EFT Payment Application Process

Electronic funds Transfer (EFT) payments, which can be by ACH or wire, are received in the Accounts Receivable module as payments. In order to get these recorded in the financial system, a bill must exist or be entered in EFS so the payment can be applied.

Departments should have their cluster billing specialist enter a bill into the Financial System when they initiate the action that triggers an EFT payment. If Department A sells goods or services and the customer will be paying via EFT, Department A's cluster billing specialist should complete a bill in the Financial System to record the receivable at the time of the sale (not when the payment arrives). When the EFT arrives, Accounts Receivable Services will apply the EFT to the open invoice created by the department.

This process allows receivables to be tracked effectively within the University. Also, because Accounts Receivable Services applies the EFT payments, departments do not have to watch for the payment to arrive.

Departments should be proactive in completing bills so when the funds arrive via EFT, AR Services can match the EFT payment to a bill that has already posted to AR.

EFT Payment Application Procedure

The specifics for creating a bill with an expected payment via EFT are detailed below:

  1. Check to see if the customer you are expecting payment from exists in the financial system. Navigation: Customers > Customer Information > General Information

  2. If the customer does not exist in the financial system, request that the customer record be added. Work with your cluster billing specialist to follow the instructions in the Create Bills manual (Requesting a New Customer). Please allow 48 hours for customer set up completion.

  3. Once the customer record exists in the financial system, you can enter a bill according to the procedures outlined in the Create Bills class. Here are some specific hints for bills that will be paid via EFT:

    a) Use an Internal Header Note to indicate that the bill will be paid via EFT. If the customer has already paid, you can indicate any information you have that will help ensure the correct payment is applied to the bill (such as the date of payment, payment reference number, etc.).

    b) If you are sending/have sent an invoice to the customer via a departmental billing system, OR if the EFT has already been received by the University, be sure to select "NO PRINT" for the Invoice Form on the Header - Info 1 page. A paper invoice won't be automatically printed and mailed to the customer, but the transaction will be recorded in the financial system and allow the EFT payment to be applied.

    c) Enter the chartstring for the credit side of the transaction (the debit is automatically recorded to the central AR GL account). The credit is most often either a revenue account, or if the payment is related to an open receivable on a departmental AR system, that department's AR account. Note: Payments related to the student financial system may follow a different process, please contact Accounts Receivable Services for specific instructions.

    d) There isn't any need to call or e-mail to get the "Bank Date." As long as you enter the bill, Accounts Receivable Services will match up the payments with the bill in the AR module.

    e) Wire fees may be deducted by banks during processing of a customer's payment; do NOT wait for the payment to arrive in order to match the invoice to the actual amount received. Any reasonable differences will be written off as bank fees to the invoice chartstring.

State of Minnesota EFTs

Scope: State of Minnesota – this includes all state agencies and institutions

All invoices being sent to the State of Minnesota, its agencies and institutions must have an EFS Invoice Number. In cases where a departmental system is used for billing, the invoice information should be forwarded to the Cluster Billing Specialist for entry into EFS and the EFS invoice should be sent to the State.

Background

Beginning July 1, 2011 the State of Minnesota switched from their legacy payment system to a PeopleSoft system called "SWIFT" (StateWide Integrated Financial Tools). This does not change how payments are received from the state for University of Minnesota invoices. (And the State of Minnesota "SWIFT" system should not be confused with Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications "SWIFT" system.)