Policy and Procedure Updates as of May 13, 2020

The following draft documents are now available for review and comment and are posted on the Policies and Procedures Drafts website. The documents will be posted on the drafts site for a period of 30 days.  Please discuss the documents with the appropriate people in your department and send any applicable feedback to controllers.office@yale.edu.

Policy 1410 University Service Providers

Related Documents:

• Policy 1410 University Service Providers – Revised
• Procedure 1410 PR.01 University Service Providers: Registration and Annual Renewal – Revised
• Procedure 1410 PR.02 University Service Providers: Rate Calculations – Revised
• Procedure 1410 PR.03 University Service Providers: Accounting and Billing – Revised
• Form 1410 FR.01 University Service Providers: Registration Form – Revised
• Form 1410 FR.02 University Service Providers: Rate Calculation Worksheet – Revised

These revisions come from the Controller’s Office and the newly formed University Service Providers Operating Committee (collectively, the “Policy Sponsors”).  These revisions were made for a number of reasons, including a previous revision date of 2013, the need for a new oversight body, the need for better alignment of internal policy with federal regulations, and improvement of several processes and guidelines.  A working group regularly convened to improve these document over the course of 18 months.  These drafts are the resulting documents.

These documents were comprehensively reviewed and revised for clarity and conciseness.  One obvious change is to the vocabulary – Internal Service Providers are now called University Service Providers. This change resulted, in part, to capture the fact that many of these service providers sell externally.  A related change is in the classification of University Service Providers (“USPs”). Under the existing policy, there was some confusion in the community about the types of service providers and the rules pertaining to each type. The revised policy makes a point of clearly defining the five classifications and the rules that apply to each type. For example, only two of the five types are required to submit rate calculations for their services annually.

Another key change is to the governance of USPs. The existing policy references two committees that are no longer in existence. The revised policy formally establishes and defines the new governing body: the USP Operating Committee.

The remaining sections track the various requirements for USPs: registration and annual renewal; rate calculations, and accounting and billing. If a section applies to only certain classifications of USPs, it clearly states as such. Recognizing that external sales are a frequent topic for USPs, there is a section devoted entirely to that concept.  Finally, the Roles and Responsibilities section spells out the expectations for the various individuals associated with USPs.

The three procedures reflect the three major requirements for USPs. Each one was deconstructed to assess the current requirements, identify any gaps, and eliminate any redundancies or superfluous tasks. The foundational principles of each are relatively unchanged from the existing procedures, but the revised procedures aim to more clearly explain the requirements and processes in place to support them. The primary rules surrounding registration, annual renewal, accounting, and billing are essentially the same.  The processes in some instances, however, have been modified and/or clarified. While the same is true for rate calculations, it is the area that received the most substantial update.  The process instructions have been enhanced to provide as much clarity as possible in the most complicated area of USP administration.

The two forms also received updates. The Registration Form is streamlined to capture the most important information about a new USP that will populate the Salesforce database used for annual renewals. The Rate Calculation Worksheet is a new form based on a template that has been used by Yale School of Medicine (“YSM”) USPs for several years. Due to popular demand and the timing of this release, the Rate Calculation Form is bypassing the “draft” phase and is already published as a live, usable form: Form 1410 FR.02 University Service Providers: Rate Calculation Worksheet.

Relatedly, there are also two new Accounting Manual documents accompanying these updates. They are designed to assist USPs with proper use of the Chart of Accounts and appropriate accounting and billing practices.  References to each are imbedded in the documents where relevant.  They are:

• Accounting by and for University Service Providers
• Ledger Accounts and Categories

Always check the Policies and Procedures Website for the latest revisions of all documents.  This will ensure you that are utilizing the most up-to-date version.

If you have any questions, please contact Policy & Compliance Services at controllers.office@yale.edu.