UCSF Recharge Review Process Service Level Agreement

• Review and approve Recharge and External Sales and Service of Education Related Activities rate proposals: new, renewal, rate change, discontinuation and transfer of ownership requests submitted by campus departments
• Ensure that UCSF complies with federal regulations governing allowable costs charged to federal sponsored agreements
• Assist departments in succeeding their business needs and meeting compliance requirements

• Maintain and update Campus Recharge Policy and Policy Guidance and Procedures Manual in order to adhere to university and federal policies and minimize the risk of disallowed charges on federal awards

• Provide assistance to departments during rate proposal development
• Establish submission guidelines in the annual Recharge Call Letter

• Prepare and distribute an annual monitoring report summary to department managers and control points comparing existing recharge activities with approval status and various transactions recorded in the General Ledger (e.g., depreciation transfers, surplus/deficit balances, unallowable expenses, percent of federal funds recharged, etc.)
• Analyze financial data to determine if departments are operating recharge activities without a formal approval from Budget and Resource Management and notify department managers and control points

• Offer Recharge Training Modules and recharge proposal exercises on BRM Recharge Review website
• Provide job aids and FAQs on the BRM Recharge Review website
• Provide individual consultations, as requested

A risk level will be assigned based on the level of institutional risk for all recharges except for Common Cost Allocations (CCAs).  Institutional risk will be determined based on the total annual planned expenses and anticipated percentage of federal participation (i.e. – anticipated revenue from federal fund sources) as shown in the table below:

• Category 1 proposals, which include CCAs, Low, Low-Medium, and Medium-risk proposals should be submitted directly to Recharge Review for functional, financial and compliance reviews and approval, with a copy sent to the control point.
• Category 2 proposals, which include Medium-High and High-risk proposals, should be submitted to the control point for financial and functional review prior to forwarding to Recharge Review for a compliance review and final action. In addition, all projects with a plan of at least $500,000 need to obtain user committee endorsement of approval after Recharge Review has reviewed the proposal and is ready to approve the rates.
• The maximum length of an approval is based on assigned risk level.

1. Functional Review: Evaluates the need for the services provided by a proposed recharge activity and of the relevance to the department or organization’s strategic objectives and priorities to ensure efficient utilization of department resources.
2. Financial Review: Evaluates the financial viability of a proposed recharge to assess that the right equipment, personnel, funding, target users, product/service unit measures, rate methodology, rate, administration, and service/product have been included when proposing the recharge function and cost recovery mechanism.
3. Compliance Review: Validates that both recharge activity and the method by which the entity aims to recover costs for that recharge activity are compliant with both University of California and Federal policies, regulations, and requirements.

The maximum duration of rate approval is tied directly to the recharge’s risk level as shown in the table below.  These approval periods assume there has been no change in rate calculation methodology.

*2-year approvals may be granted to high-risk activities that meet compliance standards

2024-25 Recharge Proposal Submission Guidelines 

Note:

* 2025-26 renewal proposals submitted after the February 24, 2025 or other assigned deadline and 2025-26 rate change requests submitted after the May 30, 2025 deadline are not guaranteed to have their rate reviewed and approved in time to go into effect at the start of the next fiscal year.

Early submission of proposals may be accepted before the submission due date.

UCSF Recharge Review strives for the highest level of customer satisfaction. To ensure we deliver consistent, quality, timely service, UCSF Recharge Review commits to the following standards:

• Provide compliance review of Category 2 recharge proposals and financial, functional and compliance review of Category 1 recharge proposals
• Approve all sales and service center rates and establish Project IDs prior to providing services and billing to users
• Respond to customer requests for service via phone, email or a consultation request, as specified in the completion time guidelines
• Provide rate proposal development assistance and/or resolve any pending review issues
• Assist departments in successfully achieving their business needs and meeting compliance requirements
• Promote a culture that reinforces roles and responsibilities and policies and procedures to achieve the campus’ need for compliance

• Obtain the necessary training required for recharge rate development and management of recharge activities
• Develop and submit proposal adhering to submission guidelines included in the Service Level Agreement
• Respond to all outstanding rate review issues, as specified in the completion time guidelines
• Obtain rate approval from Recharge Review prior to recharging to users
• Manage recharge activities according to management compliance standards:
  • The recharge activity complies with UCSF recharge policy and applicable federal costing policies
  • Maintain surplus/deficit balance within the allowable limit of two months (16.6%) of the recharging unit's activity
  • Ensure that unallowable expenses are not posted on recharge projects
  • Post all revenues and expenses to the appropriate accounts within the assigned chartstring(s)
  • Transfer all planned equipment depreciation to renewal/replacement reserve fund on an annual basis at minimum
  • Process recharge journals and invoices to all users monthly
  • Reconcile all billing and revenue monthly
  • Reconcile year-end surplus and deficit balances for each service based on actual expenses and revenue
  • Maintain all records necessary to support and document operations in accordance with university record retention requirement

Provide financial and functional review for Category 2 recharge proposals. Once reviewed and approved, rate proposal will be forwarded to Recharge Review Team for compliance review and approval

• Provide any questions or comments to Recharge Review Team with 2 weeks of submission for Category 1 recharge proposals
• Assist departments in resolving outstanding issues and revising incomplete proposals for resubmission

• The user committee includes representatives of the largest users of the recharge activity and the recharge manager
• The user committee must review and endorse the proposed cost pool, rate methodology, and rates for recharge activities with annual planned expenses of at least $500,000 before rates are approved by Budget and Resource Management