When depositing cash or checks via a Department Deposit Form with University Bursar Cashier Operations, keep in mind that there are several fields within this form that are very important from a financial reporting standpoint, and thus need to be accurately completed every time you make a deposit. See below for further guidance:
- The Date Payment(s) Received by Unit field is very important to UAFR, as this helps us identify any payments that may need to be recorded as a deposit in transit at year-end.
- For example, if you received a check in the mail on a particular date, or if you received a payment directly from your customer on a particular date, then enter that date into this field.
- The Earliest Start Date and Latest End Date fields should reflect the date range of the period covered by the payment. This will help ensure that the revenue resulting from the deposit is properly classified for accrual and deferral cutoff reporting, which is a crucial part of the financial reporting process and a heavy point of emphasis during the external financial audit.
- If the period covered by the payment is only one day (e.g., if you sold a tangible product to your customer or if you sold a service to your customer that started and finished in the same day), then enter the same date into both the Earliest Start Date and Latest End Date fields.
- However, if multiple payments are being deposited on one form, then find: (1) the payment with the earliest start date, and (2) the payment with the latest end date. Then, enter those two dates into the Earliest Start Date and Latest End Date fields. If this is the case, be aware that UAFR may follow up with you in the fall for a more detailed breakdown to help determine how much of the overall deposit needs to be accrued or deferred for financial statement reporting purposes.
- It’s also important to provide a clear description explaining the purpose of your deposit as well as an appropriate C-FOAP (paying close attention to the account code).
- For further guidance, download the Department Deposit Form Instructions.
Contact
For additional information on this topic, refer to the Cash Handling section of the Business & Finance website. You can also reach out to UAFR via email at uas@uillinois.edu.
