Recharge Billing Policies and Procedures

Effective date of policy, July 1, 2001

Recharge centers subject to these policies and procedures are approved campus recharge centers. These units provide specific, ongoing services to a number of campus units or projects, and recover the cost of these services from the units served. A list of these approved units is available. For other recharge units these policies and procedures are recommended but not required.

  1. Billing and Posting Recharges to the General Ledger

  2. Statement Format and Content Requirements

  3. Financial Journal Requirements

  4. Mediation -Handling Disputes Between Recharge Unit and Campus Departments

  1. Billing and Posting Recharges to the General Ledger

    A recharge unit must post recharges to the General Ledger for goods and services provided in a timely manner.

    The recharge unit must use the correct chartstring for the transaction including flexfield and project codes provided by the customer. The recharge unit assumes any risk associated with nonpayment of recharge goods and services for goods and services provided in advance of receiving valid customer billing information.

    No recharges can post to the General Ledger after the later of

    1. 60 days after the goods have been delivered, service has been performed, or project complete; or
    2. 60 days after the recharge unit has been billed by the third party providing the goods or services.

    In the event that this schedule cannot be met, it is the responsibility of the recharge unit to notify the billed department of any delays. If a mutually agreeable billing schedule cannot be negotiated, the Controller's office shall provide mediation as described in Section D.

    A recharge unit must not bill in advance of providing the goods or services to a customer. In the event of providing a service for a set period of time, the billing must not be in advance of the commencement of the start of the service or subscription period.

    For funds which the Capital Projects or Physical Plant Recharge Unit has previously encumbered, the recharge unit should also reverse the encumbrance at the same time the actual charge is posted to the ledger.

    A department must contact the recharge unit within 60 days of the charge being posted to the General Ledger if they wish to dispute the item. The charge cannot be disputed after the 60-day period. If there is some doubt as to whether the charge was reviewed in the appropriate timeframe or there are other related issues, and the department and the recharge unit cannot resolve these issues, this item can be referred to the Controller's Office for mediation as described in Section D.

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  2. Statement Format and Content Requirements

    Statement (or invoice if appropriate) must be available online or sent to the department within 5 working days of the billing period.

    Statement or invoices must contain the following information:

    1. Name of Unit
    2. Full chart string - All fields should be shown even if blank. Each field should be clearly defined in a separate block.
    3. Period posted to G/L
    4. Description in the G/L
    5. Order no./work order no./reference no.
    6. Detailed description of the goods or services
    7. Date of service
    8. Amount charged/liened to the ledger
    9. Recharge contact name, tel. no., E-mail address. (recommended but not required: contact name in dept who requested service)

    For recharge units that lien charges (currently Capital Projects and Physical Plant), statements or invoices containing the relevant information above should be provided to support any lien entries to the General Ledger.

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  3. Financial Journal Requirements

    Require at the line level in the journal:

    1. Name of recharge unit
    2. Date of service
    3. What is the service (where this is not explicit from the nature of the recharge unit)?

    The following units should submit for posting to the General Ledger, information at the line level and not summarize. The reference field should be used to identify the service order number, work order number, reference number or other unique identifier for the service.

    1. Capital Projects
    2. Physical Plant
    3. Academic Facilities Office (AFO)
    4. Printing and Copy
    5. Campus Supply
    6. Scholars Work Station

    (This information is posted in detail to the accounting line table, but summarized in the ledger - BAIRS reports off the Accounting Line Table)

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  4. Mediation - Handling Disputes Between Recharge Units and Campus Departments

    Both parties agree to mediation by the Controller's Office for items in dispute where the department and the recharge unit cannot come to an agreement. Items in dispute will be forwarded to the Controller's Office, recharge@berkeley.edu for resolution.

Effective April 1, 2002, this policy is in effect for all unbilled charges incurred pre or post July 1, 2001.

If you have further questions regarding these policies and procedures, please contact the Recharge Committee at recharge@berkeley.edu.

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