New Finance Policies

Further to the implementation of our new Finance system in August 2022, the following policies have been updated. 

The updated policies (introduced in August 2022) are:     

• Capital Accounting Policy  

• Commercial Customer Policy  

• Corporate Credit Card Policy  

• Internal Recharges Policy  

• Procurement Policy  

  You can find them below:

Policies and Procedures

New Policies Overview

Capital Accounting Policy  

The Capital Accounting policy is a technical accounting policy that defines the rules for reporting and measuring assets and capital expenditure in the University accounts. The policy replaces the previous one from January 2019. The new policy supports accurate reporting of tangible and intangible assets, capital expenditure and funding and takes account of changes to recording assets in People and Money.  

The policy now takes a more inclusive view on identifying and reporting assets under University stewardship, lowering the cost threshold for identifying assets from £50,000 to £10,000 per asset.   

Commercial Customer Policy 

The Commercial Customer policy sets out how the University manages its commercial financial administration and corporate commercial customer engagement. The policy replaces the previous one last updated in November 2019.  The new policy makes explicit the role of the Finance Operations Team in carrying out due diligence checks on new or existing corporate customers, and in monitoring and managing debtor accounts owed to the University. 

Corporate Credit Card Policy

The Corporate Credit Card policy defines when it would be appropriate to issue an employee/school with a corporate credit card and outlines cardholder responsibilities. The policy is an update on the previous version approved in January 2019.  Most changes are of a minor wording or cosmetic presentational nature to support understanding. 

Internal Recharges Policy  

The Internal Recharges Policy establishes a framework for internal provision and receipt of goods and services to ensure that this activity is efficient, cost-effective and maximises external cost recoveries from our funders. It also positions us to be able to maximise the benefits of the new People and Money financial processes. 

The policy is being phased in this academic year. A working group has been established to implement the Internal Recharging Policy in full by the target date of Q1/Q2 2022/23. 

Procurement Policy 

The Procurement Policy sets out how the University will conduct its procurement activity for expenditure on goods, services and capital works. This policy replaces the current External Expenditure Policy from April 2017. It takes into account the new People and Money system and the establishment of the new Procurement Operations Team. This policy was introduced in August 2022 in line with the launch of People and Money for Finance.    

Key Changes in New Finance Policies 

Key Changes to Capital Accounting Policy

• Includes more asset categories – Heritage Assets and Intangible Assets.  

• Provides clearer definitions for each asset type. 

• Stripped out processes and procedures. 

• The definition of an asset has changed as the cost threshold for categorizing an asset has been reduced from £50,000 to £10,000 per item. 

Benefits of the change

• Clear definitions for each category. 

• We will report a more comprehensive position in the financial statements and our asset register. 

• More robust recording of assets managing the asset lifecycle from planning and acquisition, through to disposal.

Key Changes to Internal Recharges Policy

• The policy introduced two criteria that must be met for a recharge to take place between departments. 

• Four rules for calculating and processing recharges. 

• De-minimis £20 value for transactions. 

Benefits of the change

• Ensures compliance with external funders' requirements for Research Facilities. 

• Establishes a consistent approach to recharging activity. 

• Minimises unnecessary and inefficient transactional activity.