Policies
Our policies and procedures provide guidelines and maintain controls for accountability.
- Affiliated Entities Policy
- Approval and Execution of Contracts and Invoices (Signing Authority)
- Debt Management
- Hospitality
- Internal Loans
- Investment Related Signing Authority Policy
- Perquisites Policy
- Procurement Policy
- Research Administration Policy
- Research Index of Policies
- Research Over-Spending
- Safe Disclosure Reporting and Investigating Policy
- Statement of Investment Policy and Procedures
- Tracking Moveable Assets
- Travel and Expense Reimbursement
Procedures
Including other relevant information within the drop down tabs.
How to Accept Credit Card Payments at Queen's (PDF, 233 KB)
Invoicing External Customers
Accounts Receivable (A/R) is money owed to an entity by customers (individuals or corporations) for goods and/or services that have been delivered or used, but not yet paid for.
The intention of the guidance document below, is to provide the detailed information required to administer A/R invoicing at Queen's.
Agency Fund - Invoicing External Customers (PDF, 1.1 MB)
AR - Invoicing External Customers (PDF, 210 KB)
Capitalization Assets (DOCX, 32.3 KB)
View Petty Cash Procedure Page
Bank Accounts
To ensure proper control and accountability over University resources, departments are not permitted to open external bank accounts. University units and individuals in receipt of funds which have been provided to them to carry out any University-related activity (including research funds obtained from granting agencies), must use the correct PeopleSoft ChartField, assigned to the department to manage these funds.
All transactions, including deposits, payment of invoices etc., must be conducted through the designated PeopleSoft ChartField.
Handling Cash
The handling of cash carries a risk of loss of the asset as well as a risk to the individual handling and transporting the cash.
We recommend that the handling of cash be minimized wherever possible. Some suggestions for eliminating the receipt of cash resulting from the sale of goods and services are:
- Use the Campus Bookstore whenever possible for sale of course related material
- Accept debit and credit cards. Financial Services can help get you set up this process - contact General Accounting for more information.
- Accept payment by personal cheque from faculty and staff. All cheques should be made payable to Queen's University.
If cash still must be accepted please:
- Use pre-numbered cash receipt slips (available from Financial Systems or a cash register when cash is received).
- Ensure that access to the cash is limited to the person responsible for the cash.
- Ensure that cash is stored in a secure location before it is transferred to Financial Systems or the bank. Use fireproof safes rather than filing cabinets and desk drawers.
- Ensure that a person who does not have access to the cash reconciles deposits to the cash receipts or cash register tape on a daily basis.
- Do not send cash to Financial Services in the mail
- Ensure that cash is deposited intact on a daily basis (i.e. do not use cash received on account of sales etc. for petty cash purposes.)
Cash deposits made in person at Financial Services must be done prior to 11:45 and you must wait for the receipt
Funds received by a department in respect to the sale of goods or services, reimbursements, etc. must be deposited with the Senior Accounting Clerk in the General Accounting or directly at the bank using our "concentrator service".
Employees should be aware that vendors or suppliers provide gifts, services or entertainment (meals, tickets to sports events etc.) as part of their marketing or promotion efforts.
These expenditures are often made by the vendor or supplier with the expectation that they will be rewarded with increased sales.
The employee who receives a gift, service or entertainment will be in a conflict of interest with Queen's University if this personal benefit results in a decision to purchase goods or services that is not the best value for the University.
Consequently, all employees must disclose to their supervisor, all offers of gifts, services or entertainment with a value greater than $75. Where acceptance is deemed inappropriate or likely to produce a conflict of interest, the gift, service or entertainment is to be refused.
- Journal Entries
- Recording Internal Sales, Cost Recovery & Transfers
- ChartFields
- Clarification Guide on the Use of 480001 and 699005 (PDF, 599 KB)
- Account ID's
- Revenue and Cost Recoveries
- Recording Internal Cost Recoveries
Reconciliation Guidelines
Communication from the Business Officer Advisory Group
Reconciling the Statement of Operations is an important part of the overall control framework within the University and should be completed on a monthly basis. These monthly reconciliations help ensure that only valid charges have been applied against your account and that transactions you expect have been posted as anticipated.
