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ESTABLISH AND MONITOR BANK ACCOUNTS

Treasury Management is responsible for opening and closing all UTHSC-H bank accounts.  The use of the University name or of any operating unit or department of the University is strictly limited, and all institutional bank accounts in the name of UTHSC-H will be reconciled monthly by Accounting.  The bank must be an approved depository institution.

Procedures to establish a UTHSC-Houston bank account:

• Submit request via letter or memorandum to the Controller
• Request must be approved by the appropriate Dean’s office
• Purpose for establishing the account
• Type of account  (e.g., checking account)
• Document control that will be used for check printing and signature authority

Upon approval of the request, Treasury Management will work with the bank to complete the necessary set-up forms, obtain the required signatures for bank account signature cards and coordinate any other banking needs.  Treasury Management maintains and updates bank account signature cards.

            Hoop Section 11.06  “Establishment of Bank Accounts”

PROCESS ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFERS

Electronic funds transfers (EFT) are electronic payments that are sent and received through financial intermediaries. UTHSC-H sends and receives two types of EFTs – wire transfers and Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments.  These transactions typically are from other State agencies, Federal agencies and vendors.

Identify Incoming Electronic Transfers
It is often difficult to determine who these funds belong to because there is very little detailed information provided by the bank.  Departments are required to notify Treasury Management via email or fax when expecting payments by wire transfer or ACH (e.g., a department invoices UT Austin, government agency or foreign institution).  Information to include:

1. Amount
2. Source of transfer (sender or bank)
3. Country where transfer will be originating
4. Expected date of transfer
5. Chartfield account to be credited
6. Any other information that may assist in identifying the transfer, such as name of project or principal investigator, invoice number and/or departmental contact

This will facilitate the depositing of the funds to the appropriate account on a timely basis.  Unidentified transfers will be credited to a clearing account until properly identified.

Outgoing Electronic Funds Transfers
EFTs (wire transfer or ACH) will be initiated only if the payment can not be processed through Accounts Payable in the Financial Management System (FMS) as a U.S. dollar wire, or if the receiving bank is not a U.S. bank. The use of wire transfers is discouraged due the additional costs associated with both domestic and foreign wire transfers.  Departments will be responsible for any bank fees associated with foreign EFTs.

Departments are required to enter a non-PO voucher into FMS and complete the Electronic Funds Transfer Request form. When entering the payment method and scheduled due date in the payment tab, select the following:

• “WIR” for wire transfer (as defined in FMS)
• “Due Immediately” for scheduled due date
• Foreign currency payments will need to be converted to U.S. dollars prior to entering the non-PO voucher in FMS
• Foreign exchange conversion information  can be found at www.oanda.com

It is important to remember to change the payment method from CHK  to WIR so that a check is not generated.

Attach a screen print of the non-PO voucher and supporting documentation, including Electronic Funds Transfer Request form and forward to the appropriate processing department:

• Disbursements – non-purchase order transactions
• Expense Reimbursement Team – travel related transactions
• Procurement – purchase order related transactions
• Post-Award Finance – any transaction paid on a grant

After the processing department has reviewed and approved, they will forward the voucher to Treasury Management to process the EFT/wire transfer.

The following should be written or stamped on the first page of the non-PO voucher to ensure proper routing:
“EFT/Wire Transfer – Please forward to Treasury Management.”

Foreign Currency Bank Draft
A foreign currency bank draft is a check issued by the bank to a foreign payee in a foreign currency. This method of payment is usually used for travel purposes (e.g. conference registration). Department completes the Request for Foreign Currency Draft form and enters a non-PO voucher. Contact Treasury Management or Expense Reimbursement Team for more information.

PERFORM CHECK DISBURSEMENT INQUIRIES

• Check inquiry – status of check
• Place stop payments/voids/cancels
• Photocopy requests
• Submit positive pay issues

Contact Treasury Management via email or by phone to inquire about the status of a check or request copies of a paid check.

Email:  TreasuryMgmt@uth.tmc.edu
Phone:  713-500-4944

To request stop payments/voids/cancels and reissue of check, please complete the Check Cancellation at Bank form and Cancel Check, EFT, Wire Request form. Submit completed forms, copies of all vouchers associated with the check, and copies of voucher support documentation to Treasury Management at UCT-901 (inner-office mail) or 713-500-4962 (fax).

