| Adoption |
| Date: February 23, 1967 Instance of Approval: Executive Committee of the Senate |
| Modifications |
| Date: April 14, 2026 Instance of Approval:Administration Committee |
| Responsible Service: Vice-President, Finance and Administration |
1. PURPOSE
1.1. The University is committed to preserving public trust and confidence in its financial activities. The University is also committed to ethical, transparent and financially responsible invoicing practices when it provides goods/services to external customers and collects payment from external customers.
1.2 This policy aims to:
a) outline the roles and responsibilities of faculties and services, Financial Resources and University members as they relate to invoicing external customers and to processing and accounting for accounts receivable.
b) establish minimum requirements for invoicing external customers, credit checks of external customers, and payment terms and interest charges for late payments, to ensure accurate financial records and timely collection of payments due to the University.
c) establish the requirements for extending credit to external customers in order to limit the risk of uncollectible accounts and minimize the cost of collecting amounts owed to the University, and to align these requirements with public sector accountability and financial stewardship standards.
2. APPLICATION
2.1 This policy applies to all faculties and services and to their invoicing when they provide goods/services to external customers.
2.2 This policy does not apply to:
a) transactions among or between faculties and services or other billing internal to the University
b) donations to the University
c) research-related revenue from an agreement entered into by a faculty or service in relation to research
d) University tuition charged for academic credit earned through University courses
e) transactions processed through our merchant services
3. DEFINITIONS
3.1 For the purposes of this policy and procedures adopted pursuant to it, the following words and expressions have the following corresponding meaning:
“account receivable” means an amount due to the University from an external customer and excludes all revenues and receipts from sources referenced in Section 2.2 of this policy.
“conflict of interest” has the same meaning as in University Policy 70 – Conflict of Interest.
“collection notice” is a formal notice sent to a customer to remind them of an overdue payment.
“external customer” means a recipient, or prospective recipient, who is external to the University and to whom the University provides goods/services (excluding those referenced in Section 2.2 of this Policy).
“faculty” means a faculty, school, department, institute, centre or other academic unit of the University.
“faculties and services” means all the academic and administrative units of the University.
“Financial Resources” refers to the administrative unit that reports to the vice-president, Finance and Administration and unless otherwise stated, refers to the Accounts Receivable team within Financial Resources.
“generally accepted accounting principles” or “GAAP” refers to a standardized set of Canadian accounting rules where revenue must be recognized (recorded in the system) when it is earned, not when it is received (referred to as accrual accounting).
“goods/services” means goods and/or services provided by a faculty or service to an external customer that is linked, related, subordinate to, or supports the University’s charitable purposes of education and research. The following is a non-exhaustive list of examples of goods/services:
• Non-academic-credit training or courses or testing services or workshops
• University equipment or facility rentals
• Advertising revenue
• Royalties, commissions and licenses
• External recoveries (salary/non-salary)
• Telcom and computing services
• Sales of surplus furniture
• Services offered for events held on campus
• Books and publications
• Non-research sponsorships (events, conferences, workshops, etc.)
• Non-research grants and contracts, such as parking spaces, energy services
“relative” has the same meaning as in University Policy 70 – Conflict of Interest.
“related party” has the same meaning as in University Policy 70- Conflict of Interest.
“revenue” means the total amount of income generated by the provision of goods/services by a faculty or service to an external customer.
“service” means an administrative or operational unit of the University.
“University funds” means funds owned or administered by, or in the care of, or due to, the University.
“University member” means any of the following:
a) a full-time, part-time or temporary University employee
b) a University appointee (for example, University volunteers, those with a University academic appointment or adjunct, visiting, fellow or emeritus appointment),
c) anyone who has access to University accounts involving University funds.
“Workday” means the University’s central, cloud-based platform on which the University administers University funds.
“write off” means the formal accounting action taken to remove an amount due to the University from the University’s financial records because Financial Resources deems it uncollectible or no longer representing a valid account receivable, given that: 120 days from the invoice date has passed; the collection efforts have been exhausted; and the amount due to the University will not be pursued further for financial reporting purposes.
4. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
4.1 All University members and all faculties and services must act honestly and uphold the highest ethical standards when they provide goods/services to external customers, including without limitation, they must:
a) ensure there is a written agreement with the external customer for the provision of the goods/services that has been signed by the relevant University signing authorities in accordance with University Board By-law No. 3 – A by-law relating to the delegation of approval of contracts and signing authority, and that describes, at a minimum, the goods/services to be provided, the price and amount due to the University, and the terms of payment
b) use Workday to invoice external customers, unless otherwise approved in writing by the associate vice-president, Financial Resources
c) follow GAAP accounting principles, including without limitation, recording revenue in Workday at time of sale
d) Comply with tax guidelines and applicable tax laws
e) Make a genuine and substantial effort to collect accounts receivable from external customers
f) Direct all payments from external customers to Financial Resources
g) Maintain confidentiality of external customer information to the extent permitted by applicable law
h) Refrain from all transactions with banned and/or sanctioned entities: Global Affairs Canada – Consolidated Canadian Autonomous Sanctions List
4.2 University members must avoid conflicts of interest and must disclose any conflict of interest in accordance with University Policy 70 – Conflict of Interest. For the purposes of this policy and without limiting the interpretation or application of University Policy 70 – Conflict of Interest, below are some examples of conflict of interest:
a) providing goods/services to, or engaging with or handling financial transactions involving, an external customer who is a relative or other related party or that results in a personal benefit to the University member
b) accepting gifts, or other favours or incentives, from an external customer, in exchange for terms that are more favourable to the external customer
c) using or accessing confidential information for personal gain or to provide an external customer with an unfair advantage or favourable terms.
4.3 In addition to other role(s) and responsibilities set out in this policy, the table below outlines the main role and responsibilities in the revenue generation, invoicing and accounts receivable process:
| Role | Responsibilites |
Initiating faculty or service Role of initiator of the goods/services to an external customer | a) Creating opportunities, orders and ensuring that invoice and payment terms are in accordance with this policy b) Ensuring goods/services are invoiced to external customer and tracked c) Ensuring that the price for the goods/services is charged to external customer in Canadian dollars, unless another currency has been approved in writing by the associate vice-president, Financial Resources before the goods/services are provided d) Collecting the accounts receivable from external customer e) Discussing and resolving disputes with external customer on invoices or amounts charged for the provision of goods/services to external customer f) Ensuring that they stop providing goods/services to the external customer and take any other available remedial action if the external customer fails to pay after 60 days from invoice date and has failed to respond to collection notices |
| Faculty or service Administrative and financial role | a) Entering invoice information into Workday for processing before providing goods/services to the external customer b) Obtaining Financial Resources approval before generating an invoice for an external customer that is not generated in Workday c) Ensuring that correct tax treatment is applied to amounts charged for goods/services d) Regularly reviewing and following up on open invoices |
| Financial Resources Accounts Receivable team | a) Providing guidance to faculties and services, including on the application of this policy and on tax compliance h) Referring an account receivable for collection, either internally or by an external service provider, and charging the cost of such collection efforts to the cost centre of the initiating faculty or service i) Determining when an amount is uncollectable and recording the write-off against the initiating faculty or service, unless another arrangement has been made with the external customer |
| Financial Resources Director of Accounting Operations and Associate Vice-President, Financial Resources | a) Overseeing Accounts Receivable team b) Establishing credit risk and other financial standards c) Maintaining invoicing, revenue recognition and collection standards d) Serving as an escalation point in disputes with external customers e) approving any write offs of uncollectable amounts that are not made against the initiating Faculty or Service. |
5. CREDIT RISK
5.1 Financial Resources must perform a credit check on all new external customers, the cost of which will be charged to the faculty or service providing the goods/services to the external customer, if:
a) the expected annual account receivable total exceeds $25,000; or
b) Financial Resources determines that the external customer is high credit risk
5.2 Before a faculty or service provides goods/services to an external customer, the director of Accounting Operations, Financial Resources may require that the external customer pay a deposit or pay the full price of the goods/services in the absence of a credit check in order to protect the University from financial risk.
