Revenue Generating Contracts Process
The process of getting a contract completed and signed primarily flows through GMS, but involves steps before and after the GMS process. Read more below to be prepared for the complete contracting process. Average time to contract completion is 22 business days (approximately one month) after the department has submitted the contract for review/approval in GMS.
Overview
- Department, School, or Campus contacts:
- are in contact with the entity that they would like to contract with
- know that the agreement they are working towards is a revenue-generating contract (and not an award/grant or gift/sponsorship)
- obtains the entity’s contact information
- submits a Customer Request Form (see a 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 enters the contract information in GMS and routes the contract for approval and signature
- Administrators in various university departments review the agreement and approve 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 Office of the CFO
- 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 a list of existing customers. In order 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
Below is 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 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 will stipulate 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
Below is a summary of 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.
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. This is approximately one month of real time. Please be prepared and advise your contracting parties to be prepared for 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 we note whether the step is required or conditional, 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
Note: Expected Completion reflects 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 finance department. This person also is typically responsible for coordinating other processes, including creation and modification of the customer record (required to be completed prior to routing the contract for approval) and creation of invoices (after the contract has been signed and approved). In order 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
Should the location tagged in GMS where the work is primarily being performed change after the contract is entered into, a notification will be sent to taxdepartment@georgetown.edu referencing the date of the change and the CCN.
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, 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 consideration 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 is a secondary affirmation that the financial consideration in terms of the exchange of resources for funds is indeed sound, and also review that the contract adheres to 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 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. Note: In addition to actually using the approved template, the contract initiation step must include selection of selecting “Contract Type” equal to either:
- Services – Educational using Legal Approved Template
- Services – Non-Educational using Legal Approved Template
All other contracts route to OGC, and will be reviewed if the dollar value of the contract exceeds $100,000, the term of the contract exceeds three years, or review of specifically identified terms or conditions of the contract is requested.
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 (prior to Georgetown officially signing the contract), or may defer this step until after Georgetown’s CFO has signed (in step 12)
10. CFO
Expected Completion: 2-3 business days
The University’s CFO or that person’s delegate will review the contract for final affirmation that the financial consideration in terms of the exchange of resources for funds is indeed sound, and that all necessary edits have been made. Approval will indicate that the CFO or delegate are 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 or delegate’s signature on the contract via DocuSign and attaches the signed contract to the GMS contract record. Documents that do not need a signature are approved by this person 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 signature of the customer, 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: