies and procedures (http://controller.berkeley.edu/recharge/Policies/billingpolicy.htm). Campus recharge units should only charge the rates posted to the University Recharge web site at http://controller.berkeley.edu/recharge/.

All recharge rates must be approved by the Control Unit prior to submission to the Campus Recharge Committee, with the exception of units under the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost. In these cases the dean must approve the rate prior to submission.

The Campus Recharge Committee (http://controller.berkeley.edu/recharge/Contact/committee.htm) is responsible for:

Reviewing and approving the methodologies used by recharge units to establish their recharge rates;
Ensuring technical compliance with the University's Direct Costing Policy (http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/policies/bfb/a47.html);
Providing training, advice, guidance, and consultation to recharge unit managers; and
Communicating the approved recharge rates to the campus.

The Recharge Committee will act in an advisory capacity to recharge units and campus departments in reviewing recharge disputes. If, based on advice from the committee, the item still cannot be resolved, the dispute will be forwarded to the Controller (controller@berkeley.edu) for mediation. The Controller's decision is binding.