Division of Financial Services
Accounting
Various university units sell goods or provide services to other university units. This results in “revenue” to the internal services unit that is not true revenue to the university (no new resources are being provided from an external source). Therefore, these sales must be offset by the interdepartmental expenses charged to the university units – in total, interdepartmental revenues and expenses should net to zero.
| Service Facilities | An operating unit that provides goods or services primarily to the academic community for which it recovers some or all of the costs of those goods or services from users. Service facilities generate revenues in excess of $50,000 per year; typically provide goods or services to users across the university; have physical space specifically dedicated and assigned to their operation; have a separate operating account, and must have their user fees reviewed and approved by the Division of Financial Services annually. Examples of service facilities are machine shops, core facilities, or instrument and computer facilities. Contrast with Recharge Operation. |
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| Required Documentation | Invoice, service contract or some other record of sale to the department customer. |
| Procedural Notes | Permitted Ithaca object codes:
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| Recharge Operation | An operating unit that provides goods or services primarily to the academic community for which it recovers some or all of the costs of those goods or services from users. Recharge operations generate revenue of less than $50,000 per year; typically provide goods or services to users in a single department; do not have physical space specifically dedicated and assigned to their operation; are not required to have a separate operating account; and have their user fees reviewed and approved by departmental administration annually. Examples of recharge operations are departmental charges for use of copiers, or small testing operations. Note: Revenue and expense codes should not be used when distributing/sharing specific expenses; a negative expense code should be used so as to not overstate revenues or expenses (total expenses should net to zero on these types of transactions). |
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| Required Documentation | Invoice, service contract, or some other record of sale to the department customer. |
| Procedural Notes | Permitted Ithaca object code:
For more information, see University Policy 3.10, Recharge Operations and Service Facilities. |
| Interdepartmental Revenue | All other sales of goods or services to a university department, and by a unit not deemed to be a service facility or recharge operation, should be recorded as interdepartmental revenue. |
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| Required Documentation | Invoice, service contract, or some other record of sale to the department customer. |
| Procedural Notes | Permitted Ithaca object codes:
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