All invoices for sales must be raised in UFS. They must be raised as soon as practically possible after the sale, and at most within one month of the transaction and comply with the VAT regulations. If use of another finance system is essential, prior written consent must be sought from the Director of Finance. This includes gaining permission for the proposed invoice template.
| For further guidance, refer to the Finance Training AR section on raising invoices |
Currency
Invoices must be raised in the agreed currency (See Contracts - Currency).
Invoicing timescales
The University’s policy is:
- For supplies of goods, invoices are raised as soon as the goods are delivered with payment terms of 30 days from the invoice date.
- For supplies of services, invoices should be raised monthly in advance. The first two months are payable on commencement of the contract. Thereafter, payment terms of 30 days from the date of the invoice are applicable.
Payments in advance
If payment is received before the goods are delivered or the services are performed, and an invoice has not already been raised, the invoice must be issued immediately, receipted, and sent to customer.
Deposits
Where deposits are requested, the invoice must be raised on the contracted date and state the purpose, e.g., 25% deposit for xxx purpose.
Stage payments
If stage payments are being used, then an invoice must be raised for each instalment. The narrative on each invoice must clearly state the purpose e.g., instalment 2 of 3 for xxx purpose.
Posting to the correct accounting period
Institutions should post invoices to the General Ledger accounting period that reflects when the actual goods were delivered, or service performed.
| For example: We provide a service to a customer on 23rd May The invoice is only raised on 3rd June, but should be dated 23rd May (the transaction date) In UFS, the GL date should also be May. |
You can back post as long as the AR module is open for the previous month. This is currently open for three working days after a standard month end. If you miss this deadline, then you will have to post into the current period.
Account codes
Within UFS each invoice line has three account codes allocated to it:
| Account | Description | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Receivables account | The University’s debtor control account | Do not change |
| Revenue account | The institution account to which the sale is attributed | Must be specified |
| Tax account | The University’s VAT account | Do not change |
For each invoice line, institution AR users need to specify the appropriate revenue account in their accounts to which the sale will be attributed. They can select the cost centre of their choice, but the Source of Funds must always be GAAA (External Trading), and the Transaction code must be selected from the K or L range.
Recharges
If you are recharging an external customer for goods or services that your institution has paid for, then there are two separate transactions:
- The original supplier invoice or payroll cost
- The recharge invoice from your institution to your customer
Refer to the Finance Training guidance for details.
Chapter 9 of the Financial Procedures Manual: VAT & Other Taxes provides further detail on tax treatment.
Latest version 17 April 2024