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Commercial Accounts Receivable

[Procedure] Last Updated: November 2020
Prior Manual Number: 6-1

I. Commercial Accounts Receivable

The university, through its Bond Revenue, Sales and Service, Local Fund Activities, and Income Funds, has cause to make sales and assess charges to various individuals, organizations, and agencies “outside” the university system.  All sales and charges by a university department must be made via the “Request to Generate a Customer Invoice” form provided by the Commercial Accounts Receivable Office or directly into the PeopleSoft Financial Management System (FMS) (if the department has access).  Direct access to PeopleSoft FMS shall be determined by the supervisor of the Commercial Accounts Receivable Office. The Commercial Accounts Receivable Office will use the information on the “Request to Generate a Customer Invoice” form sent by the departments that do not access to PeopleSoft FMS.  The Commercial Accounts Receivable Office will also edit and process all invoices for accounting purposes and collection follow-up.

Accounts receivable is defined as any amount owed to the university by an individual, organization, or agency whose funds are not controlled by the university. Accounts receivables are established by the selling department or the department issuing the charge – not the Commercial Accounts Receivable Office.

Departments wishing to issue university billings for the first time must obtain clearance through the supervisor of the Commercial Accounts Receivable Office. When a department has been authorized to issue university billings, it is assigned a three-character alpha prefix code by the Commercial Accounts Receivable Office. This code will appear on all invoices followed by six numeric digits (e.g., THE000001).  PeopleSoft FMS allows each department to start their invoice numbering sequence as XXX000001 and will automatically assign the next number to be used.

II. Preparing a “Request to Add/Update a Customer Record” Form

The “Request to Add/Update a Customer Record” form is located on NIU Departments: Commercial Receivables website. Complete the following sections:

  1. Billing Department Information
    1. Date – The current date.
    2. Billing Department – Specific name of the department assessing the charge (e.g., Holmes Student Center).
    3. Telephone Number – Telephone number of the person in the department who Commercial Accounts Receivable Office can contact if questions arise on the form.
  2. Customer Information
    1. Name – The name of the person or company being billed.
    2. Email Address – The email address of the customer being billed.
  3. Billing Address
    1. New Customers
      1. Mark the box next to “New Customer”.
      2. Fill in address information (e.g., Street, Box Number, City, State, Postal Code, Country (if other than USA), Business Telephone Number, FAX number, Federal Tax ID (SSN, TIN, FEIN), Student ID (if currently enrolled student or Faculty/Staff).
    2. Existing Customer Update
      1. Mark the box next to “Existing Customer Update”.
      2. If existing customer update, check one: “Address Change” or “Additional Address”.
      3. Fill in the effective date of change.
      4. Address information is always required even if you are only updating contact information. Fill in applicable address information.
  4. Contact Information
    1. New Customers (leave the box next to “Contact Change” and “Additional Contact” blank)
      1. Contact Person – Name of receiving (ATTN to) person/department (e.g., Accounts Payable or John Smith).
      2. Title – The title of the above contact person (if applicable).
      3. Email Address – The email address of the contact person/department.
      4. Business Telephone Number – Telephone number of the contact person/department.
      5. FAX Number – FAX number of the contact person/department.
    2. Existing Customers
      1. Check the box next to “Contact Change” (if replacing existing contact) or “Additional Contact” (if adding another contact to this customer).
      2. Fill in the effective date of change.
      3. Fill in the new contact information.
      4. For replacing an existing contact, list the name of prior contact.
  5. Authorized Signature – Signature of the billing department. A signature is not necessary if sent by email.

Completed forms should be sent to the Commercial Accounts Receivable Office (accountsreceivable@niu.edu) for processing. You will receive an email within 3 business days indicating the customer number or confirmation to your update request.

III. Preparing a “Request to Generate a Customer Invoice” Form — For Non-Rollout Departments

Non-Rollout Departments are departments that do not have direct access to PeopleSoft Financial Management Systems; therefore, Commercial Accounts Receivable Office will enter their billings into PeopleSoft FMS. The “Add/Update Customer Record” form is located on NIU Departments: Commercial Receivables website. Complete the following sections:

