SECTION 41: Service Billing Transactions
Last updated: February 2016
Last reviewed: February 2016
I. General
- The Service Billing (SB) document is a restricted use document. Only units with an established authorization from Accounting may process the SB.
- Like the Internal Billing (IB) document, the SB is used for the billing of goods and services provided by a university department to another department, reflecting income to the provider and expense to the customer. These transactions are processed by the servicing department. The IB is a ‘Financial Processing Transaction’ (Section 40) and can be initiated by any employee with the financial system user role. The SB is a ‘Financial Processing Administrative Transaction’ and can be initiated only by employees with established authorization.
II. Direct Transaction Feed, Service Billing, Service Provider Billing
- A number of units will Service Bill accounts through a direct feed. Such Service Billing feeds are typical of MSU’s higher volume billing operations, including Travel, Food Stores, and University Services. Certain Service Billing feeds will include revenue transactions, including University Advancement and Endowment Spending Policy distributions. Each of these feeds has a unique “Origination Code” for billing (e.g., Travel billings are Origination Code 23). A current roster of feeds is located in the financial system at the Origination Code Lookup screen. At the Main Menu, select the General Error Correction document. In the Accounting Lines tab of this document, select the lookup option at the Reference Origin Code field, then select the search button. All current Origin Codes will be displayed.
- Other Service Billing units bill via a Service Billing document. Such Service Billing operations are typical of MSU’s medium volume billing operations. All of these billings will be identified with Origination Code 01 (KFS). Some units that process SB e-docs are: Biochemistry Stores, Chemistry Stores Cashier’s Office, Administrative Fee, Kellogg Center, IT Services, University Lab Animal Resources, MSU Surplus Store, Student Receivables, and Research Technology Support Facility.
- Certain Service Billing units bill accounts through a Service Provider Billing (SPB) document. SPB documents are created through direct feeds into the financial system from some of the higher volume operations, such as Infrastructure Planning and Facilities (IPF). When charges are submitted, an SPB document is created for each account number in the billing, and routed for fiscal officer review and update. SPB documents cannot be disapproved, and will auto-approve within a set period of days (typically five) if the fiscal officer does not take action. SPB documents contain a hyperlink to transaction details for efficient review of charges. All of these billings will be identified with Origination Code 01 (KFS) on reports, but will reference the source Origination Code and Service Billing unit in the document itself.
III. Processing
- SB direct feeds and documents do not route for fiscal officer or central approvals. Through order forms and other local service request formats, there is an established agreement between billers and customers to provide and bill for goods or services. Instead of direct document approvals, it is this agreement that officially authorizes the Service Biller to charge the customer's account. SPB documents route for fiscal officer review and approval, but cannot be disapproved. SPB documents auto-approve, typically after five days.
- Accounting Lines: All Service Billers are required to accommodate the full Accounting Line string at a customer’s request. The object code billed is determined by the Service Biller, but the optional Accounting Line fields (sub-account, sub-object, project, and org ref Id) will be accommodated by Service Billers at a customer’s request.
- The established Service Billing authorization from Accounting to the billing units serves as Accounting’s ongoing approval for these transactions. The restricted access for SB document initiation ensures that only authorized organizations can create a billing without approval routing.
- Billing frequency will generally be one time per month. However, Service Billers may choose to bill more frequently.
IV. Service Billing Supporting Documentation Locations
- All Service Billers must provide supporting documentation for all transactions processed. See the chart for a summary of Service Billing supporting documentation locations.
V. Further Information
