Receipts are the total amount of money the university has received. Receipts refer to the state or act of receiving goods or income, meaning providing goods or services after receiving payment. Stanford departments receive a wide variety of receipt types including cash and checks. Depending on the type of receipt, there are potentially different steps required to record the deposit appropriately in Stanford’s financial systems and/or processes for depositing the funds. This resource provides examples, exceptions, and further details on these types of receipts.
When receipts are sent directly to the Office of the Treasurer (OOT) and they are unable to match the receipt (check, ACH, or wire) with valid remittance details (such as a PTA or recipient department), the department can locate and claim.
Schools and departments may generate income by selling products or by providing services that relate to the primary research and educational missions of the university. Income-producing activities that are not related to Stanford's primary missions have serious tax ramifications that span beyond just the activity itself and require written permission from the Provost. Refer to important compliance information on Unrelated Business Income for more information.
Methods to receive designated income: Departments may accept payments for designated income from products and services through the Merchant Services program (credit cards, ecommerce digital wallets through Stanford CardinalPay), electronic fund transfers (wires and ACH), cash, and checks.
Note: Please note the university cannot accept payments via platforms like Venmo, Zelle, or Bitcoin due to incompatibility with Oracle Financials and is also moving away from accepting paper checks.
Submit a support request to the Office of the Treasurer (OOT) to determine the most efficient process for the department's needs.
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Process and considerations for managing designated income:
- Sales and use tax: Many income transactions involving the sale of tangible property (as opposed to services) require the payment of state sales taxes which must be paid even if the department fails to collect them. Refer to Topic Overview: Sales and Use Tax at Stanford for more information.
- Depositing cash receipts in excess of $10,000: Any cash payments over $10,000 (not including charitable donations, e.g., gifts) must be reported to the university's tax department using IRS Form 8300 and sent to Tax Compliance. This includes cash equivalents such as cashier's checks and traveler's checks, money orders or any other method of payment in which the payer is not specifically identified.
The university receives a majority of its sponsored support from the federal government, primarily through the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The Office of Research Administration (ORA) oversees the administration of these projects and provides necessary services.
Funds received from sponsoring agencies for research projects, contracts, or agreements require careful handling by the ORA.
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Process and considerations for managing sponsored project transactions:
- Distinguishing gifts from grants: To determine whether a check is a gift or part of a sponsored agreement, review the Dean of Research handbook Gift vs. Sponsored Projects and Distinctions from Other Forms of Funding.
- Program income: Sponsored projects occasionally receive income related to the project, but from sources other than the sponsor. This income, when earned as part of a federally sponsored project, is referred to as “Program Income.” It is highly sensitive and must be reported to the sponsoring governmental agency for further reporting to Congress. Before receiving any program income related to a governmental sponsored project or grant, obtain prior approval from the sponsoring agency and contact your OSR representative for guidance.
- To deposit these receipts, refer to Sponsored Receivables Management for more information. They should not be deposited to the university’s general account. See How To: Process Sponsored Project Receipts.
Donor gifts are a key source of funding for the university’s operations. A donation is considered a gift when an outside entity provides payment in support of a school or departmental program with no deliverables (for example, the donor receives only an acknowledgement). Most gifts and pledges are donor-restricted for specific purposes such as student aid, academic programs that support teaching and research, and new facilities for research, clinical care, or housing.
- Checks made payable to individuals for professional services and honoraria: An honorarium or consulting check made out to an individual is that individual's personal, taxable income. If the individual wants to donate the fee to Stanford, they should endorse the check to Stanford University. In this case the check is processed as a gift from the individual payee, rather than as income from the original payer.
- Institutional allowances: Institutional allowances are payments to the university which are intended to compensate for some of the expenses associated with administering a sponsored grant. Institutional Allowances from Non-Government Agencies are considered gifts and are processed as gifts through the Office of Development. Institutional Allowances from Government Agencies are processed as designated income (see Designated Income).
- Industrial affiliate income: Supported by corporate membership fees, industrial affiliate programs are designed to facilitate the relationship between academia and industry. Although all affiliate income is non-tax-deductible to the payer, and is therefore technically not a gift to Stanford, these payments are still processed through Gift Processing in the Office of Development. Before receiving any affiliate income, units should have previously applied for and received approval from the Office of Technology Licensing (OTL) under the Dean of Research. Refer to the Research Policy Handbook, Section 13.4: Establishment of Industrial Affiliates and Related Membership-Supported Programs for more information.
Payments that represent reimbursement to the university (non-salary and non-student aid) are processed in different ways.
Examples of Reimbursement Receipts:
- Refund for a canceled order
- Payment for damages to university property when the payment is for the exact amount of replacing or repairing the damaged item
- Refund for overpayment (non-salary, non-student aid)
- Rebates
- Payments from an individual for personal charges on a PCard or TCard
- Third-party reimbursement of travel expenses charged to a university account
Process and Considerations for Managing Reimbursement Receipts:
- Reimbursements related to transactions that originated in iProcurement: For reimbursements related to transactions that originated in iProcurement (e.g., receipts from vendors or other direct payees), submit a support request.
- Personal Expense Reimbursements: Reimbursement to Stanford from individuals should be very limited. Neither students nor employees should be using university phones, postal services, supplies, etc., for personal use on a regular basis. When this does occur, the amount reimbursed to the university should be for the actual expense incurred.
- Travel Card (TCard) reimbursements are processed through the Expense Requests System and then sent to FMS for depositing. See How To: Return Personal Expenses Charged to Travel Card.
- Purchasing Cards (PCard) are deposited directly by departments through one of the deposit options. See How To: Handle Personal Expenses Charged to the PCard.
- Unused Advance Funds are cleared via Expense Requests System and a check to FMS Payment Services. See How To: Return Unused Advance Funds.
Process for Claiming TCard Reimbursements, Returned Advances, and AP Invoice Refunds
Payment Services maintains an Unidentified Checks database that lists unidentified checks specifically for Travel Card personal expense refunds, returns of unused advance funds, and refunds towards an Accounts Payable invoice. Departments that sent a check for one of these purposes should submit a support request to get assistance from Payment Services to claim the deposit to a PTA.
Graduate/Undergraduate Student Aid Reimbursements
In the event of student aid (stipend) overpayment, a student administrator should process a correcting transaction in the Graduate Financial Support (GFS) system, causing the amount to show as a receivable on the student's account. The check for overpayment can then be processed as a payment to the student bill. See How To: Process Receipts for Graduate Stipend Overpayments.
Salary and sick leave reimbursements to Stanford: When an employee has been erroneously overpaid wages, or is reimbursing Stanford for sick leave pay, there are tax considerations that require special handling of the repayment. These receipts should be handled by the Payroll department within FMS. See How To: Adjust for Employee Overpayment.
Tuition payments
Student tuition is managed by Student Affairs and room and board is managed by Residential & Dining Enterprises.
External financial aid payments
Payments from an external agency that has chosen the specific student to whom the aid should be awarded to is managed by the Financial Aid Office. See How To: Process Miscellaneous Types of Receipts.
Student billing charges
The Student Financial Services (SFS) Payments Office accepts payments for university bill charges and IT service telephone charges. Payments are received through a central Stanford student payment system. Contact the SFS Payments Office by submitting a support request regarding matriculated student payments.
Schools and departments may generate income by selling products or services when the product or service is related to the primary research and educational mission of the university. Refer to Topic Overview: Selling Goods & Services.
Surplus property sales
When a department has a piece of working equipment that is of salable quality and no longer needed by any campus department, Surplus Property Sales (SPS) should be notified. SPS will make an attempt to locate a buyer for the equipment. Refer to Administrative Guide Memo 5.2.4: Surplus Property Sales. See How To: Process Miscellaneous Types of Receipts.
Patent and software licensing fees
- Contact the Office of Technology Licensing for royalty and patent payment questions when patents are held by Stanford's Office of Technology Licensing.
Contact Stanford University Press for copyright payment questions when copyrights are held by Stanford.