Internal Billings and Service Billings - Best Practices

Internal Billing (IB) and Service Billing (SB) documents are used to bill for goods or services provided by one University department to another University department, reflecting income to the provider and expense to the customer. These are most commonly used by Service Centers and Auxiliary Enterprise units. 

Internal Billing documents route to fiscal officers for approval, whereas the Service Billing document does not route for approval. The Service Billing document is restricted and can only be used by approved Service Billers.

Internal Billings

  1. Billing detail should be attached to the document so the information is accessible to departments.
  2. Communication between departments is encouraged for expired accounts, change of account numbers and transaction inquiries.
  3. Billings should be submitted in a timely manner (within 30 days and within the current fiscal year).
  4. Only internal revenue object codes for income should be used on Internal Billing transactions.
  5. All transactions should adhere to University Expenditure Policy 9.10 and/or 18.10 Service Center Policy. 
  6. Acceptable Uses:
    1. To record sales of goods or services between University departments
    2. Correction of original Internal Billing transactions (overcharges, returns, or duplicate billings)
  7. Unacceptable Uses:
    1. Corrections not applicable to Internal Billings
    2. To record adjustments at year-end
    3. Entries which circumvent University policies and procedures or Sponsor agreements (e.g. using an IB to transfer funds to sponsor another department, move prior year expense, or to distribute revenue or expenses)
    4. Entries to allocate expenses on clearing accounts
    5. Agency account transactions (accounts in the 90XXXXX- 93XXXXX range)
    6. Transfer of capital equipment between University accounts

Service Billings

  1. If the service biller is a collector unit, the department should have a current Memo of Understanding (MOU) with Financial Services and a current agreement with the receiving unit. Contact your Financial Services Fund Accountant for the current MOU. 
  2. For all Service Billing units, detail should be attached to the document so the information is accessible to departments.
  3. Communication between departments is encouraged for expired accounts, change of account numbers and transaction inquires. 
  4. Service providers should have a process in place for updating account information when needed by the next billing cycle. 
  5. Billings should be submitted in a timely manner (within 30 days and within the current fiscal year).
  6. Receiving units should contact the service biller if they have not received an expected bill in a reasonable amount of time.
  7. Only internal revenue object codes for income should be used on Service Billing transactions.
  8. All transactions should adhere to University Expenditure Policy 9.10 and/or 18.10 Service Center Policy. 
  9. Acceptable Uses:
    1. To record sales of goods or services provided by University cost centers to another University department
    2. Corrections of original Service Billing transactions (overcharges, returns, or duplicate billings)
  10. Unacceptable Uses:
    1. Corrections not applicable to Service Billings
    2. To record adjustments at year-end
    3. Entries which circumvent University policies and procedures or Sponsor agreements (e.g. using an SB to transfer funds to sponsor another department, move prior year expense, or to distribute revenue or expenses)
    4. Agency account transactions (accounts in the 90XXXXX- 93XXXXX range)
    5. Transfer of capital equipment between University accounts
    6. Entries for capital (76XX and 77XX), non-capital (5721, 5722 and 5725) and fabrication transactions (5750 and 5751) 

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