Business & Finance Bulletins

The Vice President - Business and Finance is responsible for developing financial reporting policies and procedures. Business and Finance Bulletins is a series of administrative directives which contain guidance for policy and procedural implementation in various administrative areas throughout the University. https://policy.ucop.edu/manuals/business-and-finance-bulletins.html

Agency Accounts

Agency accounts are assigned to record activity that is considered Non-University, “such as student, faculty, staff, governmental and private organizations or activities and Campus Foundations—for which the University provides the agency services presented in Section IV.” Furthermore, “the activities of these entities are usually closely related or even related to the activities of the University, and these entities in fact directly or indirectly provide services or benefits to the University community, i.e., students, staff and faculty.  Nonetheless the receipts and disbursements of funds, coming from these entities are not considered official units of the University.”

* Business & Finance Bulletin, A-54, p.1 and p.2 of 6

Requests for Agency Accounts:

A letter should be submitted to the General Accounting Unit of Accounting Services & Controls.  This letter should include the following:

• purpose of the account, type of activity
• department most closely related to the purpose; i.e., requesting department
• individual responsible for the account and phone extension
• requested title for the account

This letter must be signed by the control point signatory of the department submitting the request.

Once a request is approved, General Accounting staff will notify you of the account number which has been assigned.  A package including basic instructions for using Agency Accounts will be forwarded to you.  This will include a copy of the Business and Finance Bulletin, A-54, which outlines the policies, procedures and guidelines governing these accounts.

Unrelated Business Income & Expenses

• The University’s stated purpose is to provide education, research and public service.
• Any organization exempt under section 501©(3) of the Internal Revenue Code must file a form if it has gross income from an unrelated trade or business of $1,000 or more.
• The University also is subject to the filing requirement to the extent that it has business income from activities that are unrelated to the purpose for which its exemption was granted.
• An activity will be subject to unrelated business income tax if it meets the following criteria:

1. It is a trade or business,
2. It is “regularly carried on”, and
3. It is not substantially related to the organization’s exempt purpose (aside from the need of the organization to raise funds).

• However, an activity may not be taxable even if it meets all three criteria if one of several exceptions and modifications found in the IRC are satisfied.
• The Nonfinancial Questionnaire provides the basis for establishing the tax status of an activity.

1. Each “new” activity initiated during the past year with a potential for generating business income,
2. Any activity reviewed in prior reporting year that has changed its mode or scope of operations during the past year, and
3. Highly visible activities that are similar to activities determined to be unrelated at another campus or at other universities.

The Nonfinancial questionnaire must be completed by the department for each activity with a potential for generating unrelated business income.

The questionnaire is forwarded by Accounting to the UCOP Office of Financial Management. FM will review all questionnaires in consultation with the University’s external auditors to determine whether the activity should be included in the University’s consolidated Exempt Organization Business Income Tax Return, filed with the IRS annually.

For all continuing unrelated activities, and those newly determined to be unrelated, a Financial Worksheet is completed by the department that identifies the activity’s revenues and expenses.