Policy Notes: Organization Suspense Accounts

An Organization Suspense Account (OSA) is a PTA setup for every organization to hold payroll transactions that have been rejected by the Oracle Financials system. An OSA audit review in 2011 concluded that OSA transactions are not consistently cleared in a timely manner. Delays in OSA clearing result in:

  • Invoice to Sponsors and other parties errors as accounts are not charged in the appropriate time frame
  • Departmental overdrafts at year-end due to accounts being over/under budgeted
  • Fraudulent activity that is not identified in a timely manner
  • Delay in collecting money due to the University
  • Uncollectable outstanding balances due to non-compliance

In January 2012, the University phased in a new policy to expedite the clearing of OSAs. This new policy includes a 'sweep' process to periodically move suspense transactions to clearing accounts and a $25 fee for each payroll line that is not timely cleared from an OSA. OSA balances are transferred with the 51610 expenditure type which burdens at the highest burden rate.

On this page:

OSA Clearing Process for Departments
Transactions on OSAs with and Expenditure Item Date (EID) between: Deadline to originate OSA LD Adjustments: Deadline to fully approve OSA LD Adjustments:
09/01/2012 and 11/30/2012 02/06/2013 02/06/2013
09/01/2012 and 02/28/2013 04/04/2013 04/04/2013
09/01/2012 and 05/31/2013 07/05/2013 07/05/2013
09/01/2012 and 07/31/2013 08/09/2013* 08/13/2013
09/01/2012 and 08/15/2013 08/26/2013* 08/28/2013
09/01/2012 and 08/31/2013 09/05/2013* 09/05/2013

* Year-End Close Deadlines

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OSA Sweeps and Fees Timeline
Deadline Action Description
02/06/2013 – 5:00 PM
  • OSA Sweep
  • Fees applied
  • Transactions that posted to OSAs with an EID between 09/01/2012 and 11/30/2012, and were not cleared by 02/06/13, are swept to the OSA Transfer PTA on file
  • A $25 per payroll line fee will be charged and posted to JAN-2013
04/04/2013 – 5:00 PM
  • OSA Sweep
  • Fees applied
  • Transactions that posted to OSAs with an EID between 09/01/2012 and 02/28/2013, and were not cleared by 04/04/2013, are swept to the OSA Transfer PTA on file
  • A $25 per payroll line fee will be charged and posted to MAR-2013
07/05/2013 – 5:00 PM
  • OSA Sweep
  • Fees applied
  • Transactions that posted to OSAs with an EID between 09/01/2012 and 05/31/2013, and were not cleared by 07/05/2013 are swept to the OSA Transfer PTA on file
  • A $25 per payroll line fee will be charged and posted to JUN-2013
*08/13/2013 – 5:00 PM
  • OSA Sweep
  • Fees applied
  • Transactions that posted to OSAs with an EID between 09/01/2012 and 07/31/2013, and were not cleared by 08/13/13 are swept to the OSA Transfer PTA on file
  • A $25 per payroll line fee will be charged and posted to AUG-2013
*08/28/2013 – 5:00 PM
  • OSA Sweep
  • Fees waived
  • Transactions that posted to OSAs with an EID between 09/01/2012 and 08/15/2013,and were not cleared by 08/28/13 are swept to the OSA Transfer PTA on file
  • Fees will be waived
* 09/05/2013 – 5:00 PM (tentative)
  • OSA Sweep
  • Fees waived
  • Transactions that posted to OSAs with an EID between 09/01/2012 and 08/31/2013, and were not cleared by 09/05/13 are swept to the OSA Transfer PTA on file
  • Fees will be waived

* Year-End Close Deadlines


Please note:

  • The $25 fee will be waived for both pay periods in August
  • Requests for exceptions will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis

To facilitate the clearing process and to prevent future earnings from posting to suspense accounts, email communications will continue to be sent to Labor Adjusters after each payroll has been posted in Oracle. System alerts are generated twice a month (prior to payroll deadlines) and sent to Labor Schedule Updaters, Labor Distribution Adjusters and OSA Task Managers. These alerts notify users of the action required to prevent employees' earnings from posting to the OSA.

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