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Section 4: University Bursar & Financial Services

4.1 CASH HANDLING AND MANAGEMENT

Effective Date:

 02/02/09

Approved By:
Kerry Kennedy, Vice President, Business Affairs

Last Revised On:

 06/11/09

For Assistance Contact:
Director of Financial Services and University Bursar: 210-458-4221
Associate Vice President, Financial Affairs: 210-458-4210

PURPOSE/scope

Under this guideline, cash is defined as currency, checks and credit cards unless otherwise specified.

The proper handling of cash is a necessary control function. Supervisory personnel must monitor constantly to detect any control weaknesses and should obtain explanations for fluctuations.

AUTHORITY

Authority is provided by the University of Texas System Administration Policy – UTS166 – Cash Management and Cash Handling Policy.

All UTSA departments that are authorized to accept cash payment for services must adhere to this guideline.


UNIVERSITY GUIDELINES

Table of Contents

A. Requesting Approval to Accept Payments on Behalf of UTSA

Departments and divisions must request authorization to accept payments — in the form of currency, checks and/or credit cards — on behalf of UTSA. To request authorization, departments must submit the following forms to the Office of Financial Services and University Bursar:

B. UTSA Designated Credit Card Processor

UTSA has contracted with Global Payments Inc. to process all credit card transactions that occur at the university, including authorization and settlement.

Departments must request approval from the Office of Financial Services and University Bursar before accepting credit card payments on behalf of UTSA. See Requesting Approval to Accept Payments on Behalf of UTSA for more information.

After review and approval, the form is forwarded to the Office of Accounting so they may request merchant ID/account numbers for the requesting department, if applicable.

NOTE: It may take up to several weeks to establish a merchant account.

Departments must use a credit card processing system that is certified by UTSA's credit card processor.

1. Establishing a new credit card merchant account

A merchant ID/account is required for departments requesting to process credit card transactions via dedicated credit card terminals or online with a third-party vendor. Requests must be submitted using the Departmental Cash Handling Request Form.

NOTE: Departments electing to process credit card payments via Fiscal Services are not required to establish a merchant ID/account number.

    Accounting Services coordinates all account and merchant ID/account setup — as well as hardware purchases with UTSA’s designated credit card processor.

C. Departmental Responsibilities

The following internal controls must be in place when accepting cash, checks and/or credit cards:

  1. Adequate segregation of duties: An employee may not be responsible for more than one of the following cash handling roles:

    • Cash, check and/or credit card collection

    • Deposit preparation

    • Maintaining accounting records

    • Reconciliation

  2. Cash register tapes or logs must be completed to deposits on a routine basis to ensure that all income is being deposited.

  3. Income in departmental accounting system should be reconciled to the DEFINE Statement of Account.

  4. Income trends must be analyzed to determine whether actual income matches expected income.

D. Documentation File

Once a department/division receives approval to accept payments on behalf of UTSA, a file must be created and maintained that includes:


E. Identification (checks and credit cards only)

Each department and division must obtain one form of identification when accepting a check or credit card payment in-person. Acceptable ID is as follows:

F. Records Retention

In accordance with the institutional Record Retention Schedule, all paper and electronic records must be retained in a secure location for the current fiscal year and the last three fiscal years.

Departmental procedures for destruction of physical and electronic documents must be documented on the Departmental Cash Handling Security Policy and must be on file with the Office of Financial Services and University Bursar.

NOTE: Departments may photocopy checks for retention, however, the routing and account number (printed on the bottom of the check) must be removed as it creates a risk of unauthorized use of account information.


H. Credit Card Payment Processing Methods

Departments can select one of the following credit card payment processing methods depending on their anticipated transaction volume, credit card acceptance method, credit card type and related processing fees. All methods require authorization from the Office of Financial Services and University Bursar prior to setup.

NOTE: Departments may use the Credit Card Processing Methods — Quick Reference Chart to help determine the most appropriate credit card processing method.

1. Fiscal Services

Departments that process up to 50 credit card transactions per event/month may elect to process credit card payment using the Fiscal Services processing method, which involves providing credit card transaction information — using the Credit Card Payment Form — to be processed on Fiscal Services dedicated credit card terminals.

Also, departments may bill the credit card discount charge to the credit card holder or to a departmental M&O account, except for Visa transactions.

NOTE: Visa prohibits the credit card discount charge to be billed to the cardholder. FSO must bill the credit card discount charge to the departmental M&O account.

No merchant ID setup is required for this option, but departments remain responsible for destroying all retained records of the credit card number and expiration date.

2. Dedicated credit card terminal (Point of Sale/POS)

Departments may purchase dedicated credit card terminal(s) to process credit card transactions. Credit card terminal purchases are coordinated with Accounting Services and all related fees will be charged to a departmental account.

Departments are responsible for the physical and electronic security of credit card information, costs associated with credit card transactions and following established accounting and cash handling procedures when using this payment processing method.

The department must purchase a terminal and printer. The terminal requires a power source and a dedicated phone line.

3. Online with third-party vendor

Departments may request the third-party vendor processing method when accepting credit card payments online — for example, via a department website.