COORDINATE LOCKBOX ACTIVITY

Lockboxes are used to accelerate collections and minimize the processing of collections internally. Treasury Management is responsible for opening lockbox accounts, monitoring lockbox performance and coordinating communication between the bank and department to handle and resolve problems and errors on a timely basis.

CALCULATE AND DISTRIBUTE INVESTMENT INTEREST INCOME

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston invests institutional cash to optimize return on investment within the guidelines established by the Board of Regents of the UT System. Interest on such cash balances is distributed on a monthly basis to qualified accounts.  Also, interest is earned and distributed based on actual cash collected and not on accounts, notes and awards receivable.

Fund groups eligible for interest income distribution include designated funds (but not service departments), Auxiliary Enterprise funds, private gifts and contracts (but only those that assess indirect costs), loan funds, unexpended plant funds, and agency funds.  Again, except for the student loan and scholarship account exceptions noted, these accounts qualify only if they have actual cash balances in excess of $50,000.

Hoop Section 11.08  “Distribution of interest Income”

Board of Regents, UT System, Rules and Regulations, Part Two, Chapter III, Sections 4.4 and 11.

ADMINISTER PETTY CASH AND CHANGE FUNDS

Treasury Management is responsible for establishing petty cash and change fund accounts and performing an annual review to ensure all funds are accounted for and all fund information is up-to-date.  Complete detail regarding the use of petty cash funds is outlined in the Petty Cash Guidelines on the Bursar’s Office website. 

Establish Petty Cash / Change Fund

Chairperson or Director prepares memo, requesting establishment of petty cash/change fund.

• Associate Dean of requesting school must approve petty cash/change fund request.
• Memo must include the following information:
  1. Dollar amount requested
  2. Proposed building and room location of fund
  3. Name and job title of fund custodian
  4. Reason(s) for establishing fund
  5. Secured location where fund will be stored during non-working hours
  6. PeopleSoft chartfield string that fund will be replenished against*
• Memo is sent to the Controller for approval.
• If approved, Finance personnel set up the petty cash/change fund, which includes processing a non-PO voucher. A check made payable to the custodian is issued.
• Initial funds to establish petty cash/change fund are advanced from Finance.  These funds must be returned to Finance once petty cash/change fund is no longer needed.

Changes to Petty Cash / Change Fund

• Any changes to the fund, including custodian, amount, or location, must be communicated in writing to the Controller.
• Treasury Management will prepare a new custody receipt for custodian and Department Chair to sign.
• Any discrepancies between the custody slip amount and the cash/petty cash vouchers should be reported to Treasury Management and the Controller, who will take further action as deemed necessary, including contacting Internal Audit and UT Police for further investigation.

Closure of Petty Cash Fund

• Custodian will notify Treasury Management of intention to close fund.
• Custodian must turn cash and/or petty cash vouchers totaling fund amount in to Bursar’s Office at UCT 2240.
• Any discrepancies between the custody slip amount and cash/petty cash vouchers turned in will be reported by the Bursar’s Office/Treasury Management to the Controller.

 Controls

• Fund must be safeguarded at all times.
• University funds should never be co-mingled with personal funds.  This includes depositing petty cash/change fund money in a personal bank account for safekeeping.
• Under no circumstances should a University employee open a bank account in the University’s name. All banking activity, including the establishment of bank accounts, is handled by Treasury Management.
• Custodian does not have the authority to reassign any of the funds.March 18, 2008d and reconciled by the fund custodian weekly.
• Cash overages/shortages must be cleared, at a minimum, weekly. Any overage/shortage exceeding $10.00 must be reported to Finance.
• If a fund is not active, it should be closed.
• Petty cash transactions cannot exceed $150.00 per transaction.
• The fund custodian is personally responsible for all petty cash funds.

* This account will also be used to replenish the petty cash/change fund in case of any fund loss, including cash shortage and theft.

HOOP Policy 11.05 “Loss of Cash”
HOOP Policy 11.09 “Petty Cash and Change Fund custodial Responsibilities”

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
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Last updated February 7, 2007