Financial Transactions

A “credit card chargeback” occurs when a cardholder or card issuer (Visa/MasterCard, Discover, or American Express) disputes a transaction and the resolution process results in the reversal of funds to the cardholder/issuer’s account. Departments should dispute a chargeback, unless they are aware of an erroneous transaction. 

The university’s time-sensitive Chargeback Notification and Dispute Process is to be used in the instance of a chargeback. Be sure to provide the appropriate documentation and respond within the specified timeframe.

Two types of merchant accounts, Point of Sale (POS) and Internet Merchant accounts, may be requested through University Treasury. Merchant fees charged to the university for each credit card transaction are allocated to departments based on sales transactions.

Please contact Tatiana Miller for any questions or more detailed information pertaining to merchant fees.  

Point of Sale (POS) Merchant Accounts  

This typically refers to payments made with a debit or credit card either in person, by written authorization, or by phone using a physical card reader or terminal. These transactions require daily batching and for those departments using the university wide processor Elavon, the accounting for revenues and fees will be automatically recorded in Oracle. Departments using another merchant processor (e.g., a POS system that requires use of their partner processor) must work with University Treasury and University Accounting to automate the accounting transactions. 

Internet Merchant Accounts   

A department can establish an internet merchant account to accept payments through a departmental website. Through the Nelnet system, payments are automatically forwarded for credit to the university's bank account. All transactions will automatically post to the general ledger or project account string designated by the department.  

Prior to developing their own website, the department should contact University Treasury to discuss the requirements. 

 In the rare instances when this solution is not appropriate, departments must take the following steps: 

• Work with the Office of Information Protection and Security to ensure that the ecommerce application meets all university policies and recommended security standards and complies with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS) requirements.
• Contact pci-compliance@finance.rutgers.edu and provide details of the system to be used and the merchant information. 

Merchant Request Process 

To establish a merchant account, please email the following information: 

• Primary contact name and email address 
• Description of your needs, including any equipment required (e.g., new physical credit card terminal, new online payment acceptance, new point-of-sale system, etc.)
• Names and netIDs for individuals who require access to the online compliance portal to maintain documentation and complete annual Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) forms 
• Accounting information to enable automation (where possible):
  • General ledger string for credit card fees (Unit-Division-Organization-Location-Fund Type-Business Line [UDOLFB]) – all fees go to natural account 69090) 
  • General ledger string for credit card revenues (UDOLFB and Account) 

Register for and complete PCI DSS Compliance training. This is required annually for all individuals who are involved in the processing of card payments:  

Familiarize yourself with the SAQ forms that are required to be completed each year in the online compliance portal, CampusGuard Central. We can help you select the correct assessment form based on your business process. 

Please email University Treasury with any questions about the process or information requested.  

Form to notify University Accounting that your department is expecting incoming funds.

Please complete the Notification of Incoming Electronic Funds Transfer (NIEFT) webform to notify University Accounting that your department is expecting incoming funds via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) or Automated Clearing House (ACH).

University Accounting needs the webform to properly identify and credit the funds to your account. Please contact Jiali Ren if you have any questions.

This form is for department use only and is NOT for students. Learn more about tuition payment options or international payments for students.

Form for requesting petty cash for expenditure on small items.

Petty Cash Request Form 
Petty Cash Increase Form
Petty Cash Close Form
Petty Cash Change/Fund Transfer Form

All forms can be directed to:

University Accounting, Petty Cash
Second Floor
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
33 Knightsbridge Rd
Piscataway, NJ 08854
pettycash@finance.rutgers.edu

Use the cash journal template to record wires or other electronic deposits and upload your cash journal entries to the financial management system. The offices of University Accounting and University Treasury are working to automate these deposits.

A cash journal template to record wires or other electronic deposits can be found in the Resource Library. Please email any questions to cashjournal@sa.rutgers.edu.

Automated Deposits

As of November 23, 2020, the posting of credit card (merchant account) deposits to the general ledger is automated through cash management. The automated posting of these deposits will relieve units of the need to prepare cash receipt journals for credit card deposits. As of July 26, 2021, the posting of cash and check deposits to the general ledger will be automated through cash management. The automated posting of these deposits will relieve units of the need to prepare cash receipt journals for cash and check deposits. This new process will limit potential errors and ensure that deposits are recorded in a timelier manner. Any cash receipts journals that a unit submits for a credit card or depository account will automatically be rejected.

Departments remain responsible for reconciling their merchant accounts and their cash and check deposits, ensuring that all transactions are recorded properly to the general ledger. Use the “Cash Management” journal source to identify the automated transactions on an Account Analysis report.