Revenue Generating Contracts Process
While most of the contract review and signature process takes place in GMS, there are important steps that occur both before submission and after approval. Review the information below to understand and prepare for the full contracting process. On average, contracts are completed within 22 business days (about one month) after the department submits them in GMS for review and approval.
Overview
- Department, school, or campus contacts:
- Establish contact with the entity they intend to contract with
- Understand that the agreement they are working towards is a revenue-generating contract (and not an award/grant or gift/sponsorship)
- Obtain the entity’s contact information
- Submit a Customer Request Form (see the list of existing customers)
- Department, school, or campus contacts negotiate an agreement with the entity that they would like to contract with.
- Department, school, or campus administrators enter the contract information in GMS and route the contract for approval and signature.
- Administrators in various university departments review the agreement and approve it for signature.
- The university Treasurer (or delegate) signs the agreement.
- Department, school, or campus administrators obtain the counterparty’s signature.
- Work is performed under the contract.
- Department, school, or campus administrators invoice the counterparty for the work performed.
- The counterparty makes payment, and that payment is received and applied to the invoice by the Revenue Management team in the OCFO.
- Department, school, or campus administrators close out the contract once all work has been performed and invoiced.
Customer Request
Before submitting the Customer Request Form, please check the list of existing customers. To fill out the customer request form, you should obtain:
- The entity’s name, address, and telephone number
- Contact information (including an email address) for a person at the entity responsible for negotiating the agreement
- Contact information (including an email address) for a person at the entity responsible for receiving and making payments towards invoices
Guidance on Contracting
The information below includes guidance on invoicing frequency per average annual value (AAV) and late payment penalties, as well as cessation of work and referral to a collection agency, all of which should be stipulated in the revenue-generating contract. You can also view/download this in a one-page PDF format.
1. Invoicing Frequency
Contracts with average annual value (AAV) exceeding $200,000 should ensure invoices are delivered monthly, and only contracts with an AAV less than $200,000 should consider delivering invoices quarterly.
Contracts without a section specifying the frequency of invoicing will be presumed to invoice monthly.
2. Late Payment Penalties
Contracts should, by default, include language stipulating the imposition of penalties for late payment.
- Standard policy to include in the contract is that any amounts overdue by 30+ days will incur interest at a rate of 15% per annum, assessed at a monthly compounded interest rate of 1.175%.
- Standard practice will be to:
- Only assess penalties after amounts are overdue by 60 days
- Only assess penalties on overdue balances greater than $5,000
- Reverse penalties upon request for any first-time overdue customer
3. Cessation of Work
Contracts should, by default, include language that stipulates the cessation of service provision should invoiced amounts be more than 60 days overdue (90 days from invoice). Cessation of work may impact deliverable dates.
4. Collection
Contracts should, by default, include language regarding referral to a third-party collection agency should invoiced amounts be more than 120 days overdue, and make customers responsible for any collection costs imposed by such a third party and legal fees.
GMS Contract Approval Steps
The information below summarizes the routing and approval steps needed for a contract to be completed in GMS and signed by the CFO. You can also view/download this in a one-page PDF format.
The total expected time for review and approval of a contract is roughly 22 business days after the departmental Contract Specialist has entered the contract into GMS and submitted it for review and approval. Please advise your contracting parties to be prepared for the substantial time between initiation and approval.
Please see the next section (Standards of Service and Role-Based Guidance) for details of each review/approval step. Below are the required or conditional steps, and whether the role is organizational (defined by the department’s cost center hierarchy) or institutional (the same for all departments).
- Contract Specialist (Initiation) – Required – Organizational
- Contract Approver – Conditional – Organizational
- Senior Business Manager – Required – Organizational
- Content Approver – Conditional – Organizational
- Global Services – Conditional – Institutional
- Campus CFO – Required – Organizational
- Legal – Conditional – Institutional
- Tax – Required – Institutional
- Contract Specialist (Attach Final Contract) – Required – Organizational
- CFO – Required – Institutional
- Contract Administrator – Required – Institutional
- Contract Specialist (Attach Final Contract) – Required – Organizational
Standards of Service and Role-Based Guidance
Expected completion reflects the time to the reviewer/approver completing the review or approval step; if the reviewer/approver determines changes are required to what has been submitted for review, completion of the step can take substantially longer.
