Write-Offs

What is a Write-Off?

A write-off is an accounting entry that allows the university to recognize bad debt. It is not a waiver or forgiveness. Accounts receivable balances are recorded as a write-off after being deemed uncollectible once all reasonable and lawful collection attempts have failed. The annual write-off process managed by the Controller's Office includes receivables recorded in the Student Central subledger as well as Auxiliary Accounts Receivable in Financials. The university's write-off process begins in November each year, and accounting transactions are performed in December. 

Legal and Policy Framework

• Florida Statutes 1010.03 requires university boards of trustees to exert every effort to collect delinquent accounts, and authorizes charging off/settlement of uncollectible accounts as well as the use of collection agencies. 
• Board of Governors Regulation 7.002 requires each university to establish procedures for payment, waiver, refund, and collection processes consistent with law. 
• FSU's Accounts Receivable Policy 4-OP-D-2-J defines write-off and clarifies write-off procedures at FSU. 

General Accounts Receivable Timeline

Day 0 - Accounts receivable established in the relevant subsystem; payment due per terms.

Days 1-30 - Courtesy reminders (invoices) are issued along with email follow-ups as available. 

Days 31-90 - Escalated internal collection efforts (email/phone/letters), holds or service indicators are added as appropriate. 

By Day 120 - If the account is still unpaid after due diligence, FSU may assign it to an approved external collection agent. 

• Accounts that are eligible for placement with an external collection agency will be routed through two agency cycles (one year with the first agency, and one year with the second). To be eligible for placement with an external collection agency, an account must have a Student Financial Responsibility Agreement on file, and the charges on the account must not be solely late fees, clinic fees, library fees, or parking fines. 

Post-Collections Window - If external efforts fail or are bypassed, a receivable may be deemed uncollectible. 

The Write-Off Process

Once receivables have been recorded in Financials (Auxiliary AR / Billing) or Student Central (student charges), departments are able to review and manage their charges throughout their lifecycle. Once a charge has aged to the point of being eligible for write-off, the university's write-off custodian (Office of Student Finance) will begin the write-off process described below. 

1. October - The collections and accounts receivable teams in Student Finance and Auxiliary Accounting begin reviewing accounts that are eligible for write-off.
2. November - Student Finance reaches out to budget managers to provide them with a list of charges that are eligible to be written off. At this point, budget managers should:
   • Review expense budgets in their associated department IDs to ensure that a 74% expense line is available with the budget
   • Review selected charges for accuracy and determine whether the department approves the write-off
   • Reply to Student Finance with an approval or denial for each selected charge
3. December - Student Finance provides the final write-off cohort to the President's Office for approval. Once approved, accounting transactions are entered to record a bad debt expense to each affected department ID. 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Does a write-off forgive the debt?
   • No, it is only an accounting recognition of uncollectibility after due diligence. The customer still owes money to FSU. 
2. Can we settle for less than the full amount?
   • Yes, once a departmental budget manager approves a write-off, the power of negotiation transfers to the team in Student Finance, who will make every effort to collect the full amount in good faith, but may negotiate a lower payment as a last resort. 
3. What about employee debts?
   • Employee debts are treated separately from standard consumer debts, and employee debts are not subject to placement with a third-party collection agency or write-off. However, employee debts may be collected via voluntary or involuntary payroll deductions. 

Helpful Reports and Queries

There are a number of helpful reports that can assist you in understanding your write-off transactions. 

Required Security

To access these reports, you'll need the FSU_SF_BASIC, FSU_SECURITY_QUERY_SF_SECURE, and FSU_SFS_TRANSDTL_RPT_VIEW roles through eORR. 

Reports

1. FSU_SF_ACCTG_XREF - This report can be run in Query Viewer within Student Central. The report will prompt for Journal, Account, Fund, Project, Department ID, and start/end dates. The report will return details of all charges written off for a given department ID in a given date range. To find charges recorded as bad debt, enter 749000 in the Acct prompt. 
2. Transaction Details - This report can be run in OBI under the CSW - Student Financials menu. The report will prompt for Journal ID, Department ID, Fund, Project, Account, Person, and Start/End Dates. The report will return the amount of each bad debt expense transaction for a given department ID and date range, along with the impacted customer, but will not return detailed charge data. To find bad debt expense, enter 749000 in the Account prompt. 

Contacts

• Controller's Office
  • AR/Billing & Auxiliary - Sarah Childers, Assistant Controller of Revenue Accounting, 850-644-9420
  • Student AR - Mary Eichler, Assistant Director of Student Finance, 850-644-9030
• Policy and Process Questions
  • Gilman Page, Director of Student Finance, 850-644-9457