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Service Center Monitoring

What Is a Recharge Center and Specialized Service Facility?

Recharge Centers and Specialized Service Facilities are referred to collectively as “service centers”. Service centers are units within UTSA that provide goods and/or services of a specialized nature to other UTSA users on a recurring basis and recover costs through charges to users for those goods/services.

Financial Guidelines

How Can I Establish a Recharge Center and Specialized Service Facility?

To establish a service center, you must submit the Service Center Information Sheet to the associate director of Accounting for initial review. This information sheet is also used when a service center intends to expand its customer base to include external users, to add additional services or to update billing rates.

The approval of the director of the unit involved and/or dean and the appropriate vice president is required. Specialized service facilities also require the approval of the vice president for Research, Economic Development and Knowledge Enterprise or designee.

The associate director of Accounting or designee will review the request with the initiator. Final budget and billing rates will be presented to the assistant controller.

Once established, these service centers are audited biennially by Accounting Services. Biennial reviews include, but are not limited to:

  • Consistent, accurate and timely billing of customers
  • Appropriate accounting for allowable and unallowable costs and subsidies
  • Attainment of break-even goals and the treatment of any surpluses and deficits
  • Billing rates and practices
  • Methodology of calculating rates
  • Adequacy of record keeping procedures

The Annual Operating Budget process occurs in March of every year. The associate director of Accounting sends a reminder email each year with a link to the Annual Operating Budget form and the Service Center Rate Sheet. The forms must be completed and submitted to Accounting Services by the end of the month.

The Annual Inventory Reconciliation occurs at the end of each fiscal year on Aug. 31. The associate director of Accounting sends an email each year around the middle of August to remind departments to submit the Inventory Reconciliation form due no later than three business days after the end of the fiscal year.

If you have questions about requirements for external customers, billing rates, billing procedures, accounting guidelines, records retention, etc., refer to the Financial Guideline Accounting for Grants & Contracts.

For details on compliance, refer to the Code of Federal Regulations. For additional questions, contact Grant Accounting.