Accounts to Record Deposits Received

In order to open up an account to record deposits received, a request should be submitted in writing to:

Accounts Payable
Financial Services Department
215 Huron Street
2nd Floor
416-978-2800

The request should indicate a description of the deposits to be received, the approximate amount of the deposits, and whether this type of deposit will be ongoing. The request should be signed by the head of the department.

An account will be established within a series vendor accounts assigned for this purpose. To deposit the amounts collected, complete the appropriate deposit form as described in the GTFM section Cash, Other Receipts and Banking. The department can use the FIS Display Vendor Line Items transaction (Accounts Payable >> Account >> Display) to view the balances and contents of accounts to record deposits received.

The account activity will not be reflected in the departmental revenue or expense accounts because no income or expense is involved. Rather, the deposits will be reported as liabilities, i.e. amounts which the University owes to the depositors when they have fulfilled requirements for return of the deposits.

In order to track amounts owing to individuals, the department has two options:

1. Track off-line (e.g. in a spreadsheet). This will require the department to regularly reconcile / balance their spreadsheet to FIS, or
2. Track in FIS. This will require departments to record each individual deposit as a separate line in FIS, record each payment as a separate line, and clear payments against deposits in FIS which should be offset.

The method used is up to the department and will depend on volumes and dollar amounts.

The department refunds the deposit by:

• issuing cash from petty cash,
• issuing a cheque from a departmental imprest expenditure bank account, or
• processing a cheque through FIS

Generally, the amount of the deposit will dictate the appropriate payment mechanism.

If payment is made from petty cash or an imprest expenditure bank account, the vendor deposit account number will be identified with the payment on the Replenish Petty Cash / Imprest Expenditure Bank Account form.

If payment is made with an accounts payable cheque, the vendor deposit account number should be entered in the reference document field in the FIS payment transaction.

The department should ensure that complete detailed records of the deposits are maintained to facilitate tracking and audit of the activity. As noted above, this could be in FIS or offline in a spreadsheet or database.

When it is determined that a deposit will not be refunded, either because the deposit has been forfeited or the depositor has left the University without collecting the deposit, the amount should be transferred to a departmental income or expense recovery account via journal entry. For assistance, please contact your FAST Team Representative.

When the account is no longer required, notify Accounts Payable at 978-6593 in order to block the vendor deposit account from further posting. Please note that the balance in the FIS account must be zero prior to this request.