Internal Billing (IB) eDoc Guide

An optional Items tab on this document is available to support charges billed. Billing departments can opt to fill out the item tab to itemize or attach details of the recharge to the IB document upon creation.

IB e-docs route to fiscal officers for approval. It's recommended to only bill one department/area at a time, since the routing of the document goes to everyone and attachments/backup is harder to track for each billed unit when other Schools/Orgs are mixed together.

Internal Billing (IB) Eligibility & Approvals

Note that only approved recharge & income units should use the IB or are eligible to collect recharge income. What constitutes a recharge is explained in the Cost Analysis: Official Recharge website. Additionally, more information regarding the principals of Cost Accounting and online class on the UC Learning Center is available, titled "Official Recharge Facility and Activity Overview". Visit uclc.uci.edu (keyword: Recharge).

A KFS system User (54) can create an IB document. IB documents route to all Fiscal Officers on the Expense side of the document, before they are approved. However, the IB is one of two documents that has an Auto-Approval process, to allow the approved income units to record their income in a timely manner. Auto-approval is set at 15 calendar days, from the date of Submission of the document (calendar days). It does not have a disapprove feature, so initiators should be contacted immediately, if there may be an error/corrections needed.

Internal Billing Corrections

The Budget Office and Accounting Office, in conjunction with the recharge units back in 2016 removed the disapprove button. If a document needs to be disapproved (and there are not a any other users that already approved it), then the INITIATOR (billing dept) can contact KFS@uci.edu to have it disapproved and state why. If multiple users already approved it, or just accounting information needs to change, then it is up to the department and biller to work together to correct the charges via the biller issuing a 'credit' IB document (putting - credits in the amount fields) or use a GEC to correct/reverse the income and expense.

Frequently Asked Questions on the IB

After a document is submitted, can it be edited?

Fiscal Officers can edit the account(s) for which they are also a fiscal officer or backup for. They cannot disapprove an IB document, as it is assumed that the charge is for pre-approved expenses that have already happened and the biller already given an account number to perform the recharge with. Fiscal Officers and others in the billed unit cannot disapprove an IB. If there is an issue with the amount being billed, they should immediately contact the biller for any questions/issues and possible credits.

If an enroute IB document is not approved within 15 calendar days after submission, the document will be auto-approved. Fiscal Officers can view a document’s General Ledger Pending entries while the document is still enroute, as well as when it is final.

Can I copy an Internal Billing document?

IB docs can be copied, and this is useful if there is an error on one document, to make a quick fix before submitting the new doc, or bill for a new month. However, be very careful about copying an IB, since lots of the entries may need to be changed (like period of performance, description, explanation, new attachments, etc.). If an IB is disapproved (only can be done at the request of the biller/creator to KFS Helpdesk), the initiator will have to create a new IB.

I’m getting an error when trying to submit an IB. Why am I getting this error?

Some object codes are not allowed on the Income vs. the Expense side of the IB. Only internal RECHARGE income and expense codes are allowable. On the Income Side, only "IC" Object Types are allowed (Income not cash). On the Expense Side, only "EE" Object Types are allowed (Expenditure not expense).

Billers cannot cross Charts (MC vs. IR) when doing billing documents, without using specialty Recharge Income and Recharge Expense Object code specifically designed to cross and balance across charts (IR to MC, or MC to IR)

When a recharge is crossing charts, due to Common Chart of Accounts principals, only those types of transactions would be allowed on the one document. (You cannot mix IR-to-IR and IR-to-MC or MC-to-IR transactions on the same document.)

Some Accounting information (accounts) may be expired or closed. Initiators cannot use closed accounts or provisional (temporary) accounts for the IB. Expired accounts are only allowed if the period of performance or the reason for the billing took place while the account/grant was still active, and the override indicator should be selected upon submit.

Is there a limit to how many lines can be entered into an IB doc?

KFS does not limit the number of lines that an IB document can have. It is recommended that no more than 200 lines total (Income and Expense) be put into an IB. The more lines in the IB, the more likely the document is going to be sluggish to load and route. The more likely it will also get delayed for approvals.

I submitted/approved an IB, but it’s not reflected on the ledger. Why is that?

• Check the document and see if it is final or processed. Only final or processed documents post to the ledger.
• Check the route log to see when the document became final. After an IB document is final it must go through an overnight batch process (business day operations) before it will appear on the ledger
• If enroute, please note that IB documents only are eligible to be auto-approved after 15 calendar days after Submission (not initiation). Special exceptions are made during fiscal close, to meet fiscal close deadlines (may approve before 15 days).

Can I add an Accounting Reviewer to the IB?

You cannot add an accounting reviewer (approval) on an IB, and these recharge documents will not stop for approval on these documents. Campus management and a workflow committee determined that an ‘approve’ holds up workflow to an incredible degree that was unnecessary during routing. Instead you may add an Accounting Reviewer FYI or an Accounting Reviewer Acknowledge role instead in KSAMS.

There is an expense on a restricted account and the account is expired. Can I still charge the expired fund?

If the account has been expired less than 60 days AND the expense being billed is for a prior period, the account override feature in the accounting lines can be used to use the expired account. If the account has been expired for more than 60 days, or the transaction is not for a time when the account was previously active, please contact the department to be billed and ensure they give the biller an active account.