- Contract Specialist (Initiation)
Expected completion: 3-4 business days
The Contract Specialist creates the contract in GMS, attaches the actual contract document, and initiates routing for approval. The contract specialist is usually in the department or college’s finance department. This person is also typically responsible for coordinating other processes, including creation and modification of the customer record (required to be completed before routing the contract for approval) and creation of invoices (after the contract has been signed and approved). To initiate the contract, the Contract Specialist needs:
- The contract document (in Word)
- The worktags towards which revenue earned under the contract will be credited
- The location where the contract is being performed
If the primary work location tagged in GMS changes after the contract is executed, a notification referencing the CCN and the effective date of the change must be sent to taxdepartment@georgetown.edu.
2. Contract Approver
Expected completion: 1-2 business days
The Contract Approver is an optional review step that has been enabled for certain cost center hierarchies. This person is typically in the college finance department. This person reviews the relevant data entry performed by the contract specialist in GMS, including but not limited to: contract amount, contract dates, and revenue worktags.
3. Senior Business Manager
Expected completion: 1-2 business days
The Senior Business Manager is a required review step for all cost center hierarchies. This person is typically in the college or campus finance department. This person reviews the contract document for soundness in its operational details and financial considerations in terms of the exchange of resources for funds.
4. Content Approver
Expected Completion: 2-3 business days
The Content Approver is an optional review step enabled for the Main Campus. On the Main Campus, this role is filled by the Director of Education and Academic Affairs in the Provost’s Office, and that person reviews the contract for consistency with the university’s mission and standards of excellence in academic and educational services.
5. Campus CFO
Expected completion: 3-5 business days
The Campus CFO is a required approval step for all contracts. This approval provides secondary confirmation that the financial terms — specifically the exchange of resources for funds — are appropriate and ensures the contract complies with campus policy.
6. Global Services
Expected completion: 2-3 business days
The Office of Global Services reviews contracts if the customer has an international address or if the contract type data field is “international.” This review centers on the particular risks and considerations of doing business with an international entity.
7. Legal
Expected completion: 3-4 business days
The Office of General Counsel (OGC) does not review contracts that are completed using the OGC-approved template. In addition to using the approved template, the contract initiation step must include selecting a “contract type” equal to one of the following:
- Services – Educational using Legal Approved Template
- Services – Non-Educational using Legal Approved Template
All other contracts are routed to OGC and will be reviewed if the contract value exceeds $100,000, the term exceeds three years, or if specific terms or conditions require review.
OGC reviews all contractual terms, focusing on risk to the university in terms of legal liability.
8. Tax
Expected completion: 1-3 business days
The Tax Department is a required review and approval step for all contracts. The Tax Department determines if the contract creates Unrelated Business Taxable Income (UBTI) and/or Private Business Use (PBU) in tax-exempt bond-financed facilities. It is critical for the Tax Department’s review that the building location and room number in GMS are accurate and reflect where the services will be primarily performed. The Tax Department tags contracts as UBI and/or PBU if applicable to comply with IRS Form 990-T reporting and the university’s annual PBU analysis, along with other tax compliance implications.
The Tax Department will update the location for its annual PBU analysis as notified by the Contract Specialist.
9. Contract Specialist (Attach Final Contract)
Expected completion: 1-3 business days
Once the contract has been reviewed by all prior parties, the contract specialist:
- Must attach the final version of the contract, if edits have been required by prior reviewers and approvers that have not already been incorporated into the document attached to the GMS contract record
- May elect to obtain the customer’s signature and attach a signed contract at this step (before Georgetown University officially signs the contract), or may defer this step until after Georgetown’s CFO has signed (in step 12)
10. Chief Financial Officer
Expected completion: 2-3 business days
The university’s CFO, or their delegate, will conduct a final review to confirm that the financial terms — specifically the exchange of resources for funds — are appropriate and that all required edits have been completed. Approval will indicate that the CFO or delegate is ready to sign. Only the CFO or delegate may sign contracts on behalf of the university, per the university’s articles of incorporation and bylaws.
11. Customer Contract Assistant
Expected completion: 2-3 business days
The Contract Administrator obtains the CFO’s or delegate’s signature on the contract via DocuSign and attaches the signed contract to the GMS contract record. This person approves documents that do not need a signature after noting that no document was attached for signature. If a non-electronic signature is needed, this person coordinates with the CFO or delegate, a process that will add to the expected completion time.
12. Contract Specialist (Attach Final Contract)
Expected completion: 1-3 business days
The Contract Specialist must obtain the customer’s signature if it was not already obtained in step 9, and ensure that the final signed contract is in Workday.
Post-Approval Management
Following approval of the contract in GMS, departments overseeing revenue-generating contracts and the activities taking place under those contracts are expected to: