SECTION 15: Cash Handling, Deposits, and Incoming Electronic Funds

1. Each department is responsible for cash and checks it receives for the University. Funds may be received from sales of items, tickets, meals, etc.
2. If funds are received and the department does not have a cash register to record sales, prenumbered receipt forms must be used. The only exception to this would be in the case where prenumbered tickets are sold.
3. Upon receipt, all checks for deposit must be restrictively endorsed by the department. At a minimum, the endorsement should read "for deposit only, Michigan State University" and include the depositing department's name and account number on the back. This action is mandatory for funds to be covered by the University's Crime Insurance Policy.
4. If a check has a payee other than Michigan State University, it must be endorsed as drawn and then restrictively endorsed as indicated in item C above to be eligible for deposit. Federal Reserve Bank regulations limit our endorsement field to the first 1 1/2" from the trailing edge of the reverse side of the check. No other markings may be placed on the remainder of the reverse side.
5. Departments are responsible for the deposit of cash, checks and/or bankcards no less than once per week. When receipts are infrequent, deposits of a nominal amount ($50.00 or less) may be made less frequently, but no less than every two weeks. All funds received must be accumulated in a secure place until deposited. The Cashier's Office will not accept checks that are stale–dated (over 6 months old). Checks which are held from deposit for more than two weeks, which are subsequently returned unpaid, may result in the department being held liable for the University's returned check service charge.
6. Deposits of cash and checks should be made using the Cash Receipt eDoc (CR). Deposits of credit card revenue should be made using the Credit Card Receipt eDoc (CCR) unless the revenue is automatically deposited. Revenue sent directly to the bank with a deposit ticket or by lockbox should be credited using the Advance Deposit eDoc (AD). All revenue received as an electronic funds transfer (including ACHs and wire transfers) will be credited by the Controller’s Office.

For receipting transactions involving cash or checks, departments should use a prenumbered receipt form which can be obtained from the Spartan Marketplace. Please search for “prenumbered duplicate receipt book” for available options.

1. Checks should be made payable to Michigan State University.  If checks are received by mail, the senders should be notified in advance to make their checks payable as indicated above and to mail them to the attention of the department involved.  Checks which have been made payable to persons or departments must be endorsed by the payee prior to deposit.  All checks must be restrictively endorsed in writing or with a stamp when received by a department.  At a minimum, the endorsement should read "for deposit only, Michigan State University" and include the depositing department's name and account number on the back.
2. Checks drawn outside the United States should be made payable to Michigan State University in U.S. funds payable through a U.S. bank. Any check drawn on a foreign bank not having a correspondent bank in the United States may be returned for compliance with this policy. Any fees associated with the depositing of these checks will be charged to the depositing account number. Further information regarding the acceptance of checks drawn outside the U.S. may be obtained from the Manager of the Cashier's Office, Hannah Administration Building, 426 Auditorium Road Rm 110, 355–5023.
3. No personal check(s) in excess of the amount of the purchase should be accepted. Checks CANNOT be cashed at a department for the accommodation of the University faculty, staff or students. Persons responsible for handling University funds should, under no circumstances, cash personal checks from these funds.
4. ALL RECEIPTS MUST BE DEPOSITED. Refunds or other expenditures must NOT be made from cash receipts. Large numbers of similar refunds can be made from cash advance funds obtained by the department for that purpose (see Section 60, Cash Advances). Miscellaneous or infrequent refunds may be made by submitting a Disbursement Voucher eDoc.

1. The Cash Receipts eDoc (CR) is to be used by departments to deposit cash and checks with the Cashier's Office, Hannah Administration Building, 426 Auditorium Road Rm 110.
2. When State of Michigan Tax (6%) is collected: the funds are deposited into account AD023236. For SALES tax (i.e., sale of goods) collected the object code is 4069. For USE tax collected the object code is 4070. Use tax includes equipment rental, lodging less than 30 days, conference room rental, and telephone service. Each tax type must be entered on a separate accounting line if deposit includes both. This information is available in the CR eDoc by clicking the Sales Tax “?” in the Accounting Lines tab. If you have questions regarding taxability of reimbursements please refer to Section 50 and/or contact the Office of Tax Services at 355-0010 or taxreporting@ctlr.msu.edu
3. Once the CR has been successfully submitted, print the Cash Receipt Coversheet. This document must accompany all deposits of cash and checks.
4. Preparation of Cash and Checks
   1. All currency should be banded by denomination and must bear the name of the department. Currency bands are no longer available from Stores, but may be purchased from an external company using a PCard.

   2. When possible, please band or paperclip currency in the following manner:

      Currency	In Bands Of:	In Clips Of:
      100's	$2000	$1000
      50's	$2000	$1000
      20's	$2000	$500
      10's	$1000	$250
      5's	$500	$100
      1's	$100	$25

   3. All coins should be rolled when possible. Rolls must bear the name of the department or the name and address of the individual from whom the roll is accepted. Coin wrappers are no longer available from Stores, but may be purchased from an external company using a PCard.
   4. All checks being deposited must be endorsed. At a minimum, the endorsement should read "for deposit only, Michigan State University" and include the depositing department's name and account number. For deposits consisting of four or more checks, an adding machine tape must accompany the checks. If no adding machine is available, a list of the check amounts and a total is acceptable. This may be hand-written or generated in Microsoft Excel.
5. Frequency of deposits generally should be based on cumulative receipts on hand as follows. These guidelines provide minimum standards, allowing departmental discretion for increased deposit frequency.
   1. 
      

      Cumulative Receipts	Minimum Frequency of Deposit *
      $40,000 or more	Next Business Day
      $10,000 – $40,000	Within 3 business days or 2 times per week
      $50 – $10,000	Within 5 business days or once per week
      less than $50	Within 10 business days or once every 2 weeks

      * If a large portion of cumulative receipts on hand is comprised of cash, deposits should be made more frequently than outlined above. Contact the Cashier's Office at 355–5023 for more information.

      * If a single receipt for $250,000 or more is received, every effort should be made to deposit this on the same business day.

      * If a department uses an armored car service for transport of deposits, the prearranged pick–up schedule may occasionally conflict with the above guidelines.

6. Deposits may be delivered to the Cashier’s Office in one of the methods below. Prior to delivery, funds must be accumulated in a secure, locked location. Deposits delivered to the Cashier’s Office generally will be processed by the next business day if the CR eDoc has received all approvals.
   1. Armored Car Service – The University has a contract with an armored car service that will make scheduled pick-ups of departmental deposits from a department on a per trip fee basis and deliver them to the Cashier’s Office. For further information, contact the Cashier’s Office at 355-5023 or msucashiers@ctlr.msu.edu.
   2. Campus Mail – Deposits containing cash should never be sent through Campus Mail. Deposits of checks may be sent by Campus Mail to the Cashier’s Office, Hannah Administration Building, 426 Auditorium Road Rm 110. Departments sending deposits through Campus Mail should retain copies of all items sent with the deposit until the CR eDoc has been approved.
   3. Drop Box – Deposits may be dropped off to one of the Cashier’s Office drop boxes:
      1. Drive up mailbox located in the parking circle of the Hannah Administration Building (check only).
      2. Drop box located outside of room 110, Hannah Administration Building (check only).
      3. Night depository envelope slot located on the exterior of the Hannah Administration Building by the north entrance to the building near the top of the handicap accessible ramp (small cash and check deposits that fit inside a standard mailing envelope). For larger cash deposits, a department may request a key to the night depository or make an appointment to drop off the deposit in person. Contact the Office Supervisor at 355-5023 or msucashiers@ctlr.msu.edu for more information.
7. The Cashier’s Office, Hannah Administration Building, 426 Auditorium Road Rm 110, is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. For deposits at other hours, a department may use the night depository located at the front of the Administration Building. Contact the Office Supervisor at 355-5023 for more information.
8. For all deposits, the Cashier’s Office reserves the right to disapprove and return incomplete or inaccurate deposits for correction. Cash deposits requiring correction must be picked up by the submitting department. Check deposits requiring correction may be sent back via campus mail unless the department prefers to pick them up.
9. Any attachments to the Cash Receipt document should conform to the MSU Institutional Data Policy. Specifically, bank account numbers should be redacted, as well driver’s license, social security, employee and student identification numbers, and credit card numbers. Attachments are not reviewed by the Cashier’s Office at the time of approval. It is the unit’s responsibility to make sure all attachments conform to the MSU Institutional Data Policy.

1. Departments using the FirstData platform offered by PNC Merchant Services will have their credit card revenue deposited automatically. For information on accepting credit cards, please contact the Manager of the Cashier’s Office at 355-5023 or visit http://ctlr.msu.edu/CreditCard/Default.aspx.
2. Departments using a different processing system will record the revenue associated with credit card sales using the Credit Card Receipt eDoc (CCR). For further information on depositing credit card revenue, please contact the Cashier’s Office, Hannah Administration Building, 426 Auditorium Road Rm 110 at 355-5023.
3. Credit card revenue should be deposited with the same frequency as indicated above for cash and checks.

1. Bank Deposits – Departments depositing funds directly to the University’s bank account will use the Advance Deposit eDoc (AD) to credit their account for the funds received.
   • When completing the AD eDoc, the Bank Code should be BOFA and the location code should be a four-digit code listed on your deposit ticket. For questions about your location code, please contact the Cashier’s Office Supervisor at 355-5023.
   • The bank reference field should be left blank unless the 11-digit bank reference number is known by the initiator. For questions about the bank reference number, contact Financial Reporting at 355-5029.
2. Lockbox Deposits – Some departments have lockbox capabilities arranged with the University’s bank. These departments will use the Advance Deposit eDoc (AD) to credit their account for funds received.
   • When completing the AD eDoc, the Bank Code should be BOAL and the location code should be the five-digit lockbox number. For questions about your location code, please contact the Cashier’s Office Supervisor at 355-5023.
   • The bank reference field should be left blank unless the 11-digit bank reference number is known by the initiator. For questions about the bank reference number, contact Financial Reporting at 355-5029.
3. These other forms of revenue should be deposited with the same frequency as indicated above for cash and checks.

All large or unusual overages/shortages or reconciling problems must be reported to the Manager of the Cashier's Office and the Director of Internal Audit on a timely basis.

Daily records should be kept of the inclusive receipt or ticket numbers and total amount for which the receipts were written or tickets sold. Departments are responsible for reconciling the total amount of receipts or tickets with deposits made to the Cashier's Office.

The maintenance of a numerical file of all receipts is the responsibility of the department.  Since all prenumbered receipts must be accounted for, all original copies of voided receipts should be stapled together and must be retained by the department.  Copies of receipts are to be retained by the department and attached to copies of completed eDocs that record the corresponding revenue..

Funds should not be left unlocked or unattended and should be concealed from general view. Receipt records should not be kept with the funds received. The University has a contract with an armored car service that will make scheduled pick–ups of departmental deposits from a department on a per trip fee basis and deliver it to the Cashier's Office in the Administration Building. For further information, contact the Manager of the Cashier's Office, Hannah Administration Building, 426 Auditorium Road Rm 110, 355–5023.

THE USE OF PERSONAL OR OTHER NON-MSU BANK ACCOUNTS BY UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL FOR THE RECEIPT OR DEPOSIT OF UNIVERSITY FUNDS IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. THIS INCLUDES VENMO, CASHAPP, PAYPAL, AND SIMILAR PAYMENT TRANSFER APPLICATIONS.

Refunds from vendors or individuals – Occasionally, departments receive whole or partial refunds of payments made by MSU. Such refunds from vendors or individuals could be due to erroneous payments, the return of merchandise, unfulfilled services, etc. In such cases, departments can have the refund check deposited into the account from which the original MSU payment was issued in one of two ways:

Canceling a Check – Checks drawn on a MSU account may be canceled by sending the check, a completed Cancel Checks Form, and a copy of the document authorizing the original MSU payment to Accounting in Hannah Administration Building, 426 Auditorium Road Rm 360.  (See below for checks pertaining to purchase order payments).  The Cancel Checks Form must be signed by an authorized departmental signer.  Valid reasons for cancellation are:

Checks pertaining to a purchase order payment can be sent to Accounts Payable/Invoice Audit, Angell Building, 166 Service Rd Rm 103, accompanied by a note stating the reason for the cancellation.  The note must be signed by an authorized signer.  Valid cancellation reasons are the same as above.

Checks cannot be canceled where there still exists a legal obligation to pay for services rendered.  No refunds or cancellations will be credited to General Fund accounts in the current fiscal year for payments made or checks drawn in a previous fiscal year.

Upon receipt of any payment, departments should put forth a reasonable effort to verify whether or not the payment relates to their operations. If a payment cannot be identified as belonging to the department, the unidentified payment is to be sent to the Controller's Office, Hannah Administration Building, 426 Auditorium Road Rm 305, for handling and disposition. Departments should forward an unidentified payment, and any related correspondence, to the Controller's Office within 10 business days of receipt of the payment if possible.

Upon receipt of an unidentified payment, the Controller's Office will follow a set of procedures in a further attempt to identify the payee, including contacting the payor. If attempts to identify the payee are unsuccessful, the Controller's Office will deposit the payments into the "Unidentified Checks" clearing account (AT023254). Once a payee is identified, the Controller's Office will contact the respective department and will process the appropriate paperwork to transfer the payment to the correct account (i.e. Distribution of Income and Expense if the payment was deposited).

Payments will be held in the Unidentified Checks clearing account and, if not identified after one year, will be transferred into a General Fund miscellaneous revenue account (GV010739).

• Cancel Checks Form