Se ssio n 9
Direct Loan Reconciliation and
Closeout - Best Practices
Sharon Oliver
North Carolina Central University
2
Barbara Nolan
University of New Mexico
3
Lucy Scalici
City University of New York (CUNY)
4
Sharon Oliver
North Carolina Central University
5
Establish Institutional
Policies and Procedures
How and when are other offices
(Student Accounting, Business Office
and Contracts and Grants) notified of
disbursements & change records
Who is responsible for reviewing and
processing the 30 Day Warning List
Who gets a copy of the monthly SAS
report
6
Customer Service Rep.
Establish a working relationship with your
CSR
Fax problems to the CSR for review and
assistance with resolving problems
Retain ticket number for future reference
Strive to keep the same CSR during closeout
so that pending issues can be resolved timely
7
Reconcile Monthly
Treat the funds as if they are your
personal funds, your checking account
—checks and balances are important
Each month review the SAS Report
Extract a report through Access to
Identify disbursement discrepancies
8
Reconcile Monthly (Cont.)
Review 30 day Warning List
Prepare Manifest Daily
9
30 Day Warning List
Review Data Needed
Obtain MPN’s or Submit disbursement
records
Highlight resolved students
Due to timing a student may continue to
appear on list, COD is contacted for
resolved students
10
30 Day Warning List
(DIWR04OP)
REPORT ID: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION PAGE 1 OF 16
RUN DATE: 03/06/2004 FEDERAL DIRECT LOAN PROGRAM RUN TIME: 04:19PM
30 DAY WARNING REPORT
AWARD YEAR: 2003-2004 11
MPN – Go Electronic
It is quick, fast, and easy to allow
students and parents to complete
MPNS electronically
Reduces processing time
Eliminates paper
Encourage users to complete all steps
MPN can be completed without an
origination
12
SAS Year-To-Date
Cash Summary
Import through Direct Loan Tools
Software (DSDF04OP.DAT)
Hard copies are distributed to the
Student Accounting,Contracts and
Grants, and Director of Financial Aid
Compare Cash Receipts with Total
Disbursements for Excess Cash
13
Institutional Controls
Place holds on accounts for students
with missing promissory notes
Cancel originated loans without mpns
and loan entrances – 30 days after 1st
day of classes
Notify students immediately when prom
notes are rejected by COD
14
Overall Objective
CASH ON HAND
(DRAWDOWNS)
TOTAL BOOKED
DISBURSEMENTS
15
TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL
CLOSE OUT
Close out begins on July 1st
Reconcile monthly
Clean up 30 day warning list
Identify problem records
Request status reports
Review Close Out letter
Return Excess Cash
16
For additional
information:
Sharon Oliver
P. O. Box 19496
Durham, NC 27707
(919) 530-5313
[email protected]
17
Barbara Nolan
University of New Mexico
18
Background Information
– Four-Year Public University
– Five Campuses
– 35,000 Students
– $60 Million In Direct Lending
– In-House developed applications on
mainframe architecture
19
Reconciliation Reports
– Compare data from COD against UNM
database
– Report Loan Amount Discrepancies
– Report Outstanding Disbursements
– Reporting Outstanding P-Notes
20
UNM’s COD Challenges
– Change Records Not All Accepted
– Disbursements Down to Zero
– P-Notes of Active Bankruptcy
21
DIRECT LOAN
RECONCILI ATION/ B EST
PRAC TICES
How to Manage Reconciliation
Lucy R. Scalici
Office of the University Controller
Student Financial Aid Operations
22
CUNY’s Experience
CUNY has 400,000 + students
19 campuses
Disburses aid on a weekly basis
Utilizes a team effort approach with key
players (Financial Aid Officers, Business
Managers, Bursars, COD, GAPS and
Staff from Accounting, Cash Management
and Student Financial Aid Operations
within the Office of the University
Controller) 23
CUNY’s Experience
Maintains a relationship with each office
Reports all discrepancies to COD & GAPS
when they happen (Keep in mind they
need you to be vocal)
24
Checklist
Obtain COD ID (update capabilities)
Obtain GAPS ID (view access)
Perform your Data Matches
Keep a spreadsheet updating all
disbursements, adjustments, rejections,
and drawdown actions as they occur
Work closely with your COD
Reconciliation Representative
Schedule reviews and activities to meet
the July 31 closeout deadline 25
Summary
Balance your funds
Resolve any discrepancies (you must
review data matches, GAPS
confirmations, COD files, & close-out
letters)
Review all batch activities
Compare, compare, compare!
26
What to Look For
Timing Issues
Direct Loan
disbursements/adjustments/ rejections
Un-booked loan records
Unsent Transactions
Cash Issues (transactions posted &
refunds of cash posted to the wrong
year)
27
How CUNY Processes to
COD
Creates a weekly file of disbursements
and adjustments
Transmits the file to COD electronically
Creates reports of rejected
records/disbursements/adjustments
Compares rejections to COD Batch
Report
Investigates all discrepancies
28
How to Drawdown/Request
Direct Loan Funds
Confirm accepted records,
disbursements, and adjustments
Request funds that equal accepted
and posted disbursements
CUNY maintains a spreadsheet of
all of this pertinent information
29
The CUNY Spreads heet
CUNY Spreadsheet
Checklist
COD Side School Side
1. Ensure that Report 1. Develop an independent
selections are set reconciliation
accurately on the COD spreadsheet
Report Options Menu 2. Verify that COD and
2. Ensure that reports are GAPS are updated
coming in and routed to 3. Double check that COD
the appropriate person has transmitted all of
your school’s
information to GAPS
and vice versa
31
Contacts
COD has assigned a Reconciliation
Representative to each campus
Know your COD Reconciliation
Representative
Work with your COD Reconciliation
Representative to resolve issues and
discrepancies
32
Timing Issues
Timing of processing transactions can
result in a discrepancy in ending cash
balances and loan detail
Lag time of data match files from COD
may omit current
disbursements/adjustments
Resolve all discrepancies
33
Review Close-out Letters
The letters will be sent following the closing
of the books for Direct Loan, the first week
of each month until the award year is
officially closed
The Close-out Letter will be sent to the
College/University Financial Aid Director
(information will include: Total Net
Drawdown/Payments, Total Net Booked
Disbursements, Ending Cash Balance, and
Total Net Unbooked Disbursements)
34
GOOD L UCK & T HA NK Y OU
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