Financial Management

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eMOU Procedures

PURPOSE: 

  • To document an agreement between two campus entities where one party will provide services to another. The service provider will recover from the service recipient the costs associated with providing these services. An MOU is not a substitute for a contract of services with an off-campus entity. Service contracts with off-campus entities should be arranged through Purchasing and Contracts Administration.
  • An eMOU or contract of services must be approved before services are performed. eMOUs will be processed annually and must be fully approved no later than June 15th. (If June 15th falls on a weekend the deadline will be the following Monday).
  • When completing the Accounting Detail portion of an eMOU, enter actual costs and totals. If the actual costs are unknown, enter your best estimate; the amount fields are required in the eMOU module.
  • An existing eMOU may be amended if necessary due to cancellation, change of service, change in the rate for services, or an extension of the time covered by the agreement (i.e. original eMOU for fall semester, extended to cover the spring semester).  The Amendment form should be completed prior to providing services, but at least five days prior to billing for services rendered under the amendment. An Amendment is not required when the original eMOU is based upon an estimated number of transactions.   
  • To comply with Executive Order (EO) 1000-Delegation of Fiscal Authority and Responsibility.

 

TYPES OF COST RECOVERY AND REIMBURSEMENTS NOT REQUIRING AN eMOU:

Documents that articulate the agreements listed below are required.

  • Between General Operating Fund Entity providing services to another General Operating Fund Entity
    • Costs to be recovered by the service provider under the agreement should include only salaries/wages and operating expenses.  Benefit costs should be excluded.
    • Payments should be made via the on-line budget transfer system. It is not necessary to send any documentation to Financial Services.
  • Space Rentals/Leases
  • Student Assistant Agreements
  • Service Agreements

TYPES OF MOU ENTITIES

  • Auxiliary Corporations; the Associated Students Incorporated (ASI), CSUN Foundation, North Campus Corporation, The University Corporation (TUC), and the University Student Union (USU).
  • Enterprises; TSENG College of Extended Learning (ExL), Health Facilities, Parking Services, and Housing.
  • General Operating Fund Entities; (485xx) any subdivision (e.g., center, department, college, division) of the University that is providing services to another campus entity.
  • Cohorts (Agreements made between the Tseng College of Extended Learning (ExL) and a college). Review Memorandum of Understanding Procedures for Cohorts.

COST RECOVERY CALCULATION METHODOLOGIES

The methodology for calculating costs to be recovered through an eMOU must be reasonable and related to the services performed.

Below are frequently used approaches for calculating costs eligible for recovery:

    • Actual full or prorated costs of salary and benefits for a specific faculty member or staff employee who provides services directly to another campus entity.
    • Prorated salary, benefits and operating expenses where a department provides services to another campus entity, and the work is done by multiple employees. In this situation, salary and benefit costs should exclude employees above the first level of supervision. Operating expenses should include depreciation for equipment, but should not include costs for space, furniture and fixtures. Operating expenses typically are allocated in the same proportion as salary cost, but other models may be appropriate. The 2.75% overhead charge may be included in Operating Expenses. Examples of this methodology might include departments such as Human Resources and Information Technology.
    • For service providers that provide measurable services, it may be appropriate to determine cost per transaction or event. Examples of this methodology might include invoices prepared, parking permits sold or number of vouchers.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The manager of each department providing reimbursable services of an on-going nature to any other department shall initiate a Memorandum of Understanding as described in the above procedures.

Completed eMOU Agreements must be submitted via the eMOU module. The Associate Vice President of Financial Services will approve and verify that all eMOUs are in compliance with University and State policies. 

In the event that an amendment is necessary, it is the responsibility of the department providing the services to submit to Financial Services for final approval (MD 8337) the completed the MOU Amendment form and the new MOU Cost Recovery worksheet at least five working days prior to initiating any invoicing or transfer of funds documents.

It is the responsibility of a department requesting services not covered under the terms of an eMOU to complete an appropriate chargeback requisition form. Upon completion of services, the services provider must request the Office of Resource Management within Financial and Accounting Services to charge the expense to the services requestor and credit the appropriate revenue to the service provider