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Credit approval process

This process refers to all general ledger new customer requests, individual customer requests and changes to existing customers

Departments, wishing to deal with customers for the first time, should consult Credit Control, Finance and Business Affairs, prior to the provision of goods or services.

Account set-up / amendment and credit check

The appropriate form should be emailed to creditcontrol@ucl.ac.uk, who will examine the company's credit worthiness for anticipated sales greater than £2,500. Credits Checks may also be undertaken for customers whom we feel are of some risk. If this is satisfactory, a new customer record will be created on the Sales Ledger providing we have received all the required information.

Please Note: new Customer Accounts Set-up form should be completed in all instances for new customers or changes.

The following are exempt from the credit check: NHS Trusts; hospitals; charities and public sector educational establishments. However, some charities may still be credit checked, depending on the value of credit.

Where an unsatisfactory credit rating is obtained for a new customer (or a current customer has a poor payment history) and the department insists on proceeding with the sale, it must be emphasised that the department has to accept responsibility for any debt.

An email confirmation from the Department must be sent to creditcontrol@ucl.ac.uk. Should the debt become bad (i.e. uncollectable through enforcement, or because the company has gone into liquidation), the amount will be automatically written back to the Department.

Please Note: Departments remain liable for all unpaid invoices.

Points to consider before forwarding your request
  • For one off customers have you considered advance payment (20% to 50%) and/or taking a credit card payment?
  • For customers requesting credit for services or goods below £1000, have you considered advance payment (20% to 50%) and/or taking a credit card payment?
  • Do you have a signed agreement in place? Does this agreement cover payment? Has the agreement been attached with the Account Set up request?
Purchase orders

It is the responsibility of the Department to make sure that Purchase Order Numbers or References are obtained from the customer to ensure prompt payment. The Purchase Order Numbers must be completed on the Application Form or added to the actual Invoice.

Billing: customer numbers

When billing departments should only use customer numbers beginning with NHS or GEN (depending as to whether you bill an NHS organisation or not).

If the customer you are looking for is available but under a different customer number please do not use it , kindly request a new customer to be set up using the form on the link below and send it to creditcontrol@ucl.ac.uk

GEN###### (General customers to be used by all departments when billing all organisations/individuals except organisations that are part of the NHS)

NHS###### (NHS customers to be used by all departments when billing all organisations that are part of the NHS)

RES###### (Research Customers only to be used by Research Services)

COM###### (Commercial Residences customers only to be used by Residences team)

CAP####### (Capital customers only to be used by Estates and Facilities capital projects)

Billing: points to note
  • PO number: check if needed and insert on the body of the invoice. Make sure PO is valid and up to date. Also insert on the more tab PO Number
  • Customer reference: include customer reference if available on the body of the invoice
  • Contact: it is good to insert contact at customer on the body of the invoice
  • Always include back up: breakdown for charges if required or docs that would justify charges (expenses, consumables, catering). Departments should attach back up sent to customer to myfinance transaction record (it is on the UPK training module but credit control can help with this)
  • Address: make sure the right address is being used when billing even if it is the correct customer as one customer can have many addresses. If you need a different address to the one coming up by default please click on the address field list of values […] and select the one you need. If not available submit a customer amendment request to credit control to add the address you need to myfinance customer record
  • Bill promptly
  • Description needs to be comprehensive and meaningful to the customer
  • Online training module
Payments

Payments can either be made by bank transfer or credit card.


Forms

All requests or notifications should be emailed to creditcontrol@ucl.ac.uk

If you have any queries please contact a member of the Credit Control team on 57285 or email creditcontrol@ucl.ac.uk