5.3 The director of Accounting Operations, Financial Resources is authorized to establish credit limits within Workday and to:
a) approve exceptions to the credit limits; and
b) decide to waive a credit check of an external customer. For example, a credit check may be waived is when the external customer is another university or broader public sector organization, or a federal, provincial, municipal government or government authority.
5.4 The director of Accounting Operations, Financial Resources is authorized to grant credit to an external customer. The decision to grant credit will consider the external customer’s financial health and ability to pay for the goods/services, including without limitation the external customer’s credit worthiness, past payment records (if applicable), and the price of the goods/services.
6. INVOICE AND PAYMENT TERMS
6.1 The following paragraphs describe the basic mandatory invoice requirements and payment terms that apply to the provision of goods/services to external customers:
a) Invoice details must be entered into Workday before providing goods/services to the external customer. Financial Resources must provide prior approval for any invoices to external customers not generated in Workday. At a minimum, invoices not generated in Workday must include the date issued, a unique invoice number, description, quantity and price of goods/services, contact information of the initiating faculty or service, applicable taxes, payment instructions and the late payment interest rate.
b) The University must receive full payment for goods/services from the external customer before such goods/services are provided to the external customer when the goods /services are either:
1) the supply of courses or training; or
2) the supply of a work product (for example, analysis, report or other tangible product produced by the University)
c) The external customer must pay the invoice within 30 calendar days of the invoice date. External customers will only be granted an extension to pay if they can demonstrate exceptional circumstances. Any arrangement to give the External Customer special credit terms must be documented and attached to the invoice in Workday. Invoices outstanding beyond the standard 30-day payment term will be charged additional interest on the principal outstanding amount (at a rate to be determined by Financial Resources), until the outstanding invoice is paid in full.
d) The external customer must pay the University invoice via electronic means and not by cash or by cheque. Financial Resources is responsible for sending the University’s banking information to the external customer.
e) The external customer must be directed to send remittance notices with their payment to assist in tracking and properly applying the payment against the invoice issued by the relevant faculty or service.
f) A service charges (as approved by the vice-president, Finance and Administration) will be applied to all accounts receivable payments returned by the bank due to non-sufficient funds, account closure or other.
7. COMPLIANCE
7.1 A University member who fails to comply with this policy may be subject to disciplinary and corrective action, up to and including termination of employment, appointment, contract or of any other engagement with the University. The process for such disciplinary and corrective action will be in accordance with the terms that govern the relationship between the University member and the University, namely, the relevant collective agreement, employment contract, appointment, contract or other University policy or procedure agreement that governs the terms of the member’s engagement with the University.
8. APPROVAL AND AMENDMENTS
8.1 The associate vice-president, Financial Resources is responsible for reviewing this policy annually or as required and for recommending any amendments to it to the vice-president, Finance and Administration. The vice-president, Finance and Administration recommends any amendments to the policy to the Administration Committee for approval.
8.2 Amendments to this policy require the approval of the Administration Committee.
8.3 The vice-president, Finance and Administration may establish, amend or abrogate procedures in order to effectively implement this policy, provided that such procedures are consistent with the provisions of this policy.
8.4 Notwithstanding 8.2 of this Policy, the secretary-general may amend this policy without the need to submit such amendment to the Administration Committee for approval if such amendment is required to:
a) update or correct the name or title of a position, unit, law, bylaw, policy, procedure or authority; or
b) correct punctuation, grammar, typographical errors, revisions to format and other technical revisions, where appropriate, if the correction does not change the meaning of a provision, or make such other correction if it is clear both that an error has been made and what the correction should be; or
c) correct the form of expression of a provision in French or in English to make it more compatible with its form of expression in the other language; or
d) make consequential amendments to comply with or arising from another University bylaw, resolution, policy or procedure.