Policy Notes: Organization Suspense Accounts (OSA)
An Organization Suspense Account (OSA) is a PTA that is set up for each organization to hold payroll transactions that have been rejected by the Oracle Financials system.
An OSA audit review in 2011 concluded that OSA transactions are not consistently cleared in a timely manner. Delays in OSA clearing result in:
- Sponsor (and other party) invoice errors, as accounts are not charged in the appropriate time frame
- Year-end departmental overdrafts due to accounts being over/under budgeted
- Fraudulent activity that is not identified in a timely manner
- Delay in collecting money due to the University
- Uncollectable outstanding balances due to non-compliance
In January 2012, the University implemented a policy to expedite the clearing of OSAs. This policy includes a 'sweep' process that periodically moves suspense transactions to clearing accounts and imposes a $25 fee for each payroll line not cleared from an OSA by the published deadlines. OSA balances are transferred with the 51610 expenditure type which burdens at the highest burden rate available. For current rates, visit Stanford Rates on the DoResearch web site.
| Transactions Posted to OSAs for Pay Periods between: | Deadline to Originate OSA LD Adjustments | Deadline to Approve OSA LD Adjustments | Action Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09/01/2015 and 11/30/2015 | 12/15/2015 – 5PM | 12/15/2015 – 5PM | Remaining suspense balances will be swept to the designated Transfer PTA on file A $25 per payroll line fee will be charged and posted to DEC-2015 |
| 12/01/2015 and 02/28/2016 | 03/15/2016 – 5PM | 03/15/2016 – 5PM | Remaining suspense balances will be swept to the designated Transfer PTA on file A $25 per payroll line fee will be charged and posted to MAR-2016 |
| 03/01/2016 and 05/31/2016 | 06/15/2016 – 5PM | 06/15/2016 – 5PM | Remaining suspense balances will be swept to the designated Transfer PTA on file A $25 per payroll line fee will be charged and posted to JUN-2016 |
| 06/01/2016 and 07/31/2016 | 08/12/2016 – 5PM | 08/12/2016 – 5PM | Remaining suspense balances will be swept to the designated Transfer PTA on file A $25 per payroll line fee will be charged and posted to AUG-2015 |
| 08/01/2016 and 08/31/2016 | TBD* | TBD* | Remaining suspense balances will be swept to the designated Transfer PTA on file Fees waived |
* Year-End Close Deadlines
Note: To guarantee same night processing, suspense LDAs must be end-routed to OSR/Fund Accounting by 3pm. This will provide end-route approvers two hours to review and approve the transaction by the 5pm approval deadline as noted above.
