The 'best practice' procedures and guidelines set out in this chapter are intended to assist Departments in the management of 'trading' income and to reduce outstanding debtors by identifying the steps and considerations to be made before, during and after the sale of goods and services.
The purpose of this is to:
This chapter concentrates on sales of goods and services to external customers(including students), what we commonly call trading activities. Guidance can be found in other chapters of the Financial Procedures Manual for the following other sources of income:
Before a decision is made to commence any income generating activity. The details that must be considered. All staff especially Heads of Intuitions and Departmental administrators should be aware of these issues.
Before an individual sale is made. An outline of the procedures that must be adhered to - such as considering the customer-base, credit control checks, terms and conditions, the costs and VAT implications. This is essential reading for departmental administrators and heads of accounts sections.
Practical guidance notes on creating customer records and recording sales. This includes raising sales transactions, dealing with refunds and creating receipts for payments from customers. This is essential information for all Accounts Receivable users within UFS.
Post sale guidance on Debt management. This covers the debt recovery process including details on how to log and monitor contact with customers and is of particular interest to any Credit Controllers or others with institutions that are responsible for recovering outstanding monies.
The rules and regulations for credit control and debt recovery have not been previously published and will provide Departments with practical steps to take when dealing with outstanding debts.
This flowchart gives an overview of the stages involved with external sales.
Heads of Departments are responsible for ensuring that all income-generating activity is carried out in accordance with the Financial Regulations and the procedures set out in this chapter.
Departmental procedures should be developed for internal use in respect of sales, banking and income collection. The documents should set out:
Contact | Contact No. | |
Accounts Receivable Helpdesk | UFS_AR@admin.cam.ac.uk [2] | 32215 |
Credit Control - Research Accounting Team | fin.credit.control@admin.cam.ac.uk [3] | 32205 |
Cash Management Helpdesk | UFS_CM@admin.cam.ac.uk [4] | 64298 |
Finance Division Cash Office | Cashier.Old.Schools@admin.cam.ac.uk [5] | 32223 |
Taxation Section | TaxQueries@admin.cam.ac.uk | 32212 |
Accounts Payable Helpdesk | UFS_AP@admin.cam.ac.uk [6] | 66888 |
Legal Services Office | headoflegal@admin.cam.ac.uk [7] | 64900 |
Links
[1] https://www.finance.admin.cam.ac.uk/sites/www.finance.admin.cam.ac.uk/files/media_root/policies_and_procedures/flowchart_2.pdf
[2] mailto:UFS_AR@admin.cam.ac.uk
[3] mailto:fin.credit.control@admin.cam.ac.uk
[4] mailto:UFS_CM@admin.cam.ac.uk
[5] mailto:Cashier.Old.Schools@admin.cam.ac.uk
[6] mailto:UFS_AP@admin.cam.ac.uk
[7] mailto:headoflegal@admin.cam.ac.uk