The Ohio State University Libraries
Policies and Procedures
Technical Services

Document: Transfer of Expense from the Libraries' Account to Another Department's Account

Date: Rev. 5/21/03

Effective: Immediately

Revised by: CPD

Background:

Departments sometimes make arrangements to share purchases with the Libraries. However, most prefer not to transfer the actual funds for the purchase to the Libraries but rather have a portion of the expense of that title transferred from our account to theirs. When a department wants to fund a purchase on behalf of the Libraries, the purchase is usually made on the Libraries' accounts and then all or part of the expense is transferred after payment to the department's account. These agreements are usually arranged by collection managers but the details of the transaction must be initiated by the Head, TSAA* in consultation with the Assistant Director for Collections.

OSCAR:

In most cases, the full expense is temporarily charged to an OSCAR fund and the portion to be transferred to the other department's account must be credited on OSCAR.

1. The initial invoice and payment is processed as usual (and in full) by TSAA*.
2. Recreate the invoice in OSCAR as a credit back to the original orders (for the portion to be paid by the other department). Use the same invoice no. and date, enter each order no. and the amount on the invoice (as a credit, i.e. -25.00).
3. Add an internal note to each order record which explains the details of the transfer and cost sharing arrangement.

University level:

1. The Head, TSAA* will initiate the transfer of expense in the General Ledger to move the expense from one department's account to another. Credit the expense to the library's account where the expense was made initially. Debit the expense to the other department's account.
2. A copy of the transaction should be printed for reconciliation with the GL reports.
3. Send an email to the contact person in the other department to alert them to the transaction. They must approve it in the GL.
4. Attach a copy of the GL transaction to the invoice for the files.

Ledger:

Credit the expense to the appropriate account in the Excel ledger.

Clarification:

This process is used to transfer expense (or make a correction) from one department's account to another department's account. It can also be used when the transfer is between different accounts within the same department.

* As of 7/1/03, TSAA (Technical Services Accounting and Administration Department) has been incorporated into ASA (Access, Support, and Accounting Department).

Return to Technical Services Documentation menu. Return to Accounting Documentation menu. Return to SRI Department Home Page. Page last modified: 8 November 2011

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