  1. Billing Department Information
    1. Date – The current date.
    2. Billing Department – Specific name of the department assessing the charge (e.g., Holmes Student Center).
    3. Telephone Number – Telephone number of the person in the department who Commercial Accounts Receivable Office can contact if questions arise on the form.
    4. Contact Person – Name of person who prepared the form.
    5. Internal Log Number – This number is necessary only if the department uses their own internal control for these forms.
  2. Bill to Information
    1. Bill Type – The three letters alpha code that was assigned to the department. If you do not know it, contact Commercial Accounts Receivable Office.
    2. Customer Number – The number that has been assigned to the customer you are billing.
    3. Customer Name – The name of the person or company being billed.
    4. Billing Address – The address of the customer being billed.
    5. Contact Person – Name of receiving (ATTN to) person/department (e.g., Accounts Payable or John Smith).
      Note: This contact person should already be set up with Commercial Accounts Receivable Office using the “Request to Add/Update a Customer Record” form.
  3. General Description of Sale (Optional) – PeopleSoft FMS allows an additional 255 characters to be used in the general description of the sale.
  4. Item Description of Sale
    1. Description – 30 characters available to be used to describe an item on the bill line. If additional space is needed for a particular bill line, use the bill line note space.
    2. Quantity – Indicate the number of items being sold on this bill line.
    3. Unit – Unit of measurement (e.g., Ea., Day, Hr.).
    4. Unit Price – Price of a single item being sold.
    5. Sale Date – Date of the sales transaction.
    6. Tax% – Tax of the sales transaction (if applicable).
    7. Fund – Indicate the fund to be used on this bill line (e.g., 29, 41, 44, or 50).
    8. Cost Center – Enter the department’s seven-digit cost center/code to be used, including the two alpha prefix code (e.g., OE32251).
    9. Account – Enter the six-digit revenue code (e.g., 440100).
    10. Class – Enter the three-digit numerical/alpha code (e.g., 07K).
  5. Bill Line Note (Optional) – If more than 30 characters are needed to describe the item sold on this bill, this space provides additional characters.
  6. Authorized Signature – Signature of the billing department. A signature is not necessary if sent by email.

IV. Entering an Invoice Using PeopleSoft Financial Management System — For Rollout Departments 

Rollout departments are departments that have been granted access by Commercial Accounts Receivable supervisor to enter billings into PeopleSoft FMS.  Each person requiring access must attend training sessions conducted by the Commercial Accounts Receivable supervisor.

  1. When a department has been authorized to bill in PeopleSoft FMS, the following procedures must be followed:
    1. Each rollout department will create invoices through Billing > Maintain Bills > Standard Billing > Add a New Value.
    2. Departments will have their own Bill Type (3 letter prefix) and Distribution Codes in the PeopleSoft Billing setup tables.  The Billing Specialist for each department should only use Distribution Code(s) that have been assigned to their department.
    3. When selecting a customer to be billed, only the Sponsor Programs Administration Department is permitted to use customer numbers starting with GFA.  All other departments must use the automatic customer numbering system starting with “1” or “0001”. 
    4. The Fund and Organization must be the same for the Revenue Distribution and the AR Offset.
    5. Departments will take responsibility for the readiness of the invoice by having their own internal approval procedure.
    6. Full and partial credits can only be created by the Commercial Accounts Receivable Office.  Please use the “Request to Generate a Customer Invoice” form to request full and partial credits.
    7. When the invoice is in acceptable form, the department will set its “Bill Status” to “Pending Approval”.
    8. The Commercial Accounts Receivable Office will review all invoices in the “Pending Approval” status.
      Invoices that have been set to “Ready” status by Commercial Accounts Receivable Office should never be modified.  If revisions are needed, contact the Commercial Accounts Receivable Office to set the “Bill Status” back to “New”.  Commercial Accounts Receivable Office will notify the department when the “Bill Status” is back in “New” status. The department can then make necessary corrections and when the invoice is ready, set the “Bill Status” to “Pending Approval”.
    9. Invoices that are correct are set to the “Status” of “Ready” by the Commercial Accounts Receivable Office.
    10. Departmental invoice distribution will be classified into two groups:  1) those that mail their own invoices, and 2) those that choose Commercial Accounts Receivable Office to mail or email their invoices out for them at the time of processing.

V. General Policy Concerning Minimum Billings on NIU Invoices

Invoices will not be processed if the amount is less than $5.00. Billing areas could accumulate small charges to the same customer until they total $5.00 or more.

VI. Flow and Distribution

Once the invoice has been processed, the department will receive an electronic version (PDF file) of the invoices to retain for their records. The department has the option of having Commercial Accounts Receivable Office mail or email all of its invoices at the time of processing. If the department chooses to mail out their own invoices, they can print the electronic version and mail.

VII. Guidelines for Billing Through Commercial Accounts Receivable Office

In order to fulfill Illinois State reporting requirements for collection of receivable accounts billed through Commercial Accounts Receivable Office, departments must furnish the Tax Identification Number for individuals and businesses. Departments must provide SSN numbers for individuals and/or a copy of businesses’ W-9 form.  If a customer refuses to provide this information, the department should not be extending services. Contact the Commercial Accounts Receivable Office for questions regarding exceptions.

VIII. Guidelines for Submission of Invoices

Departments should submit “Request to Generate an Invoice” forms or enter online in Peoplesoft FMS all charges incurred on a timely basis. Commercial Accounts Receivable Office processes invoices biweekly and/or as needed.

IX. Account Statements

Statements are generated on the first business day of each month. Please note that Commercial Accounts Receivable Office does not send out zero balance statements.

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