The purpose of this knowledge base article is to provide direction as The University of Chicago takes steps to move towards a cashless campus with a preferred method of receiving funds efficiently via ACH to an approved UChicago financial bank account.

NOTE: Bank 2 account ending *8509 should no longer be used for ACH/Wire. Starting FY25 deposits sent to Bank 2 will be processed via The Unidentified Funds Process. Units receiving funds in Bank 2 must work to transition those deposits to the method below applicable to your unit.

The Central Accounts Receivable Office (Central A/R) is UChicago's primary deposit managing agent. There are 2 ways you can receive ACH/Wire payments:

1. Dedicated Receivables Bank Account for your department
2. Dedicated VRN (Virtual Reference Number) for your department

 

Dedicated Receivables Bank Account - The following units have been assigned a dedicated receivables bank account empowering them to receive ACH/Wire transactions directly to their own account. Please reach out to your department's financial team for further direction on deposit process:

Department	Deposit Contact
Alumni Relations & Development (ARD)	gifts@uchicago.edu
Biological Science Division – Clinical Research Studies (BSD CRS)	ctfgremit@bsd.uchicago.edu
Biological Science Division – Clinical Receivables (BSD CS)	jadamski@bsd.uchicago.edu
Biological Science Division (BSD)	bsdaccountsreceivable@bsd.uchicago.edu
Booth School of Business	AccountingHelp@chicagobooth.edu
Globus	accounting@globus.org
Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation	accounting1@uchicago.edu
The University of Chicago Press	ucpbank@lists.uchicago.edu
University Research Administration (URA)	spon_award_acct@uchicago.edu
Urban Education Institute (UEI)	lgrudek@uchicago.edu

 

Dedicated VRN (Virtual Reference Number) - Departments that do not appear above are a "Centrally Supported Unit" which allows the department to receive a dedicated VRN, which enables the department to notify customers/vendors of this number and when funds are deposited your department will receive an email notification of your EFT deposits the following business day to promote real time deposit and receipting. VRNs are deposit only accounts and will not allow auto debiting, all outgoing payments should continue to follow the active Accounts Payable process.

Below is a quick snapshot of the VRN Receivables process:

What you should do:

1. If you have a VRN Forward your bank verification letter to your customers/vendors via an encrypted email advising them to update the banking information with your new account information. NOTE: The routing numbers are different for ACH and Wire transactions.
   1. IMPORTANT: This letter contains The University of Chicago's financial bank data and must be kept secure at all times, when sending via email make sure to encrypt the email or password protect the document prior to attaching and sending.
2. Request any forms they need from you to process ACH change request; Central AR is available to help with any forms (fill out as much of the form as you can and forward to accountsreceivable@uchicago.edu).
3. Your customer/vendor sends money to your dedicated VRN account.
4. Review your receipt to assure accuracy and address any issues in real-time.
5. If you do not have a VRN or want more information reach out to Yolanda Peoples, Director of Accounts Receivable at yolandapeoples@uchicago.edu to request a VRN.

 

What we will do:

1. When funds are received to your department's dedicated VRN you will receive an email notification containing an attached excel report reflecting all deposits.
2. You must review the report and provide full COA account number(s) for each transaction on your report and forward that email containing the report to accountsreceivable@uchicago.edu for proper receipting.
3. Funds will be booked in Oracle to the COA account number(s) provided and a receipt will be returned to you via email within 2 business days.