Financial Services receives numerous requests each month to provide supporting documentation or information for charges that have been applied to departments. Dollar values of the transactions for which supporting documentation is being requested range from less than five dollars to more than one thousand dollars.
Establishment of a Reconciliation Threshold
Reconciling statements on a monthly basis can be time consuming and a balance between level of effort and level of accuracy is important.
In support of this objective, it is the recommendation of the Business Officer Advisory Group that individuals adhere to a reconciliation transaction threshold of $50.
Individuals reconciling department statements need not seek additional supporting documentation for transactions of less than $50 unless there is concern of an error.
In supporting the community with respect to reconciliations, Financial Services will focus efforts on requests for transactional information above $50, and to those where there is a concern of an error.
Off-Cycle Payments
Regular salary payments are made on the dates indicated on the published payroll calendars. Under normal circumstances, if a salary payment is missed, the University will make pay adjustments on the employees next regular pay. In emergency cases, Payroll Services will issue the employee an off-cycle cheque.
Please note the unit requesting the off-cycle payment will be charged a $200 service fee to produce the cheque.
Financial Systems Procedures
For assistance with IT related matters, your departmental ITAdmin REP is your first level of support for IT inquiries.
Your NetID is your network identity at Queen’s. It is the single ID used to sign on to all applications and services managed by IT Services. For assistance with managing your NetID and Password, visit NetID FAQs or contact your departmental ITAdmin Rep.
Need to change your password? Log in to the NetID Profile Manager
New and existing employees are required to submit the online Financial Systems Security Access Request form for the following reasons:
- Create a New User
- Modify an Existing User (add or remove access)
- Update an Existing User (new job)
- Clone an Existing User
- Remove All User Access (A Manager may complete the form on behalf on their employee to REMOVE ACCESS only. Please use the comments field.)
The Process
Submission of this form creates an iTrack record. When submitted, the named Manager is sent an iTrack email for approval. When the Manager approval is received, the FN Security Officer is notified and the appropriate Approver (Departmental Business Officer) is contacted for their approval. Once all approvals are received, the FN Security Officer reviews the request and determines if online training is required. If so, the user is contacted and directed to the appropriate training. Once all the above criteria have been met then your access will be granted by the security team within 48 hours.
Roles & Permissions
| Role | Description | Notes | Training Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Journal Entry | Create Journal Entries | Ability to create, update and view entries entered under User's Operator ID. Prior to receiving this role, user must complete the onQ course "Financial Services Journal Entry Module and Quiz". A score of 10/10 is required on the quiz. |  |
| Journal Exception Override | Process a Journal Entry applicable to any Department ID outside of User's approved GL access. | Intended for Users who process entries that impact Department ID's outside of User's approved GL access. (i.e. Internal Cost Recoveries or Internal Sales Revenue) | |
| Spreadsheet Journal Upload (SSJR) | Create Journal Entries that contain a large number of lines (i.e. >50) using special Excel and Journal Upload templates provided by Financial Services. | Intended for Users who process frequent high-volume transactions. Role should be limited to one or two Users within a unit. | |
| GL Inquiry - Financial Reporting | View FAST Financial Reports | User has the ability to inquire on all financial activity related tot he GL Department ID's and/or reporting Tree Nodes for which the User is authorized to view. FAST training tutorials are available on our Training Overview page | |
| Research Reports | View FAST Research Financial Reports | User has the ability to inquire on all financial activity related to the Research PeopleSoft Projects for which the User is authorized to view. FAST training tutorials are available in our Training Overview page |
With the addition of Queen's new e-procurement system, acQuire, access to create PeopleSoft Purchase Requisitions will no longer be offered. All new Purchase Requisitions (PO) activity should be submitted through acQuire.
Due to the required Statement of Confidentiality, the Financial Systems Security Access Request form must be filled out and submitted by the intended USER.
Questions, Comments or Inquiries can be sent to finance.security@queensu.ca
Whether working from home or while travelling, there are times when you may need to be able to access shared drives, software or files that are stored on your work computer, or to connect to resources that are restricted to campus without actually being on campus. As a result, Queen's provides Enterprise Remote Access to the campus.