Receipt and Deposit of Income

1. Sterling income

1.1 Receipt by department

Income should ordinarily be received as part of the general post. If a member of staff receives income on the department's behalf, the income should be passed to the Departmental Administrator (or whoever is responsible for departmental income) and a record of the transfer made.

Income should be recorded on the current MRM forms and then deposited either through the Financial Services Office (FSO) or directly with the bank for approved off-site locations*.

Cheque income should be deposited regularly and not less than once per week. If a drop safe facility has been approved and set up for the department the frequency will depend on the amount of income received by that department and the following insurance requirements concerning storage of cash out of business hours:

Location Limit

• Safe not specified on UCL insurance £1,000
• Safe specified on UCL insurance Per insurance document
• Not in safe eg locked cupboard/drawer £500
• Where cash exceeds insurance limits it must be deposited immediately via the drop safe facility. Where total income exceeds £2,000 it must be deposited within one day of receipt.
• All income should be deposited intact. Payments should not be made from income and personal cheques or other such instruments may NOT be substituted for cash.

Procedures for opening mail

The following procedures should be followed when opening the post, to ensure that a record of all income is kept by the department, and to safeguard against loss:

1. All incoming mail must be opened by departmental secretaries or other authorised personnel.
2. Two persons should be present when mail is opened.
3. All correspondence should be date stamped as soon as it is opened.
4. All cheques should be recorded on a daily receipts register. This should record the name of the remitter, the amount and the destination of the income e.g. the person to whom the cheque is passed for processing or ultimately the receipt number. The register should be signed by the two persons responsible for opening the post on that day.
5. Any cheques with accompanying account code should be logged immediately on an appropriate receipt form for subsequent passing to the FSO for banking. Cheques and receipt forms should be locked away securely until ready for delivery to FSO (cheques accompanied with an invoice number should be sent to the PS Hub and addressed to Credit Control).
6. Large cheques (over £10,000) received during normal business hours should be deposited immediately along with any other monies held.
7. Large cheques (over £10,000) received outside of normal business hours should be locked in a fire resistant safe or cabinet if available. Smaller items should be placed in a locked petty cash box, in a locked cupboard/drawer.
8. Cheques received without adequate PTA code(s) or remittance advices should be recorded on an incomplete remittances register. This should record the cheque number, remitter and amount. When the cheque is passed on to other members of staff for investigation, their signature must be obtained. When the cheque is returned the register should be updated with details of its destination. The record should be examined at regular intervals (at least weekly) to ensure that incomplete remittances are being investigated as quickly as possible.

1.2 Deposit via the FSO

The completed MRM forms should be taken with the cheques to the FSO where the counter staff will check and reconcile the amount before accepting the sheet. If necessary the MRM form will be amended by the counter staff. The department will get a copy of the MRM form for their records.

Non-invoiced receipts should be accompanied by supporting documentation to provide evidence of the nature of the income, and the services (if any) being provided. Failure to provide such documentation may result in the credit being taken to a central suspense account until adequate documentation is provided.

The FSO will bank income on a weekly basis.

1.3 Deposit directly

*Only certain departments and halls have permission to bank directly. In these cases income must be recorded on the MRM forms and the forms batched before banking. Books of credit slips are issued to each department/hall that banks off-site and these should be used in sequence. Bank credit slips are obtained from the Treasury Accountant Steve Williams, Financial Accounting, Finance.

Control forms must be filled in detailing the date, the amount banked, related batches and credit slip numbers. These should be reconciled to ensure that the total bankings equal the total batches. The forms should be signed by an appropriate signatory and sent to Treasury on the day of banking to enable matching against the bank statements. The halls have a separate arrangement.

MRM forms MUST be prepared on the same day the income is banked.

When the banking has been correctly matched to the bank statement a signed copy of the control form will be returned to the department/hall for their records.

1.4 Receipt by FSO

Invoiced income received by the FSO should normally be accompanied by the invoice remittance advice slip detailing the invoice number and recorded onto a Lock Box. Non-invoiced income will be entered on an MRM form. The FSO Manager will batch the MRM forms.

Income must be banked weekly and intact using the control form to reconcile the bankings and batches. The control forms should then be passed on to the Financial Accounting Office in Finance and Business Affairs for checking. The sheets will then be countersigned and filed ready for matching to bank statements.

When the banking has been correctly matched to the bank statement a signed copy of the control form will be returned to the FSO for their records.

2. Foreign Currency Income

A separate bank account (the Currency Account) is maintained for the receipt of foreign currency income. Departments should complete a Foreign Receipt form with the details of the receipt and invoice number or account code.

The Foreign Receipt form should be taken to the FSO who will then bank the cheque on behalf of the Department, once the sterling equivalent is obtained the details will be entered onto a stamped copy which will be returned to the department for their records. The FSO will then add all non-invoiced income to an MRC Form all invoiced income on to a Lock Box.

The income is banked weekly by the FSO directly into UCL's Currency Bank Account, once the sterling value is received for each cheque these will be added to either the MRC form or the Lock Box. The MRC forms are sent to Accounts Payable for processing and the Lock Box sent to Credit Control for loading. 

The Halls have a separate arrangement for the deposit of foreign currency income.

N.B. Technically UCL is now a cashless campus.  Departments who receive cash on an ad hoc basis should contact the FSO for details on how to process cash payments.