Set up of a 3rd party vendor for the online payment acceptance method is subject to normal purchasing regulations. Departments are responsible for the physical and electronic security of credit card information, costs associated with credit card transactions and following established accounting and cash handling procedures when using this payment processing method.

All third party internet processors must also be certified with Global Payments and remittances must be routed to Global Payments Inc, rather than directly to a UTSA bank account. Typically, these vendors will charge a setup fee, monthly or transaction fees, a percentage of sales or combinations of each.


I. Credit Card Related Fees

Departments are responsible for all costs associated with credit card processing, including but not limited to, setup fees, monthly maintenance fees, bank fees, credit card discount charges, and per transaction fees. See Credit Card Discount Charges and Fees for more information and a list of current fees.

1. Credit card discount charge

A credit card discount charge is a percentage of total sales that a merchant pays to a credit card company (for example, MasterCard) each time the merchant accepts a credit card payment. Discount charges vary by credit card company (for example, MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover) and by classification of merchant department.

NOTE: Card-absent transactions — transactions where the credit card is not physically present — may be charged a slightly higher discount charge.

The credit card discount charge is billed monthly for each credit card type and is based on each department’s selected payment processing method:

Payment Processing Method Credit Card Discount Charge

Dedicated credit card terminal and online with third-party vendor

Credit card discount charges are automatically charged to the department’s M&O account (provided to Accounting Services via Departmental Cash Handling Request Form).

Fiscal Services

Department’s determine whether to charge the discount charge to the cardholder or to their M&O account, except for Visa transactions. Visa prohibits the credit card discount charge to be billed to the cardholder. FSO must fill the departmental M&O account.

NOTE: Credit cards must be charged only once for the total sale, including the discount charge.

  • Billed to department M&O account: M&O account must be referenced on the Deposit Transmittal Form.

2. Dedicated credit card terminal fees

Dedicated credit card terminals must be purchased by departments that elect to process credit card payments via a dedicated credit card/Point of Sale terminal.


J. Payment Card Industry (PCI) Credit Card Compliance

Departments must keep copies of all credit card information confidential and protected from misuse in compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS).

PCI data standards are the responsibility of each department that accepts credit card payments. Severe penalties for non-compliance that results in the compromise of UTSA’s customers’ credit card information could result in monetary penalties and costs and/or suspension of UTSA’s authority to accept credit card payments.


definitions

Term Definition

Authorization

A request from a merchant to charge a credit card - the credit card is not actually charged until the authorization is settled.

Bank Credit Transactions

Each settlement (closeout) of a credit card batch creates a credit transaction to the bank.  Since batches must be settled daily, there will be a bank credit transaction for any day a credit card payment is received and processed.

Chargeback

A customer-initiated procedure to contest a charge. Merchants are generally given less than 10 days to produce evidence that the charge against the customer's credit card was valid. If this evidence cannot be provided, the funds are taken from the merchant and credited to the customer. Chargeback’s are very difficult to refute for purchases made over the web, because the card holder's signature is never obtained.

Credit

Canceling a credit card transaction that has been authorized and settled.

Credit Card Discount Charge

A fee that is billed by a credit card company to a merchant each time a transaction is processed. The discount charge differs and is based on how the transaction is processed (for example, card swipe, online or via manual entry).
See Credit card discount charge for more information.

Credit Card Security Code (CVC/CVV/CID)

A three or four-digit code printed on the front (or back) of a credit card. It must be obtained to further identify if a credit card is physically present during a transaction that occurs:  

  • Over the Internet

  • By mail

  • By fax

  • Over the phone

Gross Sales

The total dollar amount of all sales.

Merchant

A department that has been authorized to accept credit card payments on behalf of UTSA. 

 

Merchant ID/account number

An account used to identify credit card payments that are processed by a specific department.

Merchant ID/accounts are required for departments that elect to process credit card payments using dedicated credit card terminals or a third-party vendor (for online payments).

Privacy Policy

A statement published on a web site that explains what is done with the information provided by the customer. This statement should notify the customer if the information provided is being made available for use beyond the service being sold.

Sales Tax

A tax on the sale of taxable tangible personal property and taxable services within the State of Texas.

For more information see 4.1.1 - Sales Tax.

Settlement

A procedure in which a merchant requests that some or all authorized transactions be processed by a credit card processor. This processing includes charging the customer's credit card and transferring the money owed to the merchant.

Void

Canceling a credit card transaction that has been authorized, but not settled. See also Credit.

references/links

related forms/worksheets

  1. Cash Handling Request Form

  2. Departmental Cash Handling Security Policy

  3. Deposit Transmittal Form

  4. Credit Card Processing Methods — Quick Reference Chart

  5. Credit Card Payment Form

  6. Credit Card Discount Charges and Fees

  1. UTSA Check Register


revision history

Date Description
06/11/09 Update to format.
02/02/09 Departments must obtain approval by The Office of Financial Services and University Bursar before accepting cash or checks on behalf of UTSA. If checks are photocopied, the customer account and routing numbers must be removed. Deposit transmittal forms must be countersigned by a supervisor.
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Designed & maintained by Financial Affairs—Last update: November 